Two Back Surgeries... One Good Man
Yesterday, I had back surgery... I'll get to that story in a bit. But this recent surgery has made me reflect a lot on my first back surgery when I was 16. We will start there...
It was the summer of 2002. I had just finished my sophomore year in high school. I was at a new school that year - Southeast Guilford. In the spring of 2001, my parents and I moved to Pleasant Garden because I had a horse and we wanted some land and a barn to keep my horse. We moved just across the county. Before that, we lived in an amazing neighborhood in Colfax and I went to Southwest Elementary, Southwest Middle, and Southwest high during my freshman year. So, in my first year at Southeast High School, I had the opportunity to meet several wonderful friends and I started attending Pleasant Garden Baptist church since it was the closest church to my house. I loved that church! I was scheduled to go out of the country for the first time to Thailand on a short term mission trip with that church in the summer of 2002. The day we left for Thailand, I noticed that my right leg started hurting. It began on the first flight from Greensboro to Chicago. I figured that it was just due to being in a cramped plane and that it was falling asleep. The pain was worse throughout the trip in Thailand, but it wasn't excruciating. I really enjoyed my time there. I was able to meet several amazing people, I got my first experience teaching students, and my first experience in a different culture and language. The food was incredible (except the seafood soup that included eyeballs - I wasn't on board with that so much). The flight home was long and my leg hurt even more. By the time I got home, the pain was intense and I was exhausted from the full several days in Thailand and some serious jet lag.
Once I was home, I had a lot of responsibilities. I was taking care of the horses and cleaning the house. But this pain in my leg and bottom wouldn't go away. I was supposed to clean the house and vacuum and i just couldn't do it! I finally decided that I needed to go to the doctor. I don't remember where my parents were, but they were not able to take me to the doctor and I didn't feel like I could drive because my right foot was numb too. So Kathryn, Lisa's mom, took me to the doctor. The doctor prescribed some muscle relaxers and sent me home. I was mostly comfortable and functional when I was on my back, so I just stayed in bed sleeping off and on for a couple of days. I decided I would try to go back to work at my summer job after a few days. My dad got a job for me at Crown Automotive calling people to get feedback on their service experience. After sitting and calling people for a short time, I was in extreme pain again in my leg. So Lisa decided to take me to the doctor again. That time I saw a different doctor. After listening to my symptoms, he laid me flat on my back on the table and lifted my right leg. I screamed in pain because I had no idea it would be painful. He sent me for a MRI the next morning on my lumbar spine. We arrived at 6:00 in the morning for my MRI. By 3:00 that afternoon, we were in the office with Dr. Nudelman (my neurosurgeon) and he was telling us that I had a severely herniated disc that was sticking deep into my sciatic nerve (L4/L5). He said that I needed surgery and asked if I was free at that moment for surgery and if I had eaten that day. I eat all the time. Of course I had eaten! So we scheduled surgery for first thing the next morning.
I arrived at Cone Hospital early in the morning and my surgery went well. When I woke up, that horrible leg pain had vanished. My body was incredibly sore all over because of the surgery, but it was so nice to see immediate improvement. I stayed that night at the hospital. The first time I got out of bed, I was shocked at all the pain and I immediacy sat back on the bed and asked for pain medication. They gave me morphine and it was incredible. I went home later that day. The doctor encouraged me to get up and walk around as much as possible. Once I was home, I tried to take my first short walk around the house. I had just taken a pain pill a few minutes before I got up. Once I got up and walked a little bit, I threw up crackers and water all over the floor. I decided at that point I would just stick to Tylenol and never walk again. Of course I did end up walking more, but I didn't take stronger pain meds. After a couple of weeks, I had to start going to school. I could only go to one class for the first week (because you can't sit for long periods of time). I finally worked myself up to going to school for a full day, but this took about a month.
