SPINE FUSION - after the worst, my resolutions

Since I fell last week, I haven't been feeling great.  Scary. X-rays yesterday; don't know if they'll get them to my CA surgeon by tomorrow afternoon.

Meantime:
I keep repeating that my stomach (holding it in) is my bandage
I take my cane everywhere, which wasn't always necessary before
I don't even cross my room at night without the cane
Calcium w magnesium is on my shopping list for today or Friday
I even took a vitamin pill
And I check my posture even at the keyboard - not easy when I'm concentrating hard

Yes, you say I should have been doing it this way all the time
Yes, you would never be careless
Yes, I admit I haven't conquered a lifetime of slouching; but what an incentive a fall can be

SPINE FUSION the thing I feared happens

What I feared most happened:  I fell the other night, just into the fifth month of recovery.  Scary.  I could get up, but didn't  want to fall again, so I crawled back to my room and into bed. 

The next morning I left a message at the surgeon's office.  Later in the day, I e-mailed him, and he sent back that if it still hurt Monday, I should have an x-ray and send it to him.  I felt good the first couple of days, Monday not so good:  leg pain that I associate with my spine.

This morning, I'm waiting to hear from my local MD that the x-ray order from the surgeon is here. 

Why is it more scary waiting for the x-ray than after the fall?   Maybe I was relieved that I was so comfortable.  Maybe I was hiding from the idea of danger then. I know I neglected this blog.

Why do I tend to expect the worst?  I'm not a doctor.  The x-ray may find me in pretty good shape.  Maybe.

Later:  my renewed resolutions for taking care of this spine.

SPINAL FUSION in your near future

 
Did you just say yes to fusion surgery?  How do you feel?

Did your surgeon answer all your questions?  Or, like me, were you too stunned to know what to ask?  He asked me:  If you think the walker is a pain, how would you like a wheelchair?  Good selling point.  I wanted to be well! 

He said the surgery would probably have to be done before Christmas.  So I decided to go ahead and schedule.  It was a relief to have the decision made.

I don't think I asked anything, just agreed to the date they announced.  That date was to be forgotten and changed until the very last day. 

They gave me a list of post-op do-and-don't that promptly disappeared in the mountain of paperwork from the recent hospital visits for pain injections and so on. 

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE ASKED: 

-Will I wake up in horrible pain?  (I didn't.)

-What will I be able to do the next day? 

-Will I be wearing a brace?  When?  For how long?

-Will I be able to take a shower?

-What clothes do I take?  I didn't know that I would be wearing a brace right away.  I had almost no elastic waist clothes.  At the last minute a friend took me out to buy some robes and slippers that were never used.

-How long will I be in the hospital?  (It's good that I didn't ask that one - the hospital stay was MUCH shorter than I hoped or expected.  (Four days.) 

-How long will I be in the nursing home?

-At the last minute I remembered the nurse who asked: why a nursing home --  why not rehab?  I asked the doctor again about rehab and learned that I could get at least a short stay at such a facility.  I wanted to move forward with getting well.

-What will I be able to do when I get home?  (Since I live alone, that was going to be a big concern.)

-Will I need a visiting nurse or anyone like that?  (The surgeon knew of a service that sent a home nurse and a home Physical Therapist.)

-What will the social worker do for me?  (In my case, that would have been useless. The social worker I saw at rehab just wasted my time, though someone at rehab did help my daughter to get home help for me.)

I'm probably forgetting some questions, but my point is:

ASK.  The sillier you think your question is, the more you may need to ask.  Asking is NOT being a sissy.  Asking (within reason) is not inconveniencing the doctor.  Pick up the phone and get answers.   I wish you well!






P
Back at home, some people were still trying to convince me not to have the surgery. 

My religious adviser said there's no better way to get people to worry than to tell them not to worry.  Someone will tell you not to worry.  Give them some caramels to quiet them. 

My pal Tom drove me to the surgeon's office the day I saw the most recent xrays and a date was set for surgery.  In traffic on the freeway Tom was quiet and calm.   I asked him to be the person to drive me to the hospital on the big day.  What a difference some people can make-- to help us feel calm and peaceful!  And he never tells me what to do.

You probably have friends who will tell you what to do and who will worry out loud.   A few good coughs may let them know you're about to hang up the phone.  In an extreme case, be braver than I was and just refuse to talk about it. 

Many people insisted I must not have the surgery.  (Even after the nightime ambulance ride in July.)   One of them was WAY too insistent. 

When I came home, they changed and were happy for me.

In the hospital, there may be one nurse who is just right.  Learn her name.  Give her your flowers.  Order her some candy.  Name your cat after her. 
HOW DOES THIS END?

SPINAL FUSION - 4 months into recovery

I had no idea what to expect at four months.  The home nurses and home visit PTs told me the stiffness in the legs would go away.  It comes right back if I sit even a bit too long at this hard chair at the computer.

 Today I walked the whole Logrun Circle and a bit more with the cane - but didn't need the cane. No weakness in the legs. 

