Hi guys, and thanks so much for your good wishes and kind words.
I learned a long time ago to listen to what the doctors and the women in my life tell me to do --
-- and I am following my surgeon's instructions pretty well.
He and his staff kept reminding me: No BLT (bending-lifting-twisting), and he was adamant about taking it easy and giving my back time to heal. So I'm catching up on my reading (finishing up Thud Ridge by Jack Broughton, the great chronicle of air combat in Vietnam), playing those DVDs I'd bought and stashed away (watched This Is The Army over the weekend to celebrate President Reagan's birthday), and letting my friends and family members help me out.
My girlfriend bought me a "grabber", one of those things that acts as an arm extension, and lets you pick up things that you've dropped or retrieve things that are too high...it's been amazingly useful!
I can't emphasize enough what a relief it is to be free of that sciatica! WOW!
For years I'd experienced it frequently, and would either do my exercises, or trot off to the pain-management folks for a round of nerve blocks, or, recently, go to the chiropractor and let him do his thing. Over the past year I've spent a lot of time, and a lot of money in co-pays, on non-surgical treatments, and now I really wish I had just gone ahead and gotten the laminectomy instead. Oh well, live and learn...
I am still stiff, and I do have some back pain, but that's related to the surgery, and the incision, and it should go away soon. And I cannot seem to get on a regular sleep schedule; I doze a lot, especially during the day, and then stay up half the night. I think that's because of the pain medication I'm taking, and I hope it goes away in time.
For those who have this or similar surgery coming up...if you've got a good doctor, one who is at the top of his game and really knows his stuff, you should make out just fine.
Here were my experiences...your mileage may vary, of course...
The immediate aftermath of the surgery was a little difficult...I felt disoriented, very tired and woozy, etc., and I was connected to an IV and a pain pump that I could use to administer my own doses of painkiller. (I used 17 of my alloted 100 doses of morphine in the first 20 hours after my surgery.) I had pressure stockings around my lower legs (to prevent blood clots) that inflated and deflated regularly.
My voice was weak, because I'd been intubated. And I was catheterized, which felt weird but didn't hurt -- until they took it out about fourteen hours post-op, at which time it felt like someone was trying to drag a golf ball through a garden hose! But that feeling lasted only a moment.
My first steps out of bed were very weak, and I needed a walker the first time I ventured out of my room. But starting about the 24th hour after the surgery, I was feeling progressively better, and by the time I was ready to leave the hospital, just 29 hours after I'd walked in, I was able to walk out under my own power.
This business of being confined to home is a little tough -- the only thing missing is an ankle bracelet! -- but as I mentioned, I am doing my best to keep from being bored.
Next Monday, which is the first day I can go out, my lady is going to drive me to our favorite little cafe, and we will celebrate Valentine's Day...I am really looking forward to that! Until then, I will continue to be a good little patient, and do just what the doctor ordered.
Thanks again for all your kind thoughts and good wishes. Those of you who wrote about your own experiences really gave me a lot of food for thought, and you helped me understand what I was about to undergo. It was very, very helpful!
I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing...
Beemerguy
