The Great Exodus

We're moving today. It sucks because I can't bend, lift or twist. I've been trying to help out with packing, but I'm not much of a help. My husband will get worried about me after a few minutes and make me sit back down so I don't overdo it. That's certainly a good thing, but I feel bad for not being able to help more. We have until Monday to be out. Thank the lord for our friends and family who are helping us out. We really can't thank them enough.

My back seems to be healing well. I didn't think I would need a full month off of work, but I can see now that the doctor was right about that. It's almost been a month, and I'm just starting to get to the point of feeling like I could go back soon.

Well, here we go....

The road to recovery continues

Today is 17 days post-op. I figured it was time for a new post updating my status.

My headache is fully gone now. It's such a relief. My back is still sore and I'm having trouble sitting or standing for extended periods of time. I may have overdone it a bit yesterday, so I've spent all day today laying on the couch. It's pretty sore right now. I can tell, however, that I am recovering. The scars also seem to be healing pretty well.

My RSD pain has increased a bit from the first week post-op, but it's still very low in comparison to the level it was at pre-op. I can't describe how it feels to finally be relieved of some of that pain. I've been walking (well kind of walking... the pain in my back doesn't allow for me to walk as easily as I did pre-RSD) without a limp since the surgery. It's amazing! I can only hope this trend continues.

I have been noticing the battery pack more and more as the days progress. In the beginning I barely even noticed it was there. Now it hurts when I lay back, or lean against anything that presses against the area. I know as I recover that pain will decrease as well.

Now to my sanity level.... I'm going crazy lying on my couch all day. I can't wait until I'm able to sit up long enough to get back to work. I'm going to talk to my boss about working from home starting tomorrow. I think if I have something to occupy my time a little bit it will help avoid my impending craziness.

For my good friend, Pat

It's been snowing here of late. I got up at about 5:00 this morning, and this is what it looked like outside my window. My good friend Pat rarely gets to see snow so I figured it might be a nice treat for her to see this, so this picture is for you, Pat. Please forgive the blurriness of the image. I'm still quite weak and my camera isn't the best.

10 days down...

This is the first time I've been able to post since the surgery. It went well, and I am now the proud owner of a Spinal Cord Stimulator :)

There is good news and bad news associated with the latest surgery. We'll start with the good news, because I like to be optimistic. My pain levels are so low right now. I couldn't have imagined this kind of relief from the RSD pain. My pain level is down to about a 2 right now.

Then comes the bad news.... this is not meant to scare anyone away from SCS. I hope it will enlighten anyone considering a permanent implant, though. Keep in mind that everyone's experience will be different.

I didn't feel entirely prepared for the post-op experience. I knew it would be painful, but not as bad as it was. The first day I fainted from the pain twice. The doctor didn't warn us that this might be a problem, so the second time it happened (at 1:30 in the morning); my husband was on the phone to talk to my doctor. I have to admit this was terrifying. The doctor assured us that the fainting was due to the pain, and was nothing to worry about. I just needed someone with me 24/7.

By the afternoon following my operation, I was beginning to get sick from the Vicodin I had been put on. I was vomiting from it, but was unable to lift my head, so that was quite an experience. We called the doctor and asked what we should do, and he prescribed morphine to get me through the pain. Within a day I was vomiting from that as well, so I stopped taking the pain killers. That definitely was not conducive to pain relief.

3-4 days after the surgery my back started feeling a little better. The pain levels had gone down to a level I could at least tolerate. Then the headache started. The doctor says it may last from a few days to a few weeks. It’s still not gone, but I’m beginning to feel better.

My back is still sore. I can’t sit for very long before it gets too sore and I need to lie down. I can’t wait until this pain is gone. It shouldn’t be long now, although the doctor wants to write me an excuse from work for the next month. He said if I feel ready to go back sooner he can write me a release, and I’m sure that will happen.

So all that having been said, I feel the need to say that I do think it is well worth it. I’m ecstatic to be able to walk without a limp. It’s amazing. Before long I’ll be back to normal, but I won’ have to deal with the insane pain I was feeling before the operation. I can’t wait.

Today's the day

I wanted to sleep in this morning, becuase of the whole no eating after midnight thing. At 3:30am the cat knocked a bunch of stuff over and scared the crap out of me.... I'm now fully awake.

I have to admit.... I'm terrified of the week ahead of me. I'm almost 100% sure it's going to be worth all the pain, but I'm definitely not looking forward to the next 7-10 days. I almost don't want to go through with it, but I'd never forgive myself if I didn't take this opportunity.

The day before D-day

So tomorrow is D-day. I went in for my appointment today. I decided on the rechargable battery. He told me that if I went with the nonrechargable I'd most likely only make it about 2 years before they would need to replace it, so yeah.

He explained the procedure to me, and then asked if I had any pain killers at home. I told him I have some Vicodin and he asked if I had enough to last a week. I told him I wasn't sure and he said I should check and let him know tomorrow when I get there if I need another perscription, because I will definitely need to take them for 7-10 days.... then he warned me that I will be in severe pain for at least 3-4 days after the surgery. Oh yay! This will be fun!

At least it's almost over, though. I can't wait for my pain levels to decrease again.

I'll update as soon as possible after the surgery. It may take a while, though.

I got an appointment

The doctor's office called me today. They got approval from my insurance company to implant the permanent SCS :-D I have an appointment for this Thursday (as in the day after tomorrow). My doctor, the rep. from the company, and the surgical center all happened to have an open appointment, so they put me in.

When I had the trial removed, the doctor told me I would need to wait at least 3-4 weeks for the permanent. He said my back would need this amount of time to heal. It's only been 2 weeks. The receptionist said he gave it the okay, though.

I have a pre-op appointment with him tomorrow. I'm going to verify that the timing isn't an issue, becuase I have to admit I'm a little worried about it. He was very clear from day one what the time-frame would be.

I'm so excited. I can't wait until my pain levels go back down. These last 2 weeks have been terrible for my pain.

It's been a while

So I haven't posted in a while. I figured I might as well post an update. I’m still waiting for the doctor to call me back. They are waiting for approval for the permanent SCS from my insurance company. I'm waiting impatiently. I can't wait until I can finally get rid of this pain.

It has snowed on and off for about a week and a half now. In between days that it's snowing, it's between 50 and 70 degrees. The fluctuating weather is wreaking havoc on my leg. It hurts terribly right now.

The office is also very cold right now. It's a good thing I keep a blanket in my desk just in case I need to keep my leg warm. All I have to prop my leg up, however, is my trash can. It's not very friendly to my legs. That's something I'll have to continue working on.

I was thinking about how working is going to be during the 3 months that I have to keep my spine straight. My chair is not very conducive to having a straight spine. That's one of the main reasons I didn't work during the trial. It's a very comfy chair, but not if you need support for your back. I should probably start looking into finding a new chair tomorrow.

One last thing I need to address: Someone posted an anonymous comment to me asking for me to help them find a doctor in the Albany area. In case that poster is reading this, I wanted to let you know that I did try to contact you. I tried sending you emails from various accounts and all my emails were returned to me. If you are still looking for help, I can be reached at LMT at USARSD dot org. Email me and I will reply. Maybe it will work that way.