POST OP REPORT

Well, as usual I am way behind on entering information into this blog. My surgery was on November 6, 2007. I have very little memory of the 4 day hospital stay. About all I remember is that one night (I don't know which night) they took my blood pressure and I remember the nurse saying it was 90/30 and it seemed almost immediately they were in my room with an X-ray machine taking pictures of my chest and then being hooked up for an EKG. I don't remember calling my son to tell him they were going to release me and I don't remember the 2 hour ride home. My son told me that I got home and slept for 14 hours. This all is very scary for me since this has never happened to me before following any of the numerous surgeries I have had in my 57 years. I will be asking my surgeon a lot of questions at the first follow appointment.

As for the surgery, I had relief of the numbness in my hand and arm when I was aware of what was going on (after I got home from the hospital). Very little other pain for the first two weeks, then the pain has reappeared in my neck, shoulder and upper arm. I tried to reduce the pain medication starting the third week of recovery and I am not going to be able to do that. I am posting this information at 4 AM since I can not sleep due to the pain.

I am wearing a soft cervical collar and have to wear a bone growth stimulator for 4 hours every day. I don't have any idea of how long I will have to wear the collar or use the stimulator. If I was told while in the hospital, that information went into the brain fog of memory loss.

It has been very difficult to not bend or twist. Also, I have a 10# weight limit, so I can't do much of anything. My son stayed with me for the first week I was home and took care of the trash, getting groceries, etc. He helped a lot but he would not cook meals, so I spent a lot of money on having him go out and bring back meals. I just didn't have the strength to stand and try to prepare a meal, plus my throat was hurting so much that I didn't really want to eat.

My son's girlfriend came over on the day before Thanksgiving and prepped for the Thanksgiving Dinner. She fixed a great Chicken Casserole for supper that night and prepared the entire meal for Thanksgiving by herself. I am sure that she was very nervous cooking in my kitchen with me just a few feet away. Thanksgiving Day was very enjoyable and I finally could eat a little solid food without it killing my throat (still had some problem swallowing). My son and his girlfriend stayed here till about 7 PM on Thanksgiving Day and then went home.

The days after Thanksgiving were going pretty well except for the sore throat that is still bothering me and the pain is increasing in my arm. It feels like someone threw a baseball and hit me in the shoulder and upper arm, but no bruising so the pain is on the inside. I go back to the neurosurgeon on Wednesday, November 28th for the first follow up appointment. Since I can not drive with the collar on, my son's girlfriend offered to take me to the appointment. She has that day off so she will not miss any work time to haul me back to Oklahoma City. I told her I would take her to the Olive Garden for lunch as payment for being my driver. She really likes the Olive Garden and we do not have on locally.

Well, I will sign off for now and hopefully I can get back with a follow up report after my doctor's appointment.