My first real outing from my house after surgery was for my youngest brother's 18th birthday party. Almost exactly one month after my surgery date. Kevin had to wash and style my very difficult curly hair, and my mom lives an hour away in Hudson. It was really nice to socialize and see my family and friends though. We could only stay about and hour and fifteen minutes and then we had to go home because I was in so much pain.
I feel very old that my youngest brother, who's diaper I changed and fed bottles to, actually turned 18 and is graduating high school this year. This is why I came back from Tennessee. I missed Adam's high school graduation and it's something I can never get back. Also, I wouldn't have met Kevin or gotten my amazing job and found Dr. Moreno. Everything happens for a reason.
Everything in my life has brought me exactly to this point. I overdid it this week and am now laid up in bed on my physical therapist's orders. Rotating ice and heat and using my tens unit for the first time. Not the ice but the tens unit and the heat. It's hard for me to remember to use the Spinal Stim/bone graft stimulator. I am supposed to wear it every day, four hours for an entire year from the date of my surgery.
That's the square blue thing. It's uncomfortable. It's a hard plastic material with a soft fabric around it and is only very slightly bendable. I have to wear it at least an hour at a time. When the plastic digs into my upper and lower back, it pushes on the inserted instrumentation and it gets swollen and builds fluid (it seems to like to do that) and starts to get painful. The FDA approved clinical research shows that 92% of fusion patients that use the Spinal Stim had a successful fusion without needing additional surgery or adjustments compared to only 68% without the device. And of the patients with unsuccessful fusions, if they used a Spinal Stim over 80% of those patients ended up with a successful fusion without ever requiring surgery. So I wear it probably at least 5 days a week, and whenever I can remember.
For now, I have to lay in bed and allow myself to relax and heal.Vacuuming, laundry, cleaning the bathroom, and going out to eat and driving are things I should not be doing. They are only to my detriment and slowing my healing progress and setting me back. I never said I wasn't unbelievably stubborn. I just have to be patient and allow my muscles to grow back and hope that most of my nerves wake back up. Dr. Moreno said I won't ever regain 100% of my feeling to touch in my back, but that's not a very big deal. My scar looks amazing and the metal is all holding well and appears to be fusing as it should be.
I saw a neck x-ray of another patient in his office that had a fusion all the way up into their neck and it made me very thankful that wasn't me. It could always be worse. I am thankful he was able to save my Cervical spine and the last disc in my lumbar spine. Kevin keeps telling me to focus on the positive and think about how far I have come and what's behind me. That's the positive influence I need and love.
My thought for today's blog, "Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash." - General S. Patton
I feel very old that my youngest brother, who's diaper I changed and fed bottles to, actually turned 18 and is graduating high school this year. This is why I came back from Tennessee. I missed Adam's high school graduation and it's something I can never get back. Also, I wouldn't have met Kevin or gotten my amazing job and found Dr. Moreno. Everything happens for a reason.
Everything in my life has brought me exactly to this point. I overdid it this week and am now laid up in bed on my physical therapist's orders. Rotating ice and heat and using my tens unit for the first time. Not the ice but the tens unit and the heat. It's hard for me to remember to use the Spinal Stim/bone graft stimulator. I am supposed to wear it every day, four hours for an entire year from the date of my surgery.
That's the square blue thing. It's uncomfortable. It's a hard plastic material with a soft fabric around it and is only very slightly bendable. I have to wear it at least an hour at a time. When the plastic digs into my upper and lower back, it pushes on the inserted instrumentation and it gets swollen and builds fluid (it seems to like to do that) and starts to get painful. The FDA approved clinical research shows that 92% of fusion patients that use the Spinal Stim had a successful fusion without needing additional surgery or adjustments compared to only 68% without the device. And of the patients with unsuccessful fusions, if they used a Spinal Stim over 80% of those patients ended up with a successful fusion without ever requiring surgery. So I wear it probably at least 5 days a week, and whenever I can remember.
For now, I have to lay in bed and allow myself to relax and heal.Vacuuming, laundry, cleaning the bathroom, and going out to eat and driving are things I should not be doing. They are only to my detriment and slowing my healing progress and setting me back. I never said I wasn't unbelievably stubborn. I just have to be patient and allow my muscles to grow back and hope that most of my nerves wake back up. Dr. Moreno said I won't ever regain 100% of my feeling to touch in my back, but that's not a very big deal. My scar looks amazing and the metal is all holding well and appears to be fusing as it should be.
I saw a neck x-ray of another patient in his office that had a fusion all the way up into their neck and it made me very thankful that wasn't me. It could always be worse. I am thankful he was able to save my Cervical spine and the last disc in my lumbar spine. Kevin keeps telling me to focus on the positive and think about how far I have come and what's behind me. That's the positive influence I need and love.
My thought for today's blog, "Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash." - General S. Patton
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