Three Week Surgical Follow Up

[Guest guest]

I had my three week surgical follow up with Dr. Glazer's assistant

yesterday morning. Of course it wasn't with Dr. Glazer himself because

he was probably busy doing Chris's surgery at that time. For those of

you familiar with Dr. Glazer and his associates, I saw Jeff.

I had x-rays taken, which I then got to see (the before and after).

The work he did looks quite extensive! The discs were removed at three

levels, and in addition to the fusion material, he used a spacer at

one level and cages at the other two. He said they look good, and the

instrumentation appears to be screwed in securely. My incision appears

to be healing well.

PT is going extremely well. After my next surgical follow up, I will

likely switch to outpatient PT instead of in home. My Tuesday PT

session went much, much better than the one prior (Thursday or Friday

of last week).

My return to work estimate has become sooner than anticipated. I know

I'm doing better and better every day, but returning to work two

months from now sounds quite overwhelming. Though part of me hopes

that my recovery goes that well that that would be possible, but it's

still a bit scary. My employer is willing to set up a gradual return

to work, so that will definitely help.

A couple of changes were made during my follow up appointment. One of

my pain medications were changed because the original one was

upsetting my stomach. The new one seems to be helping.

The other change is that I was given a bone stimulator -- actually

two. I was told I needed two because the fusion area was so large. But

that confuses me. I was fused from L3-S1. But Dr. Glazer also removed

old instrumentation above that to T7, and replaced it with one simpler

rod. (The reason for doing this was that the old rod was surgical

steel, and the new instrumentation he was using below that was

titanium, so he was concerned about a reaction between the two

metals.) Would those levels from T7-L4 involve some fusion as part of

installing the instrumentation as well? I have yet to set it up and

begin using it, though they did show mw how to use it during the

appointment.

I'm working hard at doing more and more by myself, and making a lot of

progress. I'm actually doing a bit to help around the house and with

our daughter (but don't worry, I'm not overdoing it). It feels great

to be less helpless, and more independent.

I've written a ton, but still wonder if I forgot anything. Thank you

all for your support throughout this process.