Faceplate
Bluelighter
Hey BlueLighters,
Well, I had my neck surgery last Tuesday and I'm still alive to tell the tale! Not sure if I mentioned it here or not, but 2 weeks before the surgery my doctor told me that after he went through the MRI's and x-rays he came to the conclusion that there was more damage than was previously thought and that he was going to have to do a level 2 fusion...which means instead of just fusing the c6 and c7 vertebra, he was going to fuse the c5 to c6, and c6 to c7...3 bones fused now instead of the original 2.
On the morning of the surgery, the doctor told me the surgery would last about 3 hours...well, my body decided to actually cooperate with the doc, and the surgery took only about 2 hours. I came out of anesthesia around quarter after ten in the morning and was wheeled up to my room just before noon. I yacked a little bit when I woke up and had a sore throat due to them having to intubate me, but other than that I felt pretty good. When I came to, the first thing I noticed was no more pins 'n needles, and I had full tactile sensation in all my fingers...awesome! So anyway, around 5 that evening I had to go to the bathroom and they said for me to lay on my side and use a urinal. Wasn't happening...so I asked the nurse if it was alright if I used the bathroom. She was apprehensive about me getting up but I told her I felt fine. So I got up and hobbled over to the bathroom unaided. I didn't even need a neck brace. I was a bit loopy from the morphine that was hooked up to me, but other than that, I felt pretty good. In fact, I ended up using less than a 1/4 of the 60 mg tube of morphine that I had available to me. So, I was up and walking around my room 5 hours after the surgery without the aid of drugs or supports.
My ride home that I had set up 2 weeks before the surgery from my ex boss from the college I was working at, decided to bail on me at the last minute, as is typical in my life, (the one time I ask a favor in 5 years from anyone and I get burned). So I ended up having to take a cab home the next day. Anyway, I got home, took a shower and changed my clothes then took a walk up to the pharmacy about a 1/4 mile away and picked up a couple of prescriptions the doc gave me. One for a muscle relaxant (Zanaflex) and the other for some Percocet.
So I walked back home, popped a few of the Perx, plugged in the lava lamp and started playing some Killzone 3 and Gran Turismo 5 on my PS3 for the rest of the night.
Since then I've been taking a couple walks every day and doing stuff around the house without any major discomfort and without taking the Perx. In fact, I went grocery shopping today without any problems. My neck is a bit stiff but that's to be expected, other than that, no pain or problems. So, all in all, it went pretty well. It's kinda funny really...I was telling one my nurses that I've been into metal since I was a kid, now the metal is in me....I have become one with the metal...kinda zen like, sweeet.
So, for those of you who offered words of encouragement, I want to say thank you, I really appreciated it! Now I can finally try to start getting my life back in order!
Well, I had my neck surgery last Tuesday and I'm still alive to tell the tale! Not sure if I mentioned it here or not, but 2 weeks before the surgery my doctor told me that after he went through the MRI's and x-rays he came to the conclusion that there was more damage than was previously thought and that he was going to have to do a level 2 fusion...which means instead of just fusing the c6 and c7 vertebra, he was going to fuse the c5 to c6, and c6 to c7...3 bones fused now instead of the original 2.
On the morning of the surgery, the doctor told me the surgery would last about 3 hours...well, my body decided to actually cooperate with the doc, and the surgery took only about 2 hours. I came out of anesthesia around quarter after ten in the morning and was wheeled up to my room just before noon. I yacked a little bit when I woke up and had a sore throat due to them having to intubate me, but other than that I felt pretty good. When I came to, the first thing I noticed was no more pins 'n needles, and I had full tactile sensation in all my fingers...awesome! So anyway, around 5 that evening I had to go to the bathroom and they said for me to lay on my side and use a urinal. Wasn't happening...so I asked the nurse if it was alright if I used the bathroom. She was apprehensive about me getting up but I told her I felt fine. So I got up and hobbled over to the bathroom unaided. I didn't even need a neck brace. I was a bit loopy from the morphine that was hooked up to me, but other than that, I felt pretty good. In fact, I ended up using less than a 1/4 of the 60 mg tube of morphine that I had available to me. So, I was up and walking around my room 5 hours after the surgery without the aid of drugs or supports.
My ride home that I had set up 2 weeks before the surgery from my ex boss from the college I was working at, decided to bail on me at the last minute, as is typical in my life, (the one time I ask a favor in 5 years from anyone and I get burned). So I ended up having to take a cab home the next day. Anyway, I got home, took a shower and changed my clothes then took a walk up to the pharmacy about a 1/4 mile away and picked up a couple of prescriptions the doc gave me. One for a muscle relaxant (Zanaflex) and the other for some Percocet.
So I walked back home, popped a few of the Perx, plugged in the lava lamp and started playing some Killzone 3 and Gran Turismo 5 on my PS3 for the rest of the night.
Since then I've been taking a couple walks every day and doing stuff around the house without any major discomfort and without taking the Perx. In fact, I went grocery shopping today without any problems. My neck is a bit stiff but that's to be expected, other than that, no pain or problems. So, all in all, it went pretty well. It's kinda funny really...I was telling one my nurses that I've been into metal since I was a kid, now the metal is in me....I have become one with the metal...kinda zen like, sweeet.
So, for those of you who offered words of encouragement, I want to say thank you, I really appreciated it! Now I can finally try to start getting my life back in order!
