Thank you so much for updating us and we will continue to pray for her healing. I hope she is not in too much pain and is in good spirits. Hurry back Chrisy, We Love you!!
Thank you, mom, for updating us on her condition.
Please let her know we miss her and wish her all the best on her recovery. Please stay srong for her...
Just a quick post to let you know I am at home and on the couch! It was not as painful as the posterior approach, but pretty bad none the less!
I actully was taken if the PCA this moring and on oral meds from then on. My Surgeon said I could take the morphine as prescribed with the other meds he prescibed. He came to see me this morning.
Please excuse my typing !
So far I have been haing mostly surgical pain. Last night I experieced some of the buring inbetween the shoulder blades, but nothing ike when I wake up at home...Only time will tell now.
Well...thanks for all the support! It is time for some lunch and a nap then a short walk later,
Love you all.
Chrissy
Thanks Chrissy's Momma for letting us know things went well in surgery, that was very thoughtful - I hope and pray that her recovery will go as smoothly - please let her know we are praying for her - you did a good job bringing this child up because she is a sweety huggs Aver
Chrissy, Been thinking of you alot! So glad to here from you & that all is well. I will be checking to see how it is going, careful & no overdoing anything! Sammy
Hi there, Thought of you this morning and said I wonder when you will have news.... So delighted to hear everything went well........ mind yourself and that neck especially lying on the couch.
Thanks so much for the support. Please forgive my typing! I am still trying to get used to this collar and I am drowsy at the moment,
So far so good. Since I came home yesterday just about 1 pm, I managed to have some lunch and go for a quick-short walk with my Mom. Who by the way is just an amazing woman with such great strength and courage.
I have to remember to work on being aware that all the meds and pain can make me testy sometimes and that she is only human!
Anyway, I did alot of resting when I got home and I did 2 short walks. I managed to sleep ewll through the night.
I am somewhat bummed about the wedge pillow I ordered. It has been taking a long time to arrive here partly because it was sent to the wrong place and then it retuned to its place of origin and the storm in the souther US sort of stalled it out for another few more days. I really really need that hting.
I have many pillows to prop with but it is so much work for my Mom and I to get thim into a comfortable position for me wether I am on the couch or on my bed.
I did notice that I did NOT have that severe buring this morning between my shoulder blades. That gives me some hope, but I don't want to get to excited yet ta know! Last time we had neck surgery symptoms ent away and then returned a few weeks later with a serious serious vengence. I just have to trust the Big Guy on this one.
Right now I would say I have a lot of surgical pain and uncofortableness. I think when the collar is ready to be removed and PT is to start then I will be able to better tell what the results are.
As for the medications. The Surgeon agreed that I could take my Morphine Sulfate at home. So I am glad that I have about a weeks worth of that. My Mom and I have decided to try only taking 2 of them a day as apposed to 3. The reason is because I am allowed to take more of the percocet 10/325 and I also can take 5 mg's of valium every 4 hours. So we will se how it works and then get to talking with the surgon and pm to see where we stand on pain and all that.
I feel optimistic like I said before. I am just only doing the bare minimu. It is difficult to let somone do for you when your so used to doing for yourself. I think I have decided to miss class on this coming Monday and give myself the time to recuperate (sp) and get a bit stronger, before trying to return to my class at shool.
I want to do the best that I can as a patient to get better! They told me when I left the surgery center that I was doing excetionally well! They said I looked great even though I told them I felt awful. I actually felt somewhat Flu-like yesterday while at the hospital. They had taken the PCA pump away and I was switchedx to oral meds. I think I went into a bit of wd's for a short while until I got home an took the morphine sulfate. Who knows.
Anyway I have these really cool leggins to prevent embolisms that are the new fad these days. i am supposed to where them for a week. LOL they did not come with a garter and they are thigh highs...lol
So my friend it is time for me to turn this machine off and get into a bit more reclined position.
I will be cheking in a few times today to try and get myself caught up on everyones stuff.
Chrissy, congrats on the successful surgery! It seems amazing to me that it's finished and you are already back at home! Glad everything is working out w/ the pain meds too. I had a strong anxious and kind of alarmist response when I read your post about what they planned to do w/ your pain meds after surgery. I then read everyone else's posts and they weren't worried at all - I went back and changed mine so that I wouldn't stress you out. It was helpful for me -- I saw how I tend to think of worst case scenarios instead of trusting that things will work out ok (as they did). Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I learned something [or rather I learned it again] from your post and my reaction [in first post, I was ready to call out the national guard ;-) and get that PA whipped into shape..;-)....
Anyway, very glad that you're doing so well and that you will be taking Monday off. Take care. I'll check back later.
Last edited by Confused089; 09-05-2008 at 11:26 PM.
Chrissy!
Im so happy for you. I need to read up on your posts because I think my situation is a lot like yours. Im really getting worse, and need to get to the bottom of all of this. Ill start a thread later or tomorrow. I just walked in the door from a long ride and IM really hurting. I need to take some meds and lie down...Again IM thrilled everything went well for you. Id been thinking about you.
xoxoxoxo,
IZZY'SMOM
Chrissy, I'm so glad you're home and all went well. I know it will be a little while before you can truly know how well, but it sounds encouraging. Try to rest as much as possible and don't undermedicate, OK? Especially post-op. Our bodies need the pain relief to help in the healing process.
