Surgery tomorrow - finally!

[StephN]

Well, the date is finally almost here.

I am told I will be second on the schedule tomorrow - 9:40 am Pacific time.

Getting ready for all the obligatory special showers and clean sheets, clean clothes, etc.

Looking forward to relief from this darned trapped nerve in my back.

That's all for now. See you later in the week.

[karen z]

Steph,
Glad that you are very close to getting some major relief.
Will be thinking about you.
Love,
K

[CoolBreeze]

Good luck! Hope it works and quickly!

[Joanne S]

Steph,

Praying your surgery goes very smooth and you soon have tremendous relief!

Huge Hugs, Joanne

[JennyB]

Good luck rest well and pain free!!

Jenny

[chekmark]

Good luck, you will be in my thoughts and prayers today. Keep us informed.

[Paula O]

Praying for you! :)

Hope all goes wonderfully,

Paula

[sassy]

Good luck Steph--maybe some relief finally.

Keeping you in my prayers.

[kklouisiana]

God be with you!

[snolan]

Good luck. remember the first few days are always the worst but it will get better.

[Jen]

Praying for pain relief and a speedy recovery.

[jml]

Steph~
Praying for you, thinking of you, wishing you luck and sending you so much comfort.
May surgery be a GRAND success and offer you well deserved relief from pain!
Keep us posted when have a moment.

In the meantime, keeping the faith~

Jessica

[Ellie F]

Steph
Will be thinking of you and hoping you soon start to feel better and pain free.
Ellie

[KDR]

This time tomorrow, it'll be over and you'll be on your way to a new way of feeling. Isn't that grand?
Best of luck and warm wishes,
Karen

[Barbara H.]

Hi Steph,
I am thinking of you!
Barbara H.

[NEDenise]

Steph,
Hope this note finds you feeling happy and pain free again!
Sending love and prayers your way!
Denise

[Laurel]

Oh, Brave Steph! All my love and prayers for a successful surgery and astonishingly swift recovery. May you be pain free upon waking!

[suzan w]

Good luck!!! Hope it goes quickly and that you wake up pain free!!!

[caya]

Wishing you a complete and speedy recovery Steph!

all the best
caya

[Pray]

Gods blessings to you wonderful woman! I too am hoping and praying for a good outcome. You are in my Prayers. I can't wait to hear your next post

[Mandamoo]

Wishing you the very best for a quick recovery.

[karen z]

Dear Steph,
Hoping for some relief for you VERY VERY soon.
Love,
K

[StephN]

Dear ladies -
Thanking very much for the prayers and kind thoughts.

I had a good surgery. Woke up just fine without nausea.

Went home in the afternoon. Can now get up for 20 minutes at a time.

Came home with some pain still in my leg and a twinge at the surgery site. Pain in leg will take some time as it went on for so long. Putting ice on my back every few hours is helping.

Did not need a pain pill yet this morning, just the muscle and nerve relaxers doing a good job.

[KDR]

YAY! That's all behind you now.
I always tell myself "this time tomorrow, or this time next week [this problem] will be behind me...
Glad it is for you too.
Love
Karen

[Mary Jo]

Praying for you Steph.....in the name of Jesus.

Mary Jo

[Barbara H.]

Hi Steph,
Thank you so much for posting your news. My thoughts have been with you these past few days. I am so glad to hear you are home and can work on your recovery.
Barbara H.

[Laurel]

Wow, Steph! That is amazing news! We certainly need some around here right now with our beloved Brenda and Sheila. I know I will soon hear you are up dancing in your underwear like Tom Cruise in Risky Business! Now THERE'S a picture!

[Becky]

Great news Steph. Here's to a speedy recovery.

[caya]

Thanks for posting your good new Steph! Sounds like you are well on your way to pain-free status.

all the best
caya

[JennyB]

Yay glad all went well and the pain is heading in the right direction Here's to a continued healing and return to normal

Jen x

[sassy]

Glad all went well Steph! Rest well and don't overdo!

[Pray]

Steph, I am so over joyed for you. Be good to your self! I can't wait to hear your leg pain is gone!

[dawny]

Great news Steph, thanks for letting us know, hope you are feeling less pain now
Dawn

[ElaineM]

I am sending you healing vibes and will say a prayer that all goes well Steph.
Take good care of yourself during your recovery.

[Joanne S]

Steph, I'm so delighted to hear all went very well and you didn't even take a pain pill when you got home. Wow! That's amazing! May God Bless you with a very smooth and sweet recovery! You are in my prayers. Huge Hugs!

[Mary Anne in TX]

What wonderful news it is! Thanks so much for sharing it. Now, be good and take good care of yourself, ok?

[StephN]

You ladies are all so sweet! Your prayers and good wishes mean a lot to my healing.

Once the numbing wore off at the surgery site I did need to start the percocet, but managed with only 3 so far. (I just hate pills!)

Let's keep our prayers turned toward Sheila now. My heart is heavy for her family.

[ammebarb]

Thinking of you Steph. Hope by now you are on the way to being pain free!

[karen z]

I hate pills too (!) and they are not very fond of me. In fact, nearly any type of pain pill is much worse for me than the pain.
Take care.
K

[NEDenise]

Good news Steph! Take care! Thanks for letting us know.
Denise

[Jackie07]

Steph,

Glad everything went well. Take good care of yourself.

