Daily Check-In Thread

[Lady Sarah]

I should mention that my hubby treated me better than the hospital staff did. He visited me every day, and brought me home cooked meals, so I didn't have to eat the crap they serve after being whipped up from buckets of powder and mixed with tap water.

It got downright better (sleepwise) after he brought me lamb chops and Brussels sprouts sautéed in butter. That's when I finally got to sleep for 4 hours at a time, just because the staff didn't even want to see me anymore.

So, when I say they kicked me out, it's pretty much what they did. Not because of what I did, but because my dear hubby treats me better than hospital staff paid to treat their patients well. And probably better than the spouses of the staff treat them.

 

[Lady Sarah]

I am doing my very best to not take my pain meds as prescribed. I do not want to become addicted to them. Of course, that means living with some pain. Fortunately, I am already a professional at that.

I measured myself up against a wall before surgery, and then again today... both times in bare feet. I gained a half an inch in height. That's from where (from 2 vertebra joints) I had 4 mm of disc remaining. The disc materia was removed, and metal was put in. Then the screws and cage were assembled to hold the 3 vertebra together. Gradually, bone is supposed to grow between the vertebra, and cover the metal.

I probably should have looked into having this done back when I was taking care of my mom, but that would have meant that nobody would care for her. Then the next 2 years did hurt too bad. I had just finally got to "that point" where I couldn't go shopping without it causing a lot of extra pain.

This was a major surgery, and it was no joke. Take care of yourselves, and do not over exert yourselves. If you get so much pain that just living your life feels like it's killing you, tell your doctor. Go to a neurosurgeon, not an orthopedic surgeon. There is a huge difference. You cannot just walk-off spinal damage.

 

[Lady Sarah]

Today was pretty good. My new elliptical machine came in, with remote control. I can safely exercise my legs with no risk of falling down, while sitting in my recliner. It don't matter hot hot summer gets, nor how cold winter gets.

A nurses aide came by the house with a new medical device for me... a bone growth stimulator that I wear for 2 hours a day so that bone can start growing around the screws and between the vertebra where they put metal.

 

[Tornadoalleydeb]

Today was pretty good. My new elliptical machine came in, with remote control. I can safely exercise my legs with no risk of falling down, while sitting in my recliner. It don't matter hot hot summer gets, nor how cold winter gets.

A nurses aide came by the house with a new medical device for me... a bone growth stimulator that I wear for 2 hours a day so that bone can start growing around the screws and between the vertebra where they put metal.

I am happy to hear that you are healing. Now it is your choice of course, but I have taken pain meds for quite some time and here is what I was told ( I'm no expert believe me, but this sort of makes sense) If you are taking your meds because you are in pain the chance of addiction is lower. How it works (again,this is what I was told) Becoming addicted is when people continue to take pain meds after their pain is gone. I don't think that means you absolutely can't get addicted if taking them for pain, but supposedly the chance is lower. Especially if taking them for a short period of time. If you're hurting, don't be afraid to take them and get some relief. Yes, I know, I'm sticking my nose where I shouldn't. Please forgive me for that. I think it's a "Mom" thing.

I have also found that taking acetaminophen with ibuprofen together works really well too. I didn't think you could take them together, but apparently you can. Sometimes when I have a mild pain day, I do that instead.

 

[Tornadoalleydeb]

Yep, gotta show off my little Grandson. Orion is almost 3 months old. He's just so freaking cute. Naturally I am biased

 

[Lady Sarah]

As they say: Embrace the suck. Some days are far worse than others as far as pain goes while recovering from surgery. I was in tears twice yesterday. Of course, it wasn't from overdoing anything, because I practically did nothing.

I have a couple items that looked boring / ugly, so I decided they needed to be beautified. That meant trying a technique new to me. Painting the wood with gold paint took several layers. The new technique involved mixing paints, diluting it, and sponge dabbing it on. After that, a good coat of lacquer makes it nice and shiny.

 

[Jimi]

Yep, gotta show off my little Grandson. Orion is almost 3 months old. He's just so freaking cute. Naturally I am biased

Awe he IS cute, thank you for sharin my friend

 

[misswish]

Morning!

Same old same old here, just me and Jessie taking care of each other. She's doing well and still sweet and sassy. Today is down to 99*, a couple of 105*s coming up. Just hot and pretty dry. I stay inside!

Sarah, I hope you are still healing well and getting around better. Those of you in fire areas, hurricane areas, flood areas, please be careful and check in when you can!

Stay safe and healthy

 

[Lady Sarah]

I just had my first check up after surgery. Everything seems to be normal, except for the light-heatedness, and suddenly taking 2 - 3 hour naps. We wondered if it was because they overdosed me bringing me out of anesthesia and had to use two doses of Narcan. I was told i should have recovered well from that before i was even released from the hospital. Then told me my body is not replacing the hemoglobin lost during surgery as fast as it should. I am about a liter low. I warned my doctor that I was anemic, but did she listen? Nope. All I can do now is take extra vitamins and supplements for the next 3 months, and see if that helps.

 

[Jimi]

I wonder if changing certain things in your diet would help

 

[Jimi]

Just dropped in to tell everyone that it has now been

Years I have wrestled with stage 4 cancer and I feel good

 

[Lady Sarah]

I wonder if changing certain things in your diet would help

Not when my appetite is half of what it was. That might be partly due to the hemoglobin issue as well.

 

[misswish]

Just dropped in to tell everyone that it has now been

Years I have wrestled with stage 4 cancer and I feel good

Yay, Jimi!!!! You are a real fighter, so happy for you. Keep doing what you are doing, we want you here with us for many, many more years

 

[Jimi]

Yay, Jimi!!!! You are a real fighter, so happy for you. Keep doing what you are doing, we want you here with us for many, many more years

Thank you my friend , all the support of my friends has made all the difference

 

[Lady Sarah]

I do get sick of just sitting around. If it weren't for recovering from surgery, it would be the gawd awful heat keeping me indoors. The thermometer reached 118° so far this month. Just this week, I did 4 loads of laundry... cleaning up hubby's pile in the closet.

Due to weight limits, I have to wear a "fanny pack" instead of a purse. So, noplace for a phone, and they no longer make phone cases for phones with thr rubber "armor" on them. This old gal don't mess around. I made my own.

 

[misswish]

Morning!

Not much going on here, same old. Too hot to do much. I venture out once a week, try to do all of the errands in one trip. Chiropractor, prescriptions, fresh fruits and veggies (I like to choose them myself), etc. I'm still rebuilding coils, making juice. Jessie and I keep each other company. SIL David came over to do some Honey-do's for me. Moved a heavy table, took the file cabinet out to my van, changed a blind. Next time he's going to add some memory to laptop and take a few heavy things to the trash for me. He's a sweetheart. I need to get stuff done before he moves within the next year.

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy, weird weather and all.