The Surgery

It has been one week since my spinal fusion surgery.  A week that went by very fast!
Here are the details of the surgery day as I remember them :)

4:00 a.m. -  The time the alarm was set for to get us to the hospital by 5:50 a.m.  What really happened is that I hardly slept for the pain and was already up.  And, because of me being up, so was Boyd.  We were already packed, so it was just a matter of showers and dressing, feeding all the animals and we were off.

5:30 a.m. - Arrived at the hospital.   Boyd dropped me off at the door and went to park.  We met up at the elevators and headed upstairs to the surgery check-in where there was already a family including  a couple of kids playing board games?????  Really? 

5:50 a.m. - Checked in, completed yet more paperwork and got our restaurant buzzer.  Seriously, they hand you a deal that is just like what you get when you are waiting to be seated at a restaurant.  It buzzes when the doctor is ready to talk to you, etc.   Then we waited and people watched as the area quickly filled up with an interesting assortment of people.

6:15 a.m. -  After watching many people get called back ahead of us, it was finally our turn.  We made our way over and around the corner only to find we were waiting in a line.  A line!  It made me laugh.  We were all waiting in line to be weighed. A line of people who would soon be sliced open and man-handled and were doing it willingly and waiting their turn for the chance.  We were then taken back to a room for the vital checks, etc. and then placed in a room with a bed.

6:30 a.m. - I got changed into the lovely gown and then even had someone come in to put on the ever so comfortable thigh high, bright white, TED compression hose.  Then we began the search for a vein that would work for the I.V.  We told them from past experience to not use the numbing agent because someone once said that it caused my veins to shrink.  So after much searching a location was chosen on my right hand.  It was crazy to watch her insert it and then watch my wrist just puff up.   Yep, major fail!  Here is a photo of the spot a few days later.  It has gone through a rainbow of colors and now it is even more brown and covers about 4 inches of my arm. 

They brought in a few more people to help find a better place to poke me again.  After a bit of debate and opinion sharing, they finally and successfully found a good location.  YAY!  (After the surgery, I remember noticing that I had not one, but two I.V. spots.  I guess they like two  in case one fails, but wait to do it until after you are under. )

7:15 a.m - In came the anesthesiologist to discuss what would be happening next.  We talked about how last year I threw up twice, once each time they gave me a new dose of Dilaudid.  So, they decided to just add an anti-nausea medication and still give me the Dilaudid.
The doctor came in a marked my back and the outside of my right leg with a purple marker, told my husband that he expected the surgery to take 3.5 to 4 hours and I was off.

7:45 a.m. - I took an exciting ride through the halls of the operating rooms.  We found out that McKay Dee has 18 operating rooms.  When I entered mine, I immediately felt the cold and saw all kinds of devices and walls of stuff including an X-ray machine. The operating table itself was something else!  I found a few pictures on the internet that look similar.

 The head goes in the white cushion-y deal in the middle.  I also had on goggles and vaseline or something like it.  They warned me that my eyes would be swollen after surgery.  But, not only were my eyes swollen, but my lips as well.

 Here is a poor soul in position.  No wonder that right on my ribs I felt so bruised and tender when I woke up.  You can see where the one roller fits right under his arms.

 This is a blurry image, but shows how they could just slide the X-ray machine over the patient to easily take X-rays.

 After having a little conversation with the people in the room and having them explain some things to me, I heard the anesthesiologist say, "Good Night".  And, all those friendly faces became instantly blurry and I was out!

8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. - Or something like that, I don't know I was rather unconscious during this time.  :)  I think my mom showed up around 9:30 a.m. and the waiting game began.  Boyd said he enjoyed people watching. It was after I had been in surgery for more than four hours and my husband and mom were wondering when the doctor would appear that they called a Code Blue and included the word spinal somewhere in the code. They were both a bit worried, but soon figured out that it couldn't be for me.  At some point the doctor finally came out and Boyd said he looked so worn out, like he had been in a wrestling match. My surgery was actually 5 hours long.  The doctor said that he used a tool that always works on even the toughest cases, but it would not fit in the opening because my stenosis was so bad.  He had to go down two more sizes just to get it to fit in where ever it was supposed to go. He spent a lot of time getting the nerves to do what was needed.   He also couldn't get things to 100% because of my muscles being so tight still, but he felt good about the 90% straight he managed to achieve.

1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ? - After the doctor spoke with them, they sat for about 45 minutes and then someone gave them a room number.  Once they got to the room, they waited another 45 minutes or so for me to arrive. I remember very little of the recovery period.  I just remember noise, clanking of equipment and people talking.  Next thing I know, I can smell Doritos.  I am not kidding!  That is my first memory of getting in the room and that is because my husband, who had packed enough food for an army, hadn't really eaten anything until he got to the room where he chose to bust out the Doritos.
Somewhere along the line someone decided that instead of giving me Dilaudid, I would get morphine.  Well, I don't know if it was the 5 hours on that crazy surgery table or the morphine, but I could not move.  Couldn't lift my arm, couldn't move my legs, couldn't open my eyes, couldn't move my lips.  I could hear people trying to talk to me and all I could do was give a thumbs up or down.  I remember feeling like puking and Boyd and my mom asking them to give me something for it. 
Yes, a very flattering picture indeed.  

And another that shows my swollen eyes and lips.

 My mom left once she figured out that I would not be coming out of my drugged stupor any time soon.  I don't blame her!  Boyd stayed for a couple of hours before he left to do my chores.   Poor guy!

5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.  -  After I was alone, I remember just sleeping but not being overly comfortable.  Finally, about 7:30, I asked to have some help sitting up.  I could not have been upright for more than 5 seconds before I felt so nauseous and dizzy that I had to lay right back down.  I tried to watch Dancing With the Stars, but the noise and lights were too much.  I remember that they asked if I wanted more nausea medication and I just wanted to say, "Don't ask! Just keep it coming!"  I must have slept again, because around 10:30 p.m. I woke and wanted to try to sit up again. This time I managed to stay upright for about 30 seconds.  Some point during this five hour period, I remember the nurse telling me that as soon as I could swallow a pill, they could switch me off the morphine.  And, I remembered thinking, if you would just stop the morphine, I could then swallow a pill.  But, I am sure that instead of clearly expressing that thought, I probably just grunted.  :) I also remember thinking that I should call and talk to my husband and my mom to let them know that I was okay since I couldn't talk when they were there.  But, just as quick as that thought would enter, I would fall back asleep. 
A special thanks to my husband for hooking up my phone and putting it on the table.  The clock was on the other side and I couldn't roll over to see it.  Knowing what time it was when my eyes opened was somehow comforting.  However, I could also see the number of e-mails I had waiting.  I remember seeing 135 at one point and just moaning.  I DID NOT want to deal with any work issues.

It is so weird to remember things at 8:00 a.m. and then remember nothing again until much later in the afternoon.  Kind of lost a whole day there somewhere.  I felt more discomfort than pain overall. 

The surgery was successful all in all.  I had an L4 to S1 fusion, laminectomy, discectomy and whatever it is called when they clean out all the stuff that is taking up space inside your vertebrae.