I only took 3 classes that semester rather than 4 because they didn't want me to get behind. Ray Bower was just my friend at the time. We had become good friends during the previous year of school. He tutored me in Algebra II the year before. We ended up having the exact same schedule that year except he had another class where I had a "free" block as a helper in the guidance office. Ray would come over to my house and keep me up to date in my classes. He would carry my book bag from class to class for me and walk me to my car each day. We were not dating and we both just saw each other as good friends. But Ray truly made it possible for me to stay in school that semester and I loved our time together. By the winter, my back was totally better. I started riding my horse again on a regular basis about 6 months after surgery. We didn't start dating until our senior year, but I think that the way he cared for me when I was so vulnerable after surgery made a huge impact on both of us.
For the next sixteen years, I never had issues with that part of my back. It had become a distant memory. Until about 4 weeks ago. I woke up one morning and noticed that leg pain. It scared me. I knew that pain. But I tried to take some ibuprofen and told myself to relax. I told myself it would probably get better. It didn't. Day by day it got worse. I tried to rest and lay down as much as I could. It didn't help. So after 11 days of pain, it was so bad that I couldn't sit, walk, or stand without insane pain in my leg. It felt like a car had run over my foot / lower leg and that someone was digging a knife in my knee. My foot was also numb. It was time to see a doctor. I was scared to go to Dr. Nudelman at first because I figured he would suggest surgery and I wondered if there was anything else I could do. So I went to another doctor who some people in my family see. His PA saw me and she ordered a stat MRI. Apparently it's not good when your foot is numb and you have foot drop. After the doctor got the MRI report, he called me in his office that day. He said I had one option - surgery. The pain would not get better with a giant piece of disc sticking in my nerve. It was the same L4/L5 disc this time - it had herniated again. He said we needed to do surgery sooner rather than later to try to avoid permanent damage to my nerves. His office called me the next day and scheduled surgery, but it wasn't set until November 28. There was no way I was going to wait for another 3 1/2 weeks if I could help it. So I sent my MRI report to Dr. Nudelman (the doctor who did my first surgery). He wanted to see me the next week. When he saw me, he said there was significant weakness in my foot and severe foot drop and he could get me in for surgery for 3 days later. We were thrilled!
So we went in yesterday for my surgery. Ray's mom (Natalie) spent the night with us the night before because we had to leave our house at 5:50 in the morning. She took care of our kids all day. Diane took James to school and Marsha took Luke to school. Natalie did everything else for our kids all day. This time I didn't even have to go to the hospital - I just went to The Greensboro Speciality Surgical Center - It was awesome! It's like the birth center option for surgery. It's small, convenient, and you don't have to stay long after surgery! When I was in pre-op, I told my nurse I would need to pump before surgery - she looked at me like I was crazy and has never taken care of a mom who needed to pump and she's been a nurse for 20 years! But she was so nice and accommodating. Ray's aunt, Kim, joined us at the surgical center. She's a RN and was basically our doula through the experience. She helped clarify the medical jargon and helped me know what to expect and what to ask. She sat with Ray through the surgery. Once they took me back a little after 8:00, they gave me some good stuff in my IV and the next thing I knew, I was awake in recovery. The nurse asked how I was feeling. The leg and foot pain were totally gone!! Such an amazing feeling. I did, however, feel rough after surgery - just sore. She put a few things in my IV and I felt fine after that. The doctor came by and said that the surgery went great - and that I had a huge chunk of disc in my nerve that he was able to remove.
I was up walking within 15 minutes of waking up. Then Ray and Kim came back to me and I was able to sit up and pump. After about 30 minutes of being awake, I was hungry. They brought me crackers and sprite - yuck! So Kim went and got all of us Panera - I ate my entire sandwich, soup, and sweet tea. And I drank TONS of water. Even though I hydrated like crazy the day before surgery, due to breastfeeding and fasting the night before, I was dehydrated that morning (my urine was dark and it was difficult to get a vein). We stayed there for the next 5-6 hours and I would walk every 1.5 hours. I couldn't sleep there though because there were lots of noises and the lights were bright. While there, I noticed that I was using lots of pillows, so I used the Target app and bought several additional pillows and pillow cases to pick up on the way home. I also ordered Panera again for dinner with their app. So on our way home, we briefly stopped at both places and we were set. I came home, changed clothes, and got comfortable in my bed. Each child came and visited individually for a short time. Once Ray and I ate dinner, we watched some Friends on Netflix in bed and then he went to sleep immediately at 8:30. I tried to sleep. I tried so hard. But after hours of trying to go to sleep, Silas woke up and was ready to eat. Ray brought him to me (because I can't pick him up for weeks to come) and I told Ray that he was going to have to shave my legs because I couldn't sleep with the prickly legs. So he helped me shave my legs while I was laying on my bed a little after midnight. After he did that, I slept like a rock! He's so so good to me!