[Soccermom]

Thinking of you Steph! Hope your healing is swift and pain fades away!
Marcia

[michka]

Steph, I hope the pain is fading away now. I have to admit now that I was afraid for you and I am relieved the operation went well... soon new plans to run around the planet! Hugs. Michka

[Patb]

Good news, just keep on healing. You will be going
everywhere soon.
patb

[karen z]

YES,
Seattle is missing one of its favorite citizens out and about !
Love,
K

[chrisy]

Glad things went well. I know what you mean about the pills, I hate 'em too. Be well.

[Laurel]

Steph,

As difficult as it may be for you to be in the spotlight of our concern and prayers, you are very special and dear to all our hearts, so just allow us to worry about you a bit, ok? Now those who know you have admonished you to "take it easy." It is my belief that you might just have a bit of a problem with that, so I will close by saying that I am happy you are continuing to do so well and will ask that you do go a bit easy on yourself.

I am utterly broken by the turn of events for dear Shelia, but you are very dear to us too. You and Chrisy must focus on yourselves now. Bless you and may you have comfort and rest.

[suzan w]

Glad to hear everything went well!! Keep the good news coming!

[StephN]

Thanks, friends.
I have been up and around and trying to catch up on paperwork that is stacking up, etc. Things that should not requite too much bending, twisting, leaning, but they DO. I want to go into my normal office routine of moving like I was a pretzel, so I catch myself and have to find a way to do things with a stiffer back and waist, so I don't reherniate!

So, I take to heart the admonitions to go easy, but I hate to put so much on poor hubby. Finding a new happy medium each day makes life interesting!

The pain is reduced to my knee, which is still stiff, sensitive and weakened.

[Laurel]

Good girl, Steph! It is maddening to hold yourself back, isn't it? Hope you continue to heal quickly. Knees are so tricky. Try a little Bromelein supplements. That stuff works wonders and is made from pineapples. Take on empty stomach an hour or so before you eat or two hours afterwards. Your knee should quickly improve.

[Midwest Alice]

Steph, Galde things went well. best to you as you get back into the swing of things. Alice

[StephN]

Thanks. I don't think I will be doing any Salsa dancing any time soon. Or ice skating. Frown, frown.

[Joanne S]

Steph, So glad surgery is behind you and you're feeling better on your recovery road. Don't overdo! Huge Hugs, Joanne

[Ceesun]

Steph, Glad you are doing well---mend fast and healthy! Best Regards, Ceesun

[ammebarb]

Glad to hear that you are recuperating, Stephanie. Have been thinking of you.

Barb A.

[StephN]

In case anyone is interested, I got my back surgery notes when I went for my postop checkup.
My incision is healing extremely well, and we focused on my exquisitely painful knee.
I was sent for an ultrasound to check for any blood clots. None found, so that was the good news. The bad news is that the pain is all from my nerves and will take some extended time to heal.

The surgery report says: "... the nerve root was exposed at L3-4 and was found to be displaced posteriorly. ...anterior to the nerve root a large free fragment of disk was found. This was removed ... the nerve root was well decompressed and found to be free of pressure following the procedure. ... All the nerve root dissection was under the operating microscope."

I want to find out just what is meant by "large" disk fragment. How many millimeters is "large?"

It is now obvious that this was not the kind of thing that was going to get better on it's own.
So, ladies and gents, take back and leg pain seriously, as just normal activity, never mind an accident or some kind of trauma, can cause serious damage to your spine.

[NEDenise]

Of course we're interested! We love you...even that pesky knee of yours!
Thanks for the update. I hope the pain recedes sooner, rather than later.
Denise

[karen z]

Hi Steph,
Thanks for the update and advice. I really hope that your knee "shapes up" sooner than later as well. Glad all is well with the back incision.

Just take things as you can and you will be back to your regular self with your regular knee. I wish I knew the answer to your question but I do not. It would have been nice for the docs to have listed the size on the report but perhaps you can still get the info with a call.
K

[CLTann]

steph,

The best luck to you.

CLTann

[KsGal]

Reading that report..no wonder you were in so much pain! Just reading the words "exposed nerve root" made me cringe. Big hugs to you..im so glad that you were able to get this dealt with, and you are on the road to recovery. You know, as an aside, every time I read your posts and see your signature information, I am inspired and I feel hopeful. While everyone around me seems to make plans for when I "get really sick", I remember you and your journey, and I think just maybe...you know? So really, thank you.

[StephN]

Thanks so much, KSGal. When you look back, I have had a lot happen connected with this cancer diagnosis. But, I took the route of "using a sledgehammer" on my cancer and not going easy with it. Seems most docs these days are more into the QOL (which they can because of the newer drugs), but I had to "go for a remission."

As for the "exposed nerve root" - that was during the surgery when I was pleasantly elsewhere. The neurosurgeon had to "expose" that area to find out exactly what was wrong. And true to the CT myelogram, he found it.

Here is a link to the particular (METRx) instrument my neuro used to minimally access my spine area. My incision was small and has healed very quickly.
http://www.back.com/articles-metrx.html

[Pray]

Steph, That is just crazy amazing! Thanks for the showing the intrument. I am in awe ouch?