ouch

Well, I can't say they didn't warn me.
I got to take off my bandage yesterday. 
Whoa! My incision is UGGGLLY!  
Swollen and bruised and pretty icky.
I have no pain around my incision.

But the pain in my upper back/shoulders/arms is unbearable.
:(
And I am taking my super duper p ain meds regularly.
Apparently, they stretch my arms straight out in some weird traction thing.
 Anchor me down so I don't move.
 I was asleep for this part (thank goodness!).
The surgeon told me the space where the smooshed disc was removed was less than a half centimemter
He opened it up to 8 cm. 
7 and a half centimeters is a lot for my old spine.
I am usually pretty tough, but I hope this resolves quickly. 

We did venture out to the grocery store today. 
I got stocked up on yogurt and jello
even bought some chocolate ice cream.
(Since I will be stuck with soft food for at least another week and a half. I
I am going to have good stuff)

I am home

I am home, had a nap.

Thanks for the prayers and well wishes.

Recovery will  be interesting.
The surgeon told me it was much worse that he expected.
It was supposed to take an hour, but was 2+

He said he took his time and did it right :)

whew!

nervous

Tomorrow is the big day.
Today I am nervous.
I know I have a wonderful surgeon 
and its great hospital,
But its MY neck.

I probably should have taken today off.
I still have a list of things to do a mile long. I have been so distracted by the Olympics. 

As long as I get my floors scrubbed tonight, the rest can wait.
Besides, if I don't get stuff done, I am going to try not to stress about it.

An apology

I am very stressed about my upcoming spine surgery
Sorry if you are here to see my sewing or crocheting,
Not much creating is going on.
Mostly cleaning, and other things I need to get done in the next several days. 


Check back later though, 
sounds like recovery will be long. 
But I will be back to creating as soon as I can!


Linda

pre -op bomb

Pre -op appointments today. I was at the clinic for three and a half hours!
holy crap.
I am registered, informed, and passed the physical.
The physical is a joke. She listened to my heart, lungs, check my reflexes. 
That's it.


The surgery educator gave me information overload.
And a ba-jillion restrictions.
No lifting anything for 2 weeks
No lifting more than 10# for 4-6 weeks after that. 
No lifting my arms above my shoulders, can't even take a plate from the cupboard,.
No pushing or pulling.
No sweeping.
No dishes (yay!)
No vacuuming
No turning
No twisting
No driving,
No using my hands
    Wait. what?
That's right. No typing, no crocheting, no sewing, no typing.
I am allowed to use the tv remote.
And go to the bathroom.
so glad they are going to let me do that!
The list of 'no' goes on and on. 


I am so glad I am getting this done before school starts.
Jill will be around to help :)


Also, I will probably not be eating any solid food for a few weeks.
He has to push my esophagus out of the way to get to my spine.
It will be very swollen for a while.
My larynx will also be "disrupted"  I could be without a voice for a few days.
She said its not unusual to wake up feeling like you are being strangled, because of all the swelling.
She said that so nonchalantly 
Yikes!
On the upside, maybe this will jump start my diet!
I wonder how I will choke down the pain pills?
There will be severe neck and upper back pain, the actual surgery strains the ligaments in my neck and between my shoulder blades. 
I have 20 or so pages of information to read;
It sounds like recovery is not going to be fun. 
All this and it probably won't relieve my pain.


*sigh*

August to-do list

Before surgery (on the 10th)

•  Find the fabric I bought for the back of Emma's quilt....I have searched high and low...no idea what I did with this, grrrr
• make a cute back for that and get it to quilter
• Get hair cut 
• Organize my fabric
• major grocery shopping so I don't have to think about it when I get home
• walmart run to stock up on TP , cat food, paper plates

After surgery. The surgeon told me I would be miserable for the first week or two, 

(I don't like the sound of that, but do appreciate the that he is up front with me)

and  I will be off work for at least a month.

• Sew
• Crochet - the surgeon told me none of this, the use of my hands will be very limited.
• Watch movies
• bind Emma's quilt.
• mail baby quilts

July recap

Making a list of things I got accomplished in July

• finished baby K's quilt. All I need to do is sew a label in.
• stocked up on some clearance yarn at walmart
• decluttered my kitchen cupboards (I tackled the worst one, the others will do)
• finished Emma's quilt top
• donated 6 (1) garbage bags of clothes to the local thrift shop.
• cut up a garbage bag full of t shirts for t shirt yarn

dang, I know I got more done than this, but I can't remember :o)