Key Learning So Far

  • Understand the side effects, if any, of the drugs you'll be taking after surgery - especially possible withdrawl symptoms
  • Make sure whoever picks you from the hospital brings a paper and pen to take key notes from the nurse discharging you
  • If you have a job, organize your STD (Short Term Disability) as much as possible before surgery

Pain Chart - Post Surgery

Pain Chart - Post Surgery

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 24 (3.5 weeks)

Pain Rating:

Well, it's been almost a week and a half since my last post and for the most part things are moving forward nicely. While I've had a few spasms they're few and far between. That being said the spasms are still intense - the only difference being that prior to surgery, the spasms would be short and intense whereas post surgery the spasms come on slowly and seem to linger longer.

I did travel last Sunday (around 2.5 weeks after surgery), flying around 2 hours to Chicago and then subjecting myself to meetings all week. Surprisingly, my back felt great throughout. I was able to walk around every 45mins on the plane and stretch my legs and fortunately my hotel was around 25mins from the office, so I was able to get both my walks in each day - followed by the back exercises at night. Since I'm not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds, I did ship all my clothes and heavy work items ahead of time to the hotel - this made the aviation part of my travels much easier to manage.

I haven't taken any muscle relaxants or pain killers for over a week and a half now. I have my first physical theraphy follow up on Wednesday of this week - almost 4 weeks since surgery.

Tomorrow morning, I plan on swimming for the first time since surgery (3.5 weeks since surgery), we'll see how things go. Finally, based on a recommendation from my parents, I also bought a spina-bac back support that should help with my posture while I work and travel.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 14

Pain Rating:

Another good nights sleep. Went for a 15-20 minute walk this morning. Had a very productive appointment with my Physical Therapist this afternoon, the upshot being:-
  • I should be prepared to experience some difficulties or issues before my back has settled, but at the same time I shouldn't get too down about these, they should be temporary
  • I will need to do a series of basic isometic strengthening exercies once a day
  • I should walk twice a day - starting at 15 minutes each and incrementing by another 5 minutes after 3 consecutive days, if no discomfort
  • I should use ice on any tight muscles
  • Need to focus on back posture while sitting
  • No hyper-extension or hyper-flexion until able to lift weights > 10lbs
  • While flying, shouldn't sit for more than 30 - 45 minutes thereafter I will do a series of exercises and short walk up and down the plane
  • No more than 30 - 45 minutes sitting at any one time, for the near future
Well, I guess the Physical Therapist was right about one thing, later in the day I did experience some discomfort in my lower back - unfortunately I got a couple of sharp stabbing spasms that I experienced prior to surgery. Since I haven't had this sensation since surgery - for almost 2 weeks - I have to attribute it to all the work the therapist was doing on my back today. I'm sure it didn't help that I was a little too over active today afterwards - I decided to clean up my office - and that probably aggravated the already sensitive muscles and nerves. Hopefully a good night's sleep and a less activity tomorrow will help.

I've also decided that I'll make these blogs weekly from now on - ideally on a Thursday or Friday.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 13

Pain Rating:

Finally a good nights sleep. Since recovering from the bout of diarrhea I had last week, today was the first day that my bowel movements returned to normal.

Kept a low profile again today, but did manage my first 15-20 minute walk in a few days ( a couple of snowy and icy days limited my options). The key event today was seeing my Surgeon (Dr V) for the first time since surgery - almost two weeks ago. Before I got a chance to talk to Dr V, one of his nurses asked some key questions about my health and well being over the last couple of weeks, she also did some strength and sensation tests and took a look at my incision. When I finally had a chance to talk to Dr V, we talked about the last 2 weeks and looking ahead to the upcoming weeks. This was my general take away:-
  • No swimming for a least another week
  • Got the general okay to travel for business next week, but to listen to my body and take breaks accordingly. He didn't anticipate any issues with flying and air pressure
  • Agreed a "return back to work" date of Feb 11th - next Monday, but to start off with 1/2 days for the first week.
  • Keep away from lifting anything over 10lbs for the next few weeks
  • Cycling on a stationary bike should be okay, so long as the body is upright
  • Gave me the okay to see my physical therapist tomorrow for my back
  • Re-affirmed my belief that the Wallis device might be a permanent solution (at this point there isn't enough imperial evidence to determine how long the device can function, but as I understand it, it has been implemented in Europe for over 14 years with continued success)
One slightly scary event today ... the only parking spot available at the surgeons office was over a partially icy area and when I exited the car I did slip and begin to fall. Fortunately I was to control the fall, but in the process I did feel a sharp spasm in lower back.

