Healing

It's been six days since my first neurosurgery. Today was my post-op appointment with my neurosurgeon, Dr. Henderson.

Is be lying if I said the last few days weren't rough.  

The morning after my surgery I walked the halls some and finally ate. Also, selfie.

I was discharged about 24 hours after the surgery. I was shocked. I knew that was a possibility, but I figured I was be staying two night. I immediately went back to the hotel and crashed. 

The day after being discharged, Thursday, was the hardest. The pain and stiffness really set it. My body was learning this new position that is was forced into. It's slowly learning.

We had a mini Easter dinner that night. My dad had to leave the next day so he could go back to work. It was nice just having a holiday with Matt and my parents. There was no running to multiple houses. It was peaceful. 

Friday my dad left and I slept. Saturday we went to IKEA. Sunday was Easter. We basically laid around, eating chocolate and watching Disney movies. 

Like I said earlier, today we met with Dr. Henderson. My surgery went about as well as possible. I'm starting to get tired. I'll write about the appointment soon. 

Matt's Birthday

Today the love of my life turned 28! I feel bad that he had to spend most of his birthday in the hospital. My parents surprised him with a cake. Unfortunately it wasn't the best because it was the only gluten free cake they could find. We sang Happy Birthday to him in my hospital room.

I'm so blessed that Matt is my husband. The last few days have been just another example of how wonderful and caring he is. 

This is what I wrote to Matt on Facebook. I'm exhausted right now. I can't keep my eyes open so I figured I'd just copy this here. Apparently this made my mother-in-law and sister-in-law cry.  

"I want to wish the biggest happy birthday ever to my incredible husband, Matt!

I truly don't know what I'd do without you. You're kind, funny, generous, patient, ridiculously intelligent, and, not to mention, as handsome as humanly possible! You are my rock and my best friend. 

Right now you're sleeping in an uncomfortable recliner next to my hospital bed. You're right by my side, like you always are. You have no idea how much that means to me. I woke up in a lot of pain last night. I looked over and saw you. It really made me feel better. The second I woke up after my surgery, you were the first thing I asked for. 

Thank you for everything. Thank you for being you. Thank you for letting me be 100% myself around you. 

I hope your 28th birthday is incredible, even though you'll be spending it all at a hospital. 

I love you times infinity."

Surgery

I'm actually laying in my hospital bed right now. My incredible husband is to my right, sitting on a recliner and reading. I'm groggy and tired, yet I can't sleep. My pain is actually isn't too bad at the moment. 

Since I have nothing to do at the moment I figured I'd write about today and restart this blog. I'm feeling slightly antsy right now. And quite dopey, so please don't mind my rambling!

I woke up early this morning in Maryland, where my surgery took place. It's Tuesday and we flew in on Sunday. My surgery, an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at level C3-C4, was scheduled for 3, but I received a call saying that a previous case had been canceled. We left the hotel around 10 am. 

In the surgical parking out of the hospital, Doctor's Community Hospital, I got a bit distracted by the cherry blossoms. I've never really seen any in bloom. The Cherry Blossom Festival had just ended in DC, so they were just gorgeous, even in all of the rain. Apparently Matt, my husband, also thinks I'm a star. 

After a little blood work, and a mishap involving an echocardiogram, (The admission lady thought they'd called my last name. I put on a gown to get the echo when the tech realized I wasn't the one that was supposed to get it! Since I was born with congenital heart defects and have had four open heart surgeries I didn't seem odd that they wanted an echo haha.) I was taken back to the pre-op area. 

My pre-op nurse was beyond wonderful. Her best friend's daughter was born with the heart defect Transposition of the Great Arteries, just like me! It was wonderful talking to her about it. Eventually my neurosurgeon, Dr. Henderson, the anesthesiologist, and the CRNA all came out to talk to me. Dr. Henderson even prayed with us and gave me a "bonding hug."  That really helped with my pre-surgery jitters. Well, that and the Valium. 

I cracked my neck for possibly the last time, admired my scarless neck, held tight to Lucky Bear, who has been through all of my surgeries with me, and told my husband and parents how much I love them. And, then I was off!

I really don't remember too much of the operating room. My glasses were off so I couldn't see anything. Also, once again, Valium. 

Next thing I knew I was in recovery. I was in quite a bit of pain but luckily the recovery room nurse remedied that with some Dilaudid. The first thing I did was walk to the restroom, obviously with some help. I was surprised I was up and walking 30 minutes after waking up in recovery! Finally my family came to see me. Matt sat with me until I was moved to my room. 

Besides some pain and soreness I've honestly been surprised at how well the day of the surgery has gone! Don't get me wrong...there have been some pretty painful moments. Waking up after surgery wasn't the best experience of my life. I've had a few moments here and there where the pain hits me after the Diluadid and Tylenol begin to wear off. That's never fun. My throat is extremely sore. My incision is on the front of my neck. To get to my spine the doctor had move my esophagus over and I was intubated. Speaking and swallowing is painful. I also was classified a NPO until being evaluated by a speech pathologist. This means I'm not allowed to eat a single thing, except for ice chips. The big issue is that won't be able to see a speech path until tomorrow afternoon.  My nurse ended up calling Dr. Henderson and I was allowed to eat one container of apple sauce and drink apple juice. 

I think I was really expecting the worst! I assumed I was going to waking up in unimaginable pain. I thought it would be so bad that I'd want to scream. Instead I woke up in fairly bad pain and being able to feel my toes more than I have in months. 

I'm extremely hopeful! Like I said, the feeling in my feet has returned. My hands have yet to tingle or randomly drop whatever I'm carrying something, although I'll admit I haven't been carrying much around. My hand strength seems a tiny bit better than it was this morning. Most surprisingly, the lump on the back of my neck and the horrid posture that has stemmed from it seemed to improve some. Here's a before and after:

Hopefully tomorrow will bring another decent day. My goal is to be up and walking the halls  

But even if my pain if horrible and I'm not able to do much, tomorrow will still be absolutely perfect. Tomorrow, April 16th, is my incredible husband's 28th birthday. He's the most wonderful, caring, kind person I know. I'm blessed to have him as my best friend and soul mate. He's my rock. Today was just another example of that.