July 29th Back Surgery

The goodies that were sent home with me from my surgery. One black back brace, one wrist tag and one bottle of percocet!

I had surgery on my L5/S1 disc due to a pinched nerve. Dr. Felix did a mirco diskectomy to clean the disc away from the nerve. The surgery went well. I was quite nervous about having it and prayed to have the comforting influence of the Holy Ghost. Wow, what an awesome experience to feel since peace. I came out of the anesthesia just fine, and I very little or no pain.

I went into surgery with extreme pain down my right leg and a numb foot. I did three weeks of physical therapy at no avail. What started the problem was going in for an epidural injection which only inflamed the nerve. The night of the epidural, the pain in my leg was so intense that I went to the ER. Dan was already in bed, so I had Ethan take me, a fine mother and son outing. When I woke up the next day, my foot was numb which was new to me.

I came home from surgery feeling pretty darn good but that could have been the drugs. The next day, I didn't feel so chipper. I still had the awful pain going down my leg and the numbness. After a week of this pain, I went back to the doctor and he prescribed a steroid to shrink the swelling around the nerve. It worked! No more pain down my leg BUT my foot is still numb. The doc says that's the last thing to recover.

My third week, post-surgery, my incision became infected. I thought it might have been because I sat in my pool the day after I was given the OK to swim. NO more pool for me. I cheat though, I walk around in the pool as it's not high enough to wet my incision. The doctor examined my infected incision and thought it would be fine and he noticed a suture working its way out. Another week has passed, and I'm still oozing. The stitch worked its way out about 1/2 inch and Dan cut it off. Now there's a little hole that likes to weep. Bless Dan's heart, since my arms don't reach around to clean and bandage my wound, he has stepped up to the job. He's the man of great distinction.

Going on my fourth week, and I'm still weeping (oozing, but weeping sounds less gross). I called the doctor and they called me in an antibiotic and he wants to look at it tomorrow. I've seen the doctor every week since the surgery. I'm getting wonderful care.

I could add pictures of the stages of my incision. Would that GROSS everyone out? ? ?