Post Surgical Update & Incoherent Rant of Frustration

[nightfox]

I just got back from my first post-surgical visit to my MD and he's very happy with my progress. My incisions are both healing really well and while I'm frustrated with my pain level and continued need for what I consider way too many drugs, he assured me that it's normal and I need to stay on them for a while longer. My x-rays are apparently "excellent", so at least the grafted bone and larger hardware seem to be working out so far.

So I shall continue to be a dopey dish for a bit longer. I keep falling asleep sitting up! Several times I've woken up with my face on my keyboard and the imprints of the keys dug into my cheek and forehead. This morning, my bestie found me just sitting up, cross-legged on the floor, spine straight and my chin tucked down on my neck brace which in turn was braced against my chest, dead out asleep, hands still on my laptop keyboard! And like dead out asleep; it actually took her calling my name several times to wake me up. I never sleep that deep. Usually I am such a light sleeper that if a squirrel farts in a tree two blocks away it'll wake me up!

I hate narcotics!! Even when I need them, I hate them. I had one day of clarity in the past 14 days and it came at the cost of massive pain. Science has just got to come up with a better system of pain control than this. It's absurd!

OK, I am off to nap some more cuz I'm feeling the percocet I just took. On yeah, Doc increased my Valium due to my increased muscle spasms, so now I can sleep even more! Yay. :-|

Good news is no more bandage changing and I get to dump the neck brace in another 2 weeks! I went out for dinner with friends last night to my favorite Moroccan restaurant and I swear, people stare at you like you're something nasty just because you're wearing a visible medical device. How dare I disrupt their mental aesthetics by appearing in public with such an ugly thing on. Shallow twits. On a terrific note though, dinner was Fabulous and I only nodded off twice during the meal :D I need to learn to cook more Moroccan dishes, I LOVE that food!! I could happily eat that 5 times a week.

More good news, I get to start physical therapy in 6 weeks :D Can't wait!

Thanks everyone for all the positive thoughts and well wishing, I really do appreciate it ♥

Comments

[k-nightfox.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry it's kinda been an ongoing thing. A little over a year ago, I had a 2 level cervical spinal fusion. 12 months later (this past December) they found that the lower level fusion hadn't healed and my body had absorbed the donor bone they used in the procedure leaving me with a gap between the C6 and C7 vertebrae at the base of my cervical spine (neck). This was causing me a lot of pain so they needed to go back and do the fusion over again this time using bone they took out of my own hip to use as the wedge between vertebrae.

I had this second spinal fusion about 2 weeks ago. Doc reported he'd had to replace the original plates and screws with larger ones as well in order to hold the vertebrae in place so hopefully it will heal better this time. TBH, for the first week and a half, the place where they cut the piece of bone from my hip hurt far worse than my neck did. However, that's been improving and now my neck is back to being the major problem.

But my doc assures me that all this is normal for this type of procedure (he also told me that the agonizing hip pain was the main reason he didn't use it last time, he'd been hoping my body would accept the donor bone and spare me the pain of the second surgical site).

So, that's the history behind this post! I'm doing well but it's a long recovery process. I just have to curb my impatience with my progress and bite the bullet and take all the pain medications that make me so stupid and sleepy.

[enednoviel.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks for the explanation. I'm glad you're getting better, albeit slowly. Sending some healing thoughts in your direction!

[k-nightfox.livejournal.com]

Thank you! <3