NEW POST!

Ok, so I am horrible at updating this thing, so I feel bad for ragging on my mom about not posting because she's 100 times better at it than me! :) So recovery has had its ups and downs... The first two months I was really paranoid about messing up my back and nervous about doing things that could ruin the fusion or instrumentation placement. So, I haven't been doing much, mostly in the bed and maybe up for an hour or two a day. Also, I had pretty bad nausea and because of that I haven't really been able to eat much. The narcotics I'm on really help the pain, but they also cause lots of other not so great things! I'm probably 20 to 25 lbs lighter now, which is kind of scary!! I hope to gain the weight back so I don't look like I have an eating disorder! I really do want to eat, but my stomach does not want to cooperate.

On Sunday I left for New York for my 6 week checkup. I was so scared!! Being up only a few minutes a day and then knowing the next day I was going to have to be up and active for over 9 hours- I was sure I was not going to make it! I rode in my car to the airport, which wasn't that bad because I love my car. A wheelchair was waiting for me at the airport and I was taken through security and got patted down! They even scanned my pillow that I was using to pad the wheelchair, so I was glad they were so careful checking everything. I then got on the plane and sat for a while waiting to take off. By that time I was pretty tired and in some pretty bad pain too. But my mom helped by playing Phase 10 (a fun card game) with me to keep me occupied. When I got off the plane there was another wheelchair and we made our way outside to get a taxi. We got me into the taxi and took a short ride to the hotel right next to HSS.

One of my sorority sisters lives in the city because she's at NYU for grad school, so I called her and took a little rest for about an hour. I felt much better after resting in the bed for a bit so we decided to go meet Ashley (sorority sister) for dinner near her place which was actually only a few blocks away, so we got a cab up there and ate in this cute diner. Ashley had an operation as well so we were both going through the same thing with pain and meds and not wanting to move too much! It was great fun to meet up with her and see that she was ok. Hopefully next time we will both be healthy and be able to hit the town together! ;)

On Monday morning I got up and put in my contacts for the first time in ages! I got to Dr Boachie's office and took some xrays. I have 28 Mesa screws, 1 Natural Bridge cross connector, 2 PLIFs, and 4 rods inside me! I am a total K2M poster child now! :D The visit was really good because I was assured that everything is going well, the instrumentation is totally solid and is so straight! I have amazing correction, especially considering all the scar tissue! My kyphosis is reduced a lot as well, so I am really relieved to hear all that. I still have a lot of pain at the top of the construct like T1-2 area and at the bottom L5-S1 and in the middle on the right like T8ish area where they took out part of the ribs, but this is all to be expected and nothing out of the norm. We also went to see a pain management guy to work on my nausea and get me off the narcotics without major withdrawl. Hopefully I won't need the meds for that long. I am now supposed to be starting physical therapy, so I might need more pain killers for the beginning of that, but we'll see how it goes. I'm also supposed to wear a 1 cm lift in my left shoe because my illiac crests are slightly at an angle instead of being parallel to the floor. I think my right leg is a little longer than my left and I want to be straight while my fusion heals.

The biggest thing I learned from the trip was that I can do a LOT more than I have been doing and that I need to start being more active so my body gets more muscle tone and stamina so I can eventually return to my normal life! We had been up and around all day Monday, so by the time we got to the bus to get to Queens (we stayed with a family friend there) I was exhausted and in some intense pain. There were no benches at the bus stop we were at, so that didn't help either. We finally got on the bus and they didn't take the transfers we had and the fee was 5 bucks each, but it needed to be in quarters or dollar coins! Needless to say we didn't have 10 bucks in change, so this amazing woman had 5 dollar coins and she helped convince the driver to let me have the handicap rate (he griped that I didn't have an official card, but I'm like did you not see me hobble onto this bus in a huge back brace??). I talked to Estelle (the lady who helped us) the whole way to queens which really helped me keep my mind off the pain. She knew 2 people who had scoliosis fusion survey like mine and they have led great lives and have had lots of healthy kids. (Dr Boachie said I might even be able to do the epidural since my L3 - L5 levels are not fused. ) Estelle was going to the same stop as my mom and I so she even helped us off the bus.

My mom's friend Jimmy picked us up from the bus stop and took us to his place where I hung out on the couch for a while. They had some other guests at their house that had the cutest dog!! It was a maltese pomeranian mix and was the sweetest thing ever! A white little fur ball that would lick you to death! It was so fun playing with the dog and hanging out with everyone- I almost felt normal again! The next day my mom and I went to the airport and made our way home. When i got to the airport we got another wheelchair and I went through security again with the wand (which went off on my back!) and they wiped my shoes with some paper and put it in a machine. I was scared for a bit because I was wearing my crocs that I wear in the OR so who knows what's on them! But I got through and it took forever to get to the gate. I felt bad for the girl who had to wheel me to the gate because it was such a long way and the floor had these metal bars in it that she had to kind of lift me over them. It was hard work and then even at the gate there were 3 more really steep ramps we had to go down and then I had to walk up the stairs on this little prop plane. It was crazy. I got back to DC and I got wheeled around all the planes and luggage carriers to this elevator that took me up to the right level. We had a friend from church, Mr Brown, come and pick us up to take us back to Stafford and he also talked with us the whole way home so I was not concentrating on my pain.

So everything is better! Now that I'm up at a table eating and not laying down I think it helps the nausea. It's also good to get outside and get some fresh air. I have some visitors coming that I'm excited about! Giselle is coming on Saturday and Michelle on Sunday and Jessie on Wednesday I think, so that will be really fun!! Anyone who wants to visit just let me know when! :)

And thanks for everyone for their well wishes on facebook and email! I am trying to be on top of writing to everyone and finishing my email, but it gets a little crazy, so don't be offended if I don't write back right away! I really appreciate everyone's support because it is really helping me get through all of this! I have been really forgetful recently, so hopefully that's the meds and not a permanent thing!! I do eventually want to go back to work and remember things! :D My next doctors appointment is in 4 months, so I still have a while to go before I'm well enough to go back to my normal life! oh well, let's hope it goes by quickly!