I still get very tired sometimes -- especially after a session of re-learning to drive. (And this is in a newer car.)  I haven't driven alone since July because the spine problem really messed with the nerves to my brake pedal leg.  The doctor and that nurse I met in the market both warned me about good days and bad days.

I can get things out of the bottom drawer or out from under the bed by getting down on my knees.  Usually I know I can get back up.  And I always do get back up. 

I get a lot of things out of the dishwasher or washing machine by squatting to avoid bending, and I have real fears of what this is doing to my not-young knees.  The grabber is indispensable to cut down on squatting. 

The last few days I've been able to lace my walking shoes without Herculean effort and without thinking I've done myself damage.

Of course, there's the psychology of looking so old with the cane. . . ego.

Remember:  this is only one person's experience.  Others at four months after fusion may be out chopping wood for all I know. 

I wish you all well.

SPINAL FUSION - Not your brother's arm workout

Same old:  ask your doctor first.  You can pretend you're in the gym if it helps.  Just pretend no one else is there yet, so you don't have to be macho with these moves.  Morning and evening reasonable is better than macho. 

PS.  You really can do the bun squeeze (not fiercely) almost anytime.  (Maybe that IS part of your brother's workout.)

I also do something a white-haired yoga teacher taught me:  squeeze the tummy muscles 10 times but NOT after eating dinner.

PPS.  I do other balance stuff waiting for the water to heat or whenever:
Just stepping from side to side like a new dance step the others haven't heard about. 

Now the arms:  I still get out of bed the hospital approved way:  Starting on my left side (that's the side where I can get out of bed) using my left elbow to push up to a sitting position as my legs go over the side so I don't twist at the waist.  Many mornings the left elbow is positive it can't do this, but it usually can. 

Then plastic bottles of shampoo & conditioner and into the back support chair.  Your physical therapist has probably told you how many ounces for each hand.  I gently swing the arms from the shoulder, back and forth ten times.  Rest.  A few deep breaths.  10 more.  Then extended arms up and down gently.  Not too high at first. 10 times. 

Then at shoulder height, "rowing" in and out.  Ten times.  Rest. Breathe. Again. 

With your back supported, my secret "imitate moving your wheelchair."  Ten times may be plenty. 

CLIMB:  No matter what the PTs taught me, I do NOT go down stairs without a railing.  But, fresh out of rehab I went up some outside stairs to a restaurant I needed to visit to feel human again.  There was a good railing, and someone behind me in case. I also go up the stairs in the library (good railing and my cane.)  I do NOT come down stairs there.  Falling up may break my glasses.  Falling down may break everything.

SPINE FUSION - hospitals challenged

Oops.  I believe NBC news article is actually called Still Sick.

After you read it, I'd welcome your comments.

SPINAL FUSION: not your brother's workout

 Here's that disclaimer again:  This is only my workout as taught by physical therapists in three different programs.  Ask your doctor (no really, ask your doctor) before any exercises.) The other disclaimer:  my fusion is LUMBAR.  These exercises may not be for you.

 In the mystery books, the heroine always runs a couple miles, then works like a dog for 12 or 24 hours.  We are going to be gentle and split it up during the day as much as possible.   

First: My surgeon always said WALK from the first day I was diagnosed.

His assistant said:  Too much time at computer.  Vary Your Position:  sit, walk, lie down, sit in support chair.  Walk more.

THEN:

When I open my eyes:  After I was first diagnosed, I woke up, said my prayers, turned on the coffee and dived for my rigid foam exercise mat.  Now since surgery, floor work is discouraged (at least so far.)  What I want to start doing instead, or at the start of my nap:

Three or four exercises are to do lying on my back in bed.  Eartha Kitt once wrote that she exercises before she gets out of bed.  If I do that for 100 years....never mind.
First:  bun squeeze.  Just contract them ten times.  When wearing a coat, I can also do this in the doctor's waiting room.  Or the checkout line.

Second:  lying on my back, sideways move.  I don't have a pillow under my legs for this.  Just move one leg to the right, center, then to the left, then back to center.  10 times.  Then the other leg.  Supposedly even doing this lying down will help my balance.

Third:  Bend knee and, pressing heel to mattress, bring heel back toward my buns.  10 times.  Then the other leg,. 

I was also taught to do these in a chair that supports my back.  I had an ottoman, so I could also do:

A leg raise on the ottoman (sit in support chair) when the PT says you're able.  Rest legs on ottoman.  Gently raise one leg an inch or two above the ottoman and lower, ten times.  Then the other leg.  Repeat

A knee raise.  Foot on floor if you can reach it, or I put a slim cardboard box under feet for this.   Lift knee two or three inches; then lower.  10 times.  Then other leg. 

Look for a couple of pill bottles or the grabber or cane.  Have them ready for the arms and my secret arm exercise. 

Apologies to you who already saw most of this on an earlier post.

I noticed in rehab that moving the wheelchair by hand worked some arm muscles that have always been neglected.  So I reach over the arms of my posture chair, and with a small bottle of lotion in each hand, I duplicate the motions of moving the wheels.