i finally got my second opinion and the doctors recommended me to have the decompression surgery and i have a date set for the Feb. 27th and i am glad that i might feel better but i am scared to death about the surgery and after, i know the doctors says most to all my symptoms will go away and i might be able to go back to work but still... can anyone tell me about their surgery and how it went if they don't care to tell me??? i would love to know what to expect???
Beeba said:
I am gonna just talk about second as the first was incomplete and what I experienced then was not the norm. But during the second I would say in general I was fairly textbook nothing as far as amazing recovery and nothing I considered intolerable. I have a low discomfort level - not a fan of pain!! First, right after you do all your prelimary interview with anesthesia ask for the "relaxing" medicine so it makes the next few minutes going in easy and relaxed. When I woke up - oy it hurts significantly. Surprisingly though it is the neck almost more than the head. Not gonna say the head didn't hurt - it did. But there had been a huge of pressure and although the back feels like they did what they did - I didn't have a headache anymore. You are pretty doped up. You go a bit from owwwwwww to sleep. Not unusual to throw up but they will give you meds to avoid it - but if it happens it happens - and say you want a bin not a basin - to small. Your family will be allowed to come in for short time. You stay in icu for 24 hours. From there you go for 3 days to a regular room. I was up using toilet 3 hours after first, took a bit longer the next but by day 2. I did request that the catheter be removed while I was still under - personal preference. But that needs to be established before surgery. I was able to walk unassisted back and forth to bathroom and did my washing up stuff alone. Trip home you are pretty tense and ask them to avoid potholes. I was allowed to shower as soon as I got home - and it was the best thing ever. I had someone within ear shot for a few days for that but I was able to do it on my own. I got up every morning to say goodbye to kids. I would windex the counters and drink my coffee. Then back to bed. Up to fold hubby's dryer (don't usually do this but lets face it - I need him right now!! Lol) and then back to bed. Shower back to bed. This cycle runs about every three hours. But for 24 hours..... So you can do some night crawling - this is when I started ordering from qvc - no one else is that happy to talk at 3 am. And btw - Cindy Crawford only looks that good from good genes, ojon is a great hair product and really how many carol Burnett episodes does one person need?? And everytime ups came my husband was like "oh gosh what now?!??" I was always just as surprised because I had no idea. Two weeks though is where you really seem to have a turning point. Things start getting much better. I always had an ice pack on my head and neck and one in freezer. At around week 3-4 I was only taking pain meds in afternoon or evening but was on them for 6-8 weeks with Valium. Started pt at 2-3 weeks with great results. I would chose a sports med and don't let them touch your spine. Should really only be massage first few visits and almost no weight bearing on neck or shoulders. Massage and stretching. I am guessing the major question most have is how bad does it hurt - not gonna lie - yes. And very much. But I was never in tears over it. I had meds that helped. Not jumping on a third but I did do it twice and the second time I knew exactly what I was putting myself in for. So what I am saying is - if I can do it anyone can. I have rambled all over the place here - was there something specific you wanted to know? I will try and be more concise:-)
desperatemom101 said:
Beeba said:I am gonna just talk about second as the first was incomplete and what I experienced then was not the norm. But during the second I would say in general I was fairly textbook nothing as far as amazing recovery and nothing I considered intolerable. I have a low discomfort level - not a fan of pain!! First, right after you do all your prelimary interview with anesthesia ask for the "relaxing" medicine so it makes the next few minutes going in easy and relaxed. When I woke up - oy it hurts significantly. Surprisingly though it is the neck almost more than the head. Not gonna say the head didn't hurt - it did. But there had been a huge of pressure and although the back feels like they did what they did - I didn't have a headache anymore. You are pretty doped up. You go a bit from owwwwwww to sleep. Not unusual to throw up but they will give you meds to avoid it - but if it happens it happens - and say you want a bin not a basin - to small. Your family will be allowed to come in for short time. You stay in icu for 24 hours. From there you go for 3 days to a regular room. I was up using toilet 3 hours after first, took a bit longer the next but by day 2. I did request that the catheter be removed while I was still under - personal preference. But that needs to be established before surgery. I was able to walk unassisted back and forth to bathroom and did my washing up stuff alone. Trip home you are pretty tense and ask them to avoid potholes. I was allowed to shower as soon as I got home - and it was the best thing ever. I had someone within ear shot for a few days for that but I was able to do it on my own. I got up every morning to say goodbye to kids. I would windex the counters and drink my coffee. Then back to bed. Up to fold hubby's dryer (don't usually do this but lets face it - I need him right now!! Lol) and then back to bed. Shower back to bed. This cycle runs about every three hours. But for 24 hours..... So you can do some night crawling - this is when I started ordering from qvc - no one else is that happy to talk at 3 am. And btw - Cindy Crawford only looks that good from good genes, ojon is a great hair product and really how many carol Burnett episodes does one person need?? And everytime ups came my husband was like "oh gosh what now?!??" I was always just as surprised because I had no idea. Two weeks though is where you really seem to have a turning point. Things start getting much better. I always had an ice pack on my head and neck and one in freezer. At around week 3-4 I was only taking pain meds in afternoon or evening but was on them for 6-8 weeks with Valium. Started pt at 2-3 weeks with great results. I would chose a sports med and don't let them touch your spine. Should really only be massage first few visits and almost no weight bearing on neck or shoulders. Massage and stretching. I am guessing the major question most have is how bad does it hurt - not gonna lie - yes. And very much. But I was never in tears over it. I had meds that helped. Not jumping on a third but I did do it twice and the second time I knew exactly what I was putting myself in for. So what I am saying is - if I can do it anyone can. I have rambled all over the place here - was there something specific you wanted to know? I will try and be more concise:-)thanks so much for the info, i am just so scared that something will go wrong, but i am glad you shared what you did. do you still have any symptoms or anything from before? if you dont mind telling me?
Emmaline said:
My recovery was less painful than I expected. I took Vicodin the first week then Aleve after that and was comfortable. I rubbed Arnica cream on and around my neck and incision, and I swear by it. It doesn't interfere with meds so you can use both. I was never in intolerable pain.
My first shower was in the hospital, and went home alone with no problem, I just took it slow. =)
thanks you so much for the infomation,i hope mine goes like yours did?