Finally, seriously......

On The Mend!!!

After waiting 4 1/2 months, I finally got to have my back surgery.  I'm not gonna lie.  I was nervous.  Yes, I have had a micro-discectomy before, and I even had the same surgeon.  But anytime I think about back surgery, I think about what *could* go wrong.  It is, after all, my back!  In 2005, the pain I experienced was crazy insane nerve pain that kept me in bed.  The pain I experienced this time wasn't crazy intense.  It just generally hurt and all very localized in my lumbar.  Sometimes it was better than others.  But it ALWAYS kept me from doing what I really wanted to do because the pain would get bad.

The MRI showed a ruptured disc in L4/L5 and some possible issues in L5/S1 (where I had my previous surgery). Dr. Doeer, told me he would go in and clean up L4/L5 and take a look at L5/S1.  With plan in place, and me all checked in, it was just a matter of time.

I really do love my surgeon.  I totally joke and call him Dr. Hottie, but to be completely honest, he may dress straight out of the GQ magazine, but he is one of the most talented surgeons I have ever met.  He is very intense and very good and what he does.  He doesn't take any non-sense and he gets in and gets the job done.  Sure the nurses can do some of his follow up work, but he would much rather be the person to do that. He wants to be complete control of his patient's experience.  He is pretty awesome. With all of that said, it didn't stop me from cracking jokes with him just before my surgery.  He came in to do the pre-op consultation and review and it was the first time I had see him in jeans that had holes in them, a running/workout shirt, and cowboy boots that were obviously some of his most favorite worn out comfy ones.  I joked and said, he must have a whole closet of boots to choose from, and he agreed with me.  He rotates expensive boots like I rotate expensive running shoes.  *laugh*  It was fun to see him a little bit more relaxed and comfortable.

Dr. Doerr has done 2 of my surgeries in recent years, but both of those have been at the big hospital here in town.  This time, I was having surgery in the private hospital owned and ran by the surgeons.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But let me tell you, if you live in Boise and you get the option to have surgery at Treasure Valley Hospital, DO IT!   My pre-op nurse was assigned to me and me only and made sure I was cared for.  Once it was time for surgery, the surgery nurse came and introduced herself to me and wheeled me back to the operating room. Once inside the OR, she introduced me to everyone else in the room.  I got to see the OR bed which looked like much more like a stretching/torture device than a bed.  It was two black rods with a sling/hammock type thing hanging between the two rods.  There were pads where I can only imagine my pelvic bones would be placed. There were pads where my chest and face would be placed. They placed pillows in that sling.  I talked to the nurse about the bed and she told me she lays in the "bed" before every surgery to make sure the patients would be comfortable.  The room itself was filled with very bright lights. It was very clean. I saw everyone running around getting ready. There was great music playing over head (just like on TV..its nice to know my surgeon has good choice in music).  Then I saw Dr. Doeer come in. He was covered from head to toe in "blood armor". *laugh*  He was all serious and NO ONE spoke to him.  He had his game face on and brought in his tools and got busy doing whatever it was he needed to get done.  Watching all of this going on was very reassuring.  Then I felt the cold stuff go into my IV, and I was gone.

I woke up in the recovery room to the sounds of Dr. Doeer talking sweetly to me.   "C'mon, sweetie, time to wake up." He touched me here and there to make sure I had feeling in places I needed to have feeling.  He also told me how surgery went and that the damage to my back was worse than we all had thought it was.

They wheeled me to my private room and I met my nurse and CNA.  I had this great huge window with a tree outside my window. I had Tracy open the blinds and I watched the storm come through. It was amazing!  Within the first hour, I had a grape Popsicle and 2 chocolate puddings and lots of ice chips.  Then I got to order my gourmet dinner which was amazing!  I was treated like a queen in the hosptial. The nurses were amazing.  By midnight, the catheter was taken out and I was walking the hallways.

Dr. Doeer came in at 9am the next morning to check on me and go over the surgery again.  He changed my dressing and took out the wound drainage. He did all of this without nurses help.  He insisted on doing it himself.  Again, he told me how bad the injury was and we both agreed that it was a good thing I had surgery; I was not going to get better without the surgery.  The rupture was much bigger than expected and was pressing on the nerve.  I had bone spurs in L5/S1 that were pressing on the nerves.  Now they are all gone. By 10:30, I was on my way home.

I had surgery on Wednesday; I went home on Thursday less than 24 hours after surgery.   It is now Saturday. Last night, we went out to a club for a work thing.  And I have only had 2 pain killers since 10:30 last night; its now 5pm on Saturday.  I'm walking a mile a day around my block (in increments) and I have very little pain.  The pain that I feel is from surgery and not from the injury.  My head is finally coming out of the fog a bit.  And I'm so pleased with the results of my surgery thus far.  I really am blessed with an amazing surgeon and support crew around me. I'm so glad my hubby supported the decision to have the surgery again.  I am taking recovery slowly and responsibly.  I will focus on strengthening my core before I get back into running.  But for right now, I am just grateful for being able to walk.