Take good care and I'll check in when I can. Soft hugs, CMP/MM
Chrissygirl I am praying for you my friend. I have such hopes for you that this will give you the relief you need. I am keeping my fingers crossed here.
DO NOT over do, just let your wonderful mom do what needs to be done.
Sounds like you have a good chance here so do everything you can to make sure your recovery goes smoothly. NO laundry & all that. Just relax! God bless & I will be checking back to see how its going. Sammy
sooo glad your home hon and also appear to be doing about as well as expected too. i too noticed when they shut off the wonderful PCA in the hosp and switched me to only orals,something felt a bit "off' for awhile in my body,but that too shall pass. given that you DO have that MS to help you at least thru the first couple weeks is really a huge plus too. the very first wek is usually the worst,but you also HAVE TO try and NOT DO the things that could exacerbate your situation. take a week at least off from school hon,you really just NEED to do everything the right way this time around ya know? your body had just been thru a huge trauma and thigs are also trying to heal too. sooo,you just take it easy for awhile,you DO deserve that much after all. time will tell when its okay to 'do" again,but for now,just let things go and concentrate on your healing and recovery from the surgery process for now. if you try and do too much it will just set you back,and you do not need that again. just be a lady of leisure for now, things will get done eventually and within the right time to do them,for now,it is you that needs attention and rest sweetie.
just a suggestion if your pillow has not come yet. i have to actually sleep this way every night,but just take a nice fluffy towel and place it under your neck/on your pillow(layed flat?),then kind of push it or tuck it into the areas that just don;t feel well supported? you know what i mean? this will kind of even out that pressure casued by the unsupported areas along with that stupid coller and the problems it creates all by intself. this is the only way i can get even remotely comfy to even try and go to sleep. if the bigger towel doesn;t work,go with a hand towel, it may 'tuck" better for you.
just lie down,grab that remote and take er easy chrissy, take all the time you really do need to just heal yourself. too much pushing just creates alot more issues for you. i am sooo happy things went well hon. please keep us all posted. good luck and take care chrissy,Marcia
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3-22-01,herniated C-6-7
11-20-01,placement of hardware for failed fusion
9-22-03,removal of cavernous hemangioma that was inside spinal cord. Neuro damage to L hand L leg and R leg.
Hi Sweetie! Welcome Home! I can't believe how quickly they released you from the hospital. I pray that you are doing well today.
You sound like you are doing well from your posts -- just be careful and let Mom wait on you hand and foot. Consider yourself a pretty princess and let her take care of you -- you will be on your own soon enough. I wish you lived nearby so we can visit with one another and I could bring you over some fabulous homemade cookies my daughter is baking. She has decided she likes to bake so this is probably the 4 kind she has made this week. We have had sugar cookies, oatmeal choc chip, spice cookies, and mexican wedding cake cookies. Oh Yeah! I can't hurt her feelings so I have been eating cookies and fruit for lunch and breakfast. Nice and healthy.
Take care and looking forward to chatting with you soon.
All those cookies osund great but have a hard time swallowing them ..lol I guess you will have to eat them for me!
Well I was a very bad girl and the first day after deing home I went to costco. a huge Yes what the heck was I thinking!! Well I was not. We only had 3 items to purchase, but that kind of store was just to busy.
We went to walmart right after that and I sat in the airconditioned car and when we got home I was smoked! I went and laid down and was out.
So we have now learned our lesson.
NO OUTINGS FOR A WHILE>
I have already made arrangements with the school to not be there tomorrow and to have a note taker for the class. I have no idea when I will or if I wll be able to return because it is soooo hard to sit up in a chair. We will play that by ear.
As for the pain meds..well my Mom and I tired a few different ways of managing it and we are now going to the way it was before surgery.
Morphine sulphate 3 x a day 30 mg's and we will try to keep the percocet 10/325's at no more than 6 per day. I also have 5 mg valium I can take every 4 hours as needed so I think this will work.
The problem is that the surgeon did not prescibe enough meds to last to the post op appointment. Not to mention the MS came from my PM and if he (the surgeon) wont prescribe it then he needs to refer me back to pm right away so I dont run out. SO tomorrow I will try to get on the phone and see whom I can get going on this venture at the surgeons office.
I have not had the awful buring pain between the shoulder blades since before the surgery and the first night afterward.
I think only time will tell with the neck buring pain and weekness etc when the collar comes off. Right now I have not had any weakness inmy arm other than right after surgery. I do get some burning pain on the tops of my shoulders and base of neck, but I think it could be caused by the neck brace or just my head trying to hold itself up.
I am trying not to get excited because last time I had the neck surgery the symptoms went away and then came back so we just take it as it is right now and WAIT.
It is very painful and incomfortable to sleep. My wedge pillow is still not here yet. I guess ther was a moxup with the sending and then the big storm. SO I hope it comes tomorrow. The best position is in a reclined position with my back flat. Right now I am in a really funky upright position to type so I gotta run. Been this way for a whiel and it is time for a walk anyway.
I miss you all and I am praying fro everyone. I know there are lots of us going through things right now and we all could use the support. so sending you all the groupg hugs---
Chrissy
PS please excuse the typing
We have had sugar cookies, oatmeal choc chip, spice cookies, and mexican wedding cake cookies. Oh Yeah! I can't hurt her feelings so I have been eating cookies and fruit for lunch and breakfast. Nice and healthy. 
Yes what the heck was I thinking!! Well I was not. We only had 3 items to purchase, but that kind of store was just to busy.