Natalie spent the night again last night and she and Ray took care of the kids all day today while I was mostly in bed and just up for short walks around the house. My leg pain is gone. My foot is waking up more. Hopefully I will regain all feeling in my foot, but it could take weeks or months to know for sure. I've been eating like normal and am very much enjoying life now that I'm not in pain! The nurses and the doctor said that when young people have back surgery, they tend to feel good and over do it too soon. I can't pick up my kids or bend over. This is why I will have someone with me (Natalie, Ray, Kurt, my parents, or friends) from now until Christmas. I might not be in tons of pain and I may feel normal, but I'm not. It takes several weeks to heal and if I resume normal activity too quickly, then I could mess everything up and start all over. If I have to have another surgery at L4/L5, it will most likely be a fusion and we want to avoid that for as long as possible - hopefully forever!
I'm so thankful for all the support from friends and family. Many friends have already signed up to bring us a meal! This recovery process would not be successful without everyone involved!! I'm listening to Christmas music already and I'm excited that I'll probably be mostly back to normal by Christmas. Currently, my pain is minimal, but I just feel very fragile and I'm taking it very easy. I'll spend most of my days over the next couple of weeks in my bedroom. Now to take a shower and get Ray to shave my legs (because - no bending for me) before it's midnight!
And please excuse grammatical errors / typos... because I'm on narcotics and muscle relaxers!
It was the summer of 2002. I had just finished my sophomore year in high school. I was at a new school that year - Southeast Guilford. In the spring of 2001, my parents and I moved to Pleasant Garden because I had a horse and we wanted some land and a barn to keep my horse. We moved just across the county. Before that, we lived in an amazing neighborhood in Colfax and I went to Southwest Elementary, Southwest Middle, and Southwest high during my freshman year. So, in my first year at Southeast High School, I had the opportunity to meet several wonderful friends and I started attending Pleasant Garden Baptist church since it was the closest church to my house. I loved that church! I was scheduled to go out of the country for the first time to Thailand on a short term mission trip with that church in the summer of 2002. The day we left for Thailand, I noticed that my right leg started hurting. It began on the first flight from Greensboro to Chicago. I figured that it was just due to being in a cramped plane and that it was falling asleep. The pain was worse throughout the trip in Thailand, but it wasn't excruciating. I really enjoyed my time there. I was able to meet several amazing people, I got my first experience teaching students, and my first experience in a different culture and language. The food was incredible (except the seafood soup that included eyeballs - I wasn't on board with that so much). The flight home was long and my leg hurt even more. By the time I got home, the pain was intense and I was exhausted from the full several days in Thailand and some serious jet lag.
Once I was home, I had a lot of responsibilities. I was taking care of the horses and cleaning the house. But this pain in my leg and bottom wouldn't go away. I was supposed to clean the house and vacuum and i just couldn't do it! I finally decided that I needed to go to the doctor. I don't remember where my parents were, but they were not able to take me to the doctor and I didn't feel like I could drive because my right foot was numb too. So Kathryn, Lisa's mom, took me to the doctor. The doctor prescribed some muscle relaxers and sent me home. I was mostly comfortable and functional when I was on my back, so I just stayed in bed sleeping off and on for a couple of days. I decided I would try to go back to work at my summer job after a few days. My dad got a job for me at Crown Automotive calling people to get feedback on their service experience. After sitting and calling people for a short time, I was in extreme pain again in my leg. So Lisa decided to take me to the doctor again. That time I saw a different doctor. After listening to my symptoms, he laid me flat on my back on the table and lifted my right leg. I screamed in pain because I had no idea it would be painful. He sent me for a MRI the next morning on my lumbar spine. We arrived at 6:00 in the morning for my MRI. By 3:00 that afternoon, we were in the office with Dr. Nudelman (my neurosurgeon) and he was telling us that I had a severely herniated disc that was sticking deep into my sciatic nerve (L4/L5). He said that I needed surgery and asked if I was free at that moment for surgery and if I had eaten that day. I eat all the time. Of course I had eaten! So we scheduled surgery for first thing the next morning.
