The Big One

So many of you may already know that back on April 6, 2012 I had a lumbar disc fusion surgery on my back. I had been suffering from a degenerative L4 L5 disc and it had been causing me a lot of pain for almost 4 years. I was dealing with it pretty well up until Jonah and I were in a car accident in December 2011. We were getting on the freeway and hit a patch of black ice and slammed into a cement barrier. Ever since that accident my back pain was out of control. I finally got to the point that I was ready to have the surgery done because nothing else was working. I had the surgery done at Timpanogas Hospital and I will be completely honest, I was really nervous. The only surgery I had every had up to this point was my wisdom teeth. Im not even sure I would qualify that as a surgery lol. We had to be at the hospital at 530 in the morning. They prepped me and put the IV in my arm. After that all I had to do was sit and wait for them to take me to the operating room. My surgeon came in and talked with me for a few minutes and then the anesthesiologist came in and explained what would happen. He then told me to kiss Jonah goodbye. He started to inject the medicine and wheel me into the hall and that is the last thing that I remember before I woke up in the recovery room. I remember that I had a lot of nurses yelling at me to wake up and take deep breaths. I remember that I was crying cause I was in a lot of pain. They kept trying to ask me what my pain level was and I was having a hard time telling them because they had just taken the tube out of my throat not to long before. I was finally able to mutter the word TEN! I don't remember much after that at all. The next four days in the hospital are gone from my memory. I can recall bits and pieces but nothing real big. Jonah was kind enough to take some photos that I will share with you.

I was able to go home and the first couple days were a blur. I dont really remember much of the ride home or getting up the stairs even. All I have to say is thank goodness for modern medicine. From what I have been told I was pretty miserable and I should be glad that I dont remember much of it. After I had been home a few days I started to remember more. I was still drugged up on percocets and they made me super tired. I was sleeping a lot. I was told that I needed to walk as much as I could. Well, I live on the 3rd floor of a condo complex and so I was not up to tackling the stairs just yet. So for the first week I would walk up and down my breezeway. It wasn't much but at least it was something. I had to use a walker as well. I had to have my mom or Jonah help me with pretty much everything. Getting up, sitting down, getting dressed, taking a shower, getting into bed,and pretty much anything that required any type of movement.

Being unbandaged for the first time. My incision with the stapels My mom was able to stay and help me and Jonah out for about 2 weeks and it was a huge help. She had bought things for me to help make getting around and picking stuff up easier to do on my own. She helped clean our house and cook meals and a whole lot more. After a few weeks she had me pretty well set up to be able to get by with the basics on my own, or at least for a few hours at a time so I could manage until Jonah got home from work for his breaks and stuff. My mom and Jonah said that I was making quick progress. By the time my mom left I was able to walk to the end of the street and back with my walker. I would say that is pretty good for two weeks post a major back surgery.

Incision the day before I got the staples removed

Right after the staples were taken out

A size comparison of how big my incision is

My mom and I had a walker race! Guess who won!!

My mothers version of handicapped parking lol It is now just over three months after my surgery. I still can not bend or twist at all but I am able to walk 2 miles a day with no walker and no brace!! I am back to work full time and I am able to do most everything on my own. Jonah is still nice enough to help me with the things I can't quite do yet but I am hoping I will be able to soon. I am starting physical therapy next week as well. I am also down to 1 or 2 5mg pain pills a day opposed to 6 of the 10mg dosage a day that I started on. I am really excited about that. The Progress of My Incision Healing

An XRAY of the hardware in my back

So that is the basics of my surgery. I am still recovering and I have a long ways to go still. But my pain now is so much better than it was before and I am able to do more now than I have been able to for a long time. I am so blessed that I was able to get this surgery done and that so far it has had good results.

Starting Over

I have decided that I want to start a new blog. I have not posted on our other one for so long that it almost seems like another lifetime :) A lot has happened in the Richmond household since then. I will be playing catch up on this blog for a while til we can get everything in. I hope you enjoy!!