Recovery

[Guest guest]

Dear Fellow Members:

 

Some of you have written to me privately asking how I'm doing since my spinal

surgery and a couple of have reminded me of my duty to contact everyone, so here

goes nothing and I hope I make sense as I'm still pretty muddle headed due to

medications.

 

 

I went in on the 12 of July to have my 3rd spinal surgery on L-5 through S-1.

This time they removed the disc between them completely and inserted a carbon

mesh cage between the vertebra.  They then cut out all of the preexisting scar

tissue from my last operation and then cut out new damaged areas on the right

side from the disc collapsing in on itself. 

They then placed 2 flat bars on each side of my vertebrae and on the other side

2 rods that screwed through the bars and into my verebrea of my back.  They

finally took the tissue and bone they had removed and put it through some kind

of mixer and added a genetically altered tissue that is supposed to assist the

fusing of all the tissue together called Infuse. I was on the operating table

for 3.5 hours.

 

That was on a Monday, the following Tuesday I crashed pain wise, all the new

doctors and nurses went by what was on my prescription bottles for pain and

refused to listen to what I was trying to tell them that I often ended up using

3 times the normal dose to control my pain. 

I guess one of the nurses or doctors called my pain doc I'm still not sure who

called who I know my husband also raised all sorts of h*ll about the condition i

was in. I was crying and screaming I wanted to die as the pain was totally out

of control and complete body.

Finally one of my nurses came in with a large hypo and told me here's 40

milligrams of morphine and you have other pain meds coming I am so sorry. It

took them almost 2 hours to get the pain back under control.

 

Then that night all my monitors were saying I was crashing! go figure, my b/p is

normally extremely low 90/40 to 50 with a very high heart rate, low body temp,

and of course tons of allergies. I woke up to having 3 nurses yelling at me

breath and a tech telling me I have got to do a arterial on you to check your

oxygenation. 

I tried to tell them I was fine and to leave me alone but they didn't listen it

took them 2 tries to get an atrial stick and they ended up replacing my IV which

only took 4 tries.  By then I was furious.  The head floor nurse came back and

looked at me and said I'm sorry but our equipment and I stopped her right there

and told her take your equipment and throw it out the door.

 

I was in the hospital from Monday the 12th to Thursday the 15th. 

Due to the antibiotic they kept giving me to make sure I didn't get infection, I

ended up with over 9 different IV sites, as the antibiotic tears up veins really

bad.  And I had over 5 other vein punctures for tests. I looked like a pin

cushion.

My scar on my spine was 2 inches long before this last operation its now 6.5

inches long. They glued my incision closed and part of it didn't take and it

weeped for a week so I ended up going back to my surgeons office and he looked

at it and said we need to stitch this closed as it's not healing.

 

Great I thought more needles.  Then I found out NO NOVACAINE I said what?

And he said that it would take twice as long to numb it and a lot more needle

sticks to numb than if they simply did the stitches without it. I about freaked.

So I ended up with 2 stitches in the upper section of my incision without any

numbing meds at all. I didn't scream but the tears just ran.

 

I'm not allowed to lift, twist, push, pull, lean over, reach up, nothing that

will irritate my back. Now yes I'm a chronic pain patient but I'm no couch

potato. 

I normally work off and on all day keeping our home clean and carrying for all

the animals. 10 cats, and 2 dogs right now.I got

rid of all the fish.

 

I'm going a little stir crazy on top of the pain.  The critters seem to sense

that I'm not feeling good cause they are always crowded around me no matter

where I am in the house.

 

I saw my pain doc who is also my regular doctor and he changed me off of all the

current pain medications I was on as I was metabolizing them too fast and not

getting the correct effect from them.

He also put me on MS contin and straight morphine sulfate fast release for the

break through pain.  He also took out my stitches the same day saying it looked

good and only had a little crusting along the incision.

 

You can see where they fused it I have this what looks to me to be a huge bulge

but I'm sure it isn't as large as what it seems to me. And I'm having trouble

standing straight upright it feels very awkward to me. I'm sure it has to do

with the fusion.

 

I see my surgeon again on the 10th of august and they will do a full series of

x-rays and then I will go over to his office to see if the bone has indeed

fused. If it hasn't I'm not sure what they are going to do.

I have pictures of my back and the screws and rods I just need to get them

scanned into my husbands big pc and then I'll put them up so folks can look at

them.

 

Well I hope that this covers everything I'm not sure if it does or not but right

now that's all I can remember.

 

Hugs and blessings to all

Mist

 

Lady Willow Mist

Let actions speak far louder than words!

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