Looking forward to seeing what my physical therapist has to say tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 12

Pain Rating:

Didn't get a particularly good sleep last night - I was restless until about 3am, when I finally managed to get 3 to 4 hours sleep.

Today, once again, proved to be a positive day. I limited my amount of movement (as opposed to yesterday) but kept myself busy with a couple of chores. For the most part, a pretty uneventful day - which is a good thing :)

Monday, February 4, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 11

Pain Rating:


Another more positive day, although I was probably a little too active around the house. Looking forward to my first follow up meeting with my surgeon on Wednesday and subsequent appointment with my physical therapist a day later.

I've decided I feel good enough to go on my one week business trip to Chicago all of next week. Since I'm not supposed to lift anything more than 5lbs for 4-6 weeks, I've decided to ship a box of clothes, computer accessories and toiletries (basically everything except my work laptop) straight to the hotel, so I can really travel light through customs and on the flight. I managed to mail this off today, so I'm really hoping the surgeon gives me the okay to travel.


I also spent quiet a bit of time today organizing all my Wallis related documentation including hospital receipts, signed documents etc into an organized folder.

As I promised myself, I managed to pretty much avoid any work related interaction today.

At the end of the day, I did notice the muscles in my back felt a little sore and tender (another indication that I probably did a little too much activity today), so I'll try and take a little easier tomorrow. For the first time since the surgery, I also experienced a slight spasm in my back when I got up a little quickly from the couch.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 10

Pain Rating:

Although I didn't get the best nights sleep, I did feel more positive about myself in the morning. We took the boys to the recreation center and I enjoyed being out of the house with them. One of my neighbours called around and wanted to see if I wanted to run some errands with him, again it was nice to get out and about and share my thoughts with someone. I'm pretty confident the bowel movements have subsided, as I started the day with my regular breakfast and 2 cups of espresso and still nothing.

By mid afternoon, I was feeling much more up-beat and altogether more positive. Since I haven't been on any drugs for 2-3 days now, it gave me a chance to think realistically about the state of my back. Since surgery, I haven't felt any stabbing or sharp, intense pains in my back - my back feels stable and in control, which is highly encouraging. Although I have to admit, I am my own worst enemy - as much as I try to follow some of the key rules of recovery, it's not always easy to do so. For instance, I'm not supposed to lift anything more than 5 lbs for 4-6 weeks after surgery. Today I was guilty of lifting my youngest son (2 years, and definitely more than 5lbs) down two steps, amongst other things.

We spent late afternoon and early evening with some good friends watching the Super Bowl, which capped off a much improved day.

On the drive home, my oldest son (5 years old) asking me lots of thought provoking questions about the origins of live and how inventions come about - a perfect reminder of why I have so many things to be positive about.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 9

Pain Rating:

By some miracle, I managed to get a decent nights sleep -although not the most comfortable, my mind was filled with negative thoughts.

Started the day with a bowl of soup and some crackers, along with weak tea. The last visit to the toilet was around 9.45am, and since then I've managed to hold down a couple of bagels, some toast and a couple more cups of weak tea.

Unfortunately, I continued having very negative thoughts throughout the morning until it got to a point when I began to feel signs of depression. At this point, I went for a long walk (probably too long given that I'm still in recovery, but I just needed to get outside and clear my head). During my walk, I became more convinced that the bouts of diarrhea and negative thoughts are related in some way the drugs I've been taking. I wonder if the diarrhea stemmed from the constant supply of drugs my body has had to deal with over the last week and a half and then once the diarrhea started and I stopped all the drugs, prehaps I'm getting some type of withdrawl symptoms from that - hence the negative thoughts.

I'm going to try and keep my mind active and be involved as much as can with family matters today.

I managed to get through the rest of the day without any more bowel movements and even "tempted" my stomach with a chicken pastie for dinner. Starting to feel a bit more positive about things. I was supposed to have dinner out with my wife and some neighbours, but didn't really feel in the mode of the socializing - instead I put the kids to bed, watched a movie and went to bed in a slightly better frame of mind

Friday, February 1, 2008

Post Surgery - Day 8

Pain Rating:

Had a rough night last night - not sure if was the continual dosage of pills, or the excessive walking, or too much time spent infront on the computer working, or perhaps the late night snack that I ate - either way, I was up most of the night with stomach cramps and diarrhea. These continued first thing in the morning, but by 10am had settled down somewhat. I finally ate some breakfast around 10am.

Unfortunately I spoke too soon. The
diarrhea continued for the rest of the day, along with stomach cramps. Basically on a diet of toast and water right now. Felt very tired and weak all day. Before going to be bed I decided to take an imodium pill, when that didn't seem to help I popped another imodium pill shortly after.

Definitely the worse day so far.

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