R & R

One week down, five to go. Recovery, that is. Actually, this has been quite enjoyable. Last Wednesday I was admitted into the hospital for a lumbar disc replacement surgery. The surgery went quite well. The spine surgeon had to go in through my tummy for this procedure while a general surgeon had to "pack" my organs to the side to remove the entire degenerated disc and place the titanium plates to either vertebrae, and then place the plastic ball-and-socket piece in the middle to act as a disc. Knowing that my organs were going to be "held" by another human to get to my spine and that a foreign, relatively new piece of technology was going to be placed into my spine, millimeters away from nerves that allow me to walk...was, well, scary. I had my fair share of scary dreams nights before the surgery, but quoted scripture through the night and had Jason and friends and family pray for me.

I woke up much more alert after this surgery. After my first back surgery in February, I was in such a blur with all of my other medications and sleep deprivation of a newborn, that I feel the first half of this year was a blur. But I had only been taking mostly ibuprofen for a few months before this surgery and exercising, so I felt MUCH physically and mentally stronger going into this procedure.

The day before surgery I had to stop eating at 2 PM and drink a bottle of lovely magnesium citrate (read: saline laxative to COMPLETELY clear out your stomach and bowel for a stomach incision.) So after surgery, they only gave my ice chips through the day and evening. I also got to don a lovely catheter. PLUS there were two small catheters going into my abdomen constantly injecting pain medication from a small "ball" of medicine that I carried around in a zipper pouch on my arm until Friday evening. That was a painful part. I could feel those tummy catheters every time I moved, and had to work around them to get in and out of bed. I wasn't supposed to take them out any earlier, but my catheter openings were leaking (ew) and my pants were all wet (double ew). I was too much of a chicken to remove these two catheters that went across my entire abdomen. My grandma was supposed to come over on Sat. to help...but it was late Fri. night and I didn't want to call her at 11:00. So I sucked it up and did it myself! I removed the catheters and took off my dressing and replaced it w/ a clean one.

Back to the "morning after" surgery. I was STARVING and hadn't eaten for almost 2 days. I was on a clear liquid diet, so I had a delicious breakfast of chicken broth, hot tea, italian ice, orange jello, and cranberry juice. This sounds silly, but that tasted so amazing I cannot express it! :) Then for lunch I had turkey with mashed potatoes and a roll. Again, wonderful.

The first few days back weren't so fun. It was difficult to get up and down out of chairs and bed, but I had to take frequent walks because my back would get so stiff. My stomach incision hurt the most. Then I had some severe nerve pain on the right that made me nervous. The doctor said that I may have fleeting leg pain, aches, and cramps because the nerves are "waking up" and refiring, but this felt like the original nerve pain when everything started. I thought that maybe that my body was rejecting the replacement disc and is wasn't going to work and I'd have to get a fusion. BUT the next day that nerve pain diminished dramatically. I'm pretty stiff now, but I continue to walk more and more each day. I'm also taking less pain medication so that's a help as well.

Friends and family having been AMAZING! People have watched the kiddos, brought meals, and prayed and prayed for us. THANK YOU everyone! What a blessing! I just continue to pray that I would be fully healed and that one day my left leg would gain its strength again. Some times I dream of reaching my dream of becoming a class instructor for kickboxing, step aerobics, and other cardio classes. But God's bigger than that. I know He has great plans for me and I don't need to fret about my future. Thank you Lord for carrying me through the surgery safely!