Post Surgery

Just realized that I haven't posted to my blog since the day before my surgery. Figured I should give everyone an update.

The surgery went well, and it seems they only had to fuse two of the vertebrae in my neck (doc was thinking he might have to fuse three). From the time I can remember being conscious after the surgery, the pain in my arm has been gone. Would I do it again? Heck yah.

Stayed in the hospital overnight. Left the next morning. Found out hospital jello at 2 am rocks. Invented a new name for myself. Hospital staff was very friendly and surprisingly helpful.

Okay.... new name.... I'll expand. Every time the nurse/staff came in to do something (put in IV, give me meds, take me to the bathroom, etc....), they had to ask me to verify my name and date of birth. I got tired of this before they even had the IV in. So when the gal came in to start my IV and asked me to verify my name as she was walking through the door, I looked her straight in the eye and said, "Bob." My mother started laughing, and thankfully, so did the gal. Who then proceeded to put in the IV. Funny, she never asked me to verify my real name and date of birth. As she put in the IV, I decided I needed a last name to go with my new first name. I decided my last name should be Notmyname. So my new fake name is Bob Notmyname. I find it amusing.

So anyway, was discharged from the hospital June 3rd and went home to Smiley. Made plans to stay with Mom the next week so I could actually relax and rest. Smiley took me up to Mom's Sunday night. I was kinda nervous about this initially since for the most part, I can only take my family in small doses and here I was willingly subjecting myself to my mother for almost a week.

But I was pleasantly surprised. I had a really good time spending those days with my mother. I got to rest like I needed to, and Mom and I took care of each other as best we could. I also got to visit with family friends who I hadn't seen in a few years who came to visit while I was there. The only problem I had was trying to sleep.

I tried everything. I slept in a recliner. I slept with the collar on. I slept with the collar off. I slept in the bed (which was weird, cuz I slept in my father's bed.... and it was coming up on the one year anniversary of his death). The bed is one of those adjustable beds, and I swear I tried every setting on that bed to try to sleep. My poor mother was so patient and didn't complain. I finally called my doctor who prescribed me Valium to try to help me sleep. The Valium worked the first day (which I slept for almost 24 hrs straight), but hasn't really helped since. :(

But when it came down to it, I almost didn't want to go home. As much as I missed Smiley, Jen, Ebony, Harley, Loki and Shoe.... It was nice not having to worry about feeding the animals, has the dog had her medicine, will I find peace and quiet to sleep when I am actually able to, and all the other inconveniences of daily life.

Since I've been home, there's been daily progress. But unfortunately, I still can't go a full day without pain medicine. I'm down to two a day, but that's still more than I'd like (aka 0). I can turn my head (not all the way, and definitely not quickly), bumps in the road while in a car aren't hurting as bad, and I can go most days without the collar (although I still sleep with the collar to make sure I don't wrench my neck while sleeping).

I'm scheduled to meet with the doctor mid-July to see my progress. At this point, if I had to see the doctor tomorrow, I wouldn't say I'm ready to go back to work. But I'm hoping within the next two weeks or so, I'll see more progress and will be okay'd to return to work. But I'm not rushing myself. Despite the fact that it was labeled as "outpatient surgery", it's still major surgery, still a spine fusion, and I'm not going to take a light attitude and push myself too fast, cuz that won't help me.

Thank you to everyone who wished me well and has kept me in their thoughts. Hopefully, I'll be back to my normal self soon. But I gotta say, Ray on narcotics can be fun.... :P

Will update again soon!