Surgery Update

Surgery went well. I'm incredibly sore and in a lot of pain. I have some nausea associated with meds and standing/walking for too long. They said the pain will ease up in a week. I will blog more later. Our new bed arrived today. Just in time. yeah.

UPDATE:
The doctor and nurses were fantastic. However, I found the nurses before the operation to be much nicer than the ones after. Luckily for me, they gave me something safe that put me to sleep during the surgery, which led me to wake up 1 1/2 hours after in the recovery room. The operation itself was only 1 hour long. I have an incision that is about 1 inch long. It is killing me to be so immobile. I really had an unrealistic view of what I would be able to do today. Danielle is fantastic. She has been so helpful and is taking care of me so well. I'm lucky to have her.

Here is a link to a short viedo of what they did: http://www.spine-health.com/video/lumbar-micro-endoscopic-discectomy-video

UPDATE #2: (8 weeks later)
Earlier I wrote that I had an unrealistic view of what I would be able to do post operation. This same thought extended itself into my recovery. I really thought that I would up and moving around within days of my operation. However, it went a little more like this... The night of the operation I was very sore. It was very difficult for me to turn in bed or to get in and out of bed to go to the bathroom. I definitely needed Danielle's assistance. In the hospital I was given the option of morphine. It burned while administered IV but I felt much better once it got into my system. I think I had about 2 doses within the 24 hours. I was initially given the option of going home the same day as the surgery or staying overnight. I decided to stay overnight just so I could be monitored if needed and our new bed wasn't going to be delivered until the following morning. In hindsight I made the right decision because it would have been hell if I went home that same day. Upon discharge the following day, I was prescribed Percocet and Valium. I was told the Percocet was for pain and the Valium was to relax my muscles. If you are familiar with valium it is an anti-anxiety medication so I was a little surprised. My suggestion is to get them filled either prior to leaving the hospital or on the way home. We did neither so I had to wait a few hours until I got it.

Shortly after we got home, the new bed was delivered. Danielle put on the bed linens and I hopped in. I slept most of the day/night. I was still in a lot of pain and it continued to be difficult to turn in my sleep or get in and out of bed, especially since our new bed was much much higher than our old one. Our old one, you could just kinda sit down, this one you have to climb up. I found that Anyway, I found the combination of the meds made me feel very very nauseous and really loopy. That night I started to feel really hot but also had the chills. Yep, I developed a fever. My fever got as high as 103. We called the on-call doctor and he instructed me to take tylenol to reduce the fever. I took a few doses during the night and my fever was down by the next morning. I was dying for a shower and I suggest the sealing cling wrap to put around the steristrips to keep them dry. I also suggest a shower seat or having someone to hold onto while showering. I didn't have a shower seat and really wanted one the first week. I found myself sitting on a bucket in the shower. I would suggest getting a doctor to prescribe one prior to discharge and your insurance will cover the cost. If not, there's always Walmart, etc. The other thing I suggest buying is a Gopher. I bought one at Walmart for $10. It helped reduce having to bend (which should be avoided) to pick up socks, my cat's toys, things that I dropped on the floor, etc. We still use it even after the surgery.

The first two weeks were the most painful and you may spend most of the time in bed. I did get up often and walk around which is strongly encouraged. It was hard to get in and out of a car and I sometimes used one of the mobilized carts when Danielle took me to the store with her (I needed some fresh air). The steri-strips didn't fall off on their own but by day 10 I was sick of them and took them off myself. It felt good to take a good shower and scrub my back.

Weeks 3-7 I continued to recuperate. By day 4 I felt relatively good. I went for my 4 week follow up and the doctor was really impressed with my progress. He asked when I wanted to go back and I opted to wait another 3 weeks. I flew to Florida to visit my parents for a week and enjoy the sun before going back to work. Now that I'm back to work (week 8), I feel really good and I'm glad that I got the surgery. I had a lot of hesitation beforehand and I wish I was a little bit more informed earlier on. I would also suggest to walk as much as possible. I gained 5 pounds while off.