317752's blog: "BackLog"

Well, I am finally home... and as such I figure the best way to disseminate the 411 on the situation is a blog, mainly bCoz I won't be here much for the next few days and with the some 800 messages I have waiting here, all this love waiting from the best friends and family on the site I wanted everyone to get their answers as quickly and easily as possible.... so here goes...

The surgery was at around noon on 7/14... I say around noon bCoz I was passed out at the time.... due to my severe apnea, they had to insert the breathing tube while I was awake, a most unpleasant experience to say the least, but fortunately the last I remember before being knocked out... when they got in there they found more damage than had been revealed on the MRI and I wound up having 3 laminectomies and 1 disc replacement...

Then, the nightmare begins... I awoke in recovery around 4:30 pm, this time around 4:30 bCoz at that point I was TOTALLY fupped duck... but not so drugged as to not feel the pain... I won't use the word "excrutiating" as I dont want to offend anyone who believes that crucifixion was the ultimate pain, but I will describe it as someone taking an acetylene torch to my back.  Fortunately a little black box filled with a combination of morphine and dilaudid and a no limit trigger put out the flame for a few seconds every few minutes and after a couple of hours I was moved into my room...

The little black box ran dry about an hour later, but so did the nightmare as the care I received from the nurses, nursing assistants, orderlies and the entire floor staff was nothing short of amazing... I mean never more than 30 seconds between pushing the call button and someone being there to take care of whatever the need might be... pain meds administered on time every time... if I was asleep they woke me to ensure the pain stayed moderated.  No middle of the night blood draws or blood pressure checks, but rather timed with med admin so no unnecessary disturbances... even the food was hot and while not necessarily 5 star, was tasty and ample... like I said nothing short of amazing...

By day 4, I was able to sit up in bed for the first time without assistance and that afternoon, with the help of a walker, took my first feeble steps out into the world again and it was about this time I realized hitches and clicks in my hips and knees and even certain back movements, things that have hampered me for years no longer existed....  I was healing and problems I had been experiencing for years prior to all of this were going away as well... that the nearly 3 years of chiropractors and physical and drug therapy had not accomplished what these past few days had and it was getting better literally by the hour as nerves began to regenerate and function again...

Day 5 saw even more improvement in pain levels and flexibility, so much so that I was finally allowed to take a shower... but there was a BIG downside to that... no more sponge baths by that cute little nursing assistant, Melissa... that girl sure knew how to rub a guy in pain the right way... er so to speak...

This morning, 7/20, I awoke with virtually no pain, meaning the healing process had finally caught up with the medication therapy and after several tests, including 3 times around the floor with no walker, strength tests of my lower extremities, up and down 3 flights of stairs without assistance, the docs said it was time to get my lazy ass off their bed and into my own, and thankfully that is now where I am... home.

Now I will still be taking as Beldar Conehead so aptly put it "mass quantities" of pain meds for the next few days I won't be around much, so let me give a quick heartfelt thank you for all the love you all showed while I was away and I will be returning it as I am able.  I firmly believe the docs were right, I am going to feel like a new man soon... so any of you lovely ladies of FUBAR need a new man in their lives??  Talk to you soon as I am able to sit here longer and please know that all the love and prayers and concernshowen me during this time has me completely overwhelmed with gratitude... Thank you all... I missed you too...