I arrived at Cone Hospital early in the morning and my surgery went well. When I woke up, that horrible leg pain had vanished. My body was incredibly sore all over because of the surgery, but it was so nice to see immediate improvement. I stayed that night at the hospital. The first time I got out of bed, I was shocked at all the pain and I immediacy sat back on the bed and asked for pain medication. They gave me morphine and it was incredible. I went home later that day. The doctor encouraged me to get up and walk around as much as possible. Once I was home, I tried to take my first short walk around the house. I had just taken a pain pill a few minutes before I got up. Once I got up and walked a little bit, I threw up crackers and water all over the floor. I decided at that point I would just stick to Tylenol and never walk again. Of course I did end up walking more, but I didn't take stronger pain meds. After a couple of weeks, I had to start going to school. I could only go to one class for the first week (because you can't sit for long periods of time). I finally worked myself up to going to school for a full day, but this took about a month.
I only took 3 classes that semester rather than 4 because they didn't want me to get behind. Ray Bower was just my friend at the time. We had become good friends during the previous year of school. He tutored me in Algebra II the year before. We ended up having the exact same schedule that year except he had another class where I had a "free" block as a helper in the guidance office. Ray would come over to my house and keep me up to date in my classes. He would carry my book bag from class to class for me and walk me to my car each day. We were not dating and we both just saw each other as good friends. But Ray truly made it possible for me to stay in school that semester and I loved our time together. By the winter, my back was totally better. I started riding my horse again on a regular basis about 6 months after surgery. We didn't start dating until our senior year, but I think that the way he cared for me when I was so vulnerable after surgery made a huge impact on both of us.
For the next sixteen years, I never had issues with that part of my back. It had become a distant memory. Until about 4 weeks ago. I woke up one morning and noticed that leg pain. It scared me. I knew that pain. But I tried to take some ibuprofen and told myself to relax. I told myself it would probably get better. It didn't. Day by day it got worse. I tried to rest and lay down as much as I could. It didn't help. So after 11 days of pain, it was so bad that I couldn't sit, walk, or stand without insane pain in my leg. It felt like a car had run over my foot / lower leg and that someone was digging a knife in my knee. My foot was also numb. It was time to see a doctor. I was scared to go to Dr. Nudelman at first because I figured he would suggest surgery and I wondered if there was anything else I could do. So I went to another doctor who some people in my family see. His PA saw me and she ordered a stat MRI. Apparently it's not good when your foot is numb and you have foot drop. After the doctor got the MRI report, he called me in his office that day. He said I had one option - surgery. The pain would not get better with a giant piece of disc sticking in my nerve. It was the same L4/L5 disc this time - it had herniated again. He said we needed to do surgery sooner rather than later to try to avoid permanent damage to my nerves. His office called me the next day and scheduled surgery, but it wasn't set until November 28. There was no way I was going to wait for another 3 1/2 weeks if I could help it. So I sent my MRI report to Dr. Nudelman (the doctor who did my first surgery). He wanted to see me the next week. When he saw me, he said there was significant weakness in my foot and severe foot drop and he could get me in for surgery for 3 days later. We were thrilled!
So we went in yesterday for my surgery. Ray's mom (Natalie) spent the night with us the night before because we had to leave our house at 5:50 in the morning. She took care of our kids all day. Diane took James to school and Marsha took Luke to school. Natalie did everything else for our kids all day. This time I didn't even have to go to the hospital - I just went to The Greensboro Speciality Surgical Center - It was awesome! It's like the birth center option for surgery. It's small, convenient, and you don't have to stay long after surgery! When I was in pre-op, I told my nurse I would need to pump before surgery - she looked at me like I was crazy and has never taken care of a mom who needed to pump and she's been a nurse for 20 years! But she was so nice and accommodating. Ray's aunt, Kim, joined us at the surgical center. She's a RN and was basically our doula through the experience. She helped clarify the medical jargon and helped me know what to expect and what to ask. She sat with Ray through the surgery. Once they took me back a little after 8:00, they gave me some good stuff in my IV and the next thing I knew, I was awake in recovery. The nurse asked how I was feeling. The leg and foot pain were totally gone!! Such an amazing feeling. I did, however, feel rough after surgery - just sore. She put a few things in my IV and I felt fine after that. The doctor came by and said that the surgery went great - and that I had a huge chunk of disc in my nerve that he was able to remove.
I was up walking within 15 minutes of waking up. Then Ray and Kim came back to me and I was able to sit up and pump. After about 30 minutes of being awake, I was hungry. They brought me crackers and sprite - yuck! So Kim went and got all of us Panera - I ate my entire sandwich, soup, and sweet tea. And I drank TONS of water. Even though I hydrated like crazy the day before surgery, due to breastfeeding and fasting the night before, I was dehydrated that morning (my urine was dark and it was difficult to get a vein). We stayed there for the next 5-6 hours and I would walk every 1.5 hours. I couldn't sleep there though because there were lots of noises and the lights were bright. While there, I noticed that I was using lots of pillows, so I used the Target app and bought several additional pillows and pillow cases to pick up on the way home. I also ordered Panera again for dinner with their app. So on our way home, we briefly stopped at both places and we were set. I came home, changed clothes, and got comfortable in my bed. Each child came and visited individually for a short time. Once Ray and I ate dinner, we watched some Friends on Netflix in bed and then he went to sleep immediately at 8:30. I tried to sleep. I tried so hard. But after hours of trying to go to sleep, Silas woke up and was ready to eat. Ray brought him to me (because I can't pick him up for weeks to come) and I told Ray that he was going to have to shave my legs because I couldn't sleep with the prickly legs. So he helped me shave my legs while I was laying on my bed a little after midnight. After he did that, I slept like a rock! He's so so good to me!
Natalie spent the night again last night and she and Ray took care of the kids all day today while I was mostly in bed and just up for short walks around the house. My leg pain is gone. My foot is waking up more. Hopefully I will regain all feeling in my foot, but it could take weeks or months to know for sure. I've been eating like normal and am very much enjoying life now that I'm not in pain! The nurses and the doctor said that when young people have back surgery, they tend to feel good and over do it too soon. I can't pick up my kids or bend over. This is why I will have someone with me (Natalie, Ray, Kurt, my parents, or friends) from now until Christmas. I might not be in tons of pain and I may feel normal, but I'm not. It takes several weeks to heal and if I resume normal activity too quickly, then I could mess everything up and start all over. If I have to have another surgery at L4/L5, it will most likely be a fusion and we want to avoid that for as long as possible - hopefully forever!
I'm so thankful for all the support from friends and family. Many friends have already signed up to bring us a meal! This recovery process would not be successful without everyone involved!! I'm listening to Christmas music already and I'm excited that I'll probably be mostly back to normal by Christmas. Currently, my pain is minimal, but I just feel very fragile and I'm taking it very easy. I'll spend most of my days over the next couple of weeks in my bedroom. Now to take a shower and get Ray to shave my legs (because - no bending for me) before it's midnight!
And please excuse grammatical errors / typos... because I'm on narcotics and muscle relaxers!
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Jessica, I just read your blog! I had no idea you were going through all this. I'm thankful you got in so quickly and are out of the pain. Dr. Nudelman is great. It's wonderful when God provides just the right help. Rest! I know it will be hard with the holidays approaching, but take your much deserved break!
ReplyDeleteThinking of you and praying your recovery is smooth and without complications.
Linda
I see it listed me as "unknown"
ReplyDeleteThis is Linda Bass