In early February I was climbing the stairs at home. When I reached the top step and turned to head down the hall I coughed. At that moment I felt a stabbing pain in my hip and my left leg went numb.
I went to the doctor and was sent to an orthopedic spine specialist, who sent me for an MRI. I had ruptured two disks in my spine!
After conservative treatments (medications, physical therapy, rest) didn’t help, we decided surgery had to be done to correct the problem.
I told the doctor that I had to either be well by the beginning of July or wait until after July 7 to do the surgery as I had a trip with my son planned (we went to see the Yankees and Red Sox play in Yankee Stadium on July 4
), so he scheduled it for June 9 at 11am. Later that day his office called and rescheduled it for 1pm the same day.June 9 came and I went to the hospital. They took me into surgery prep, stuck an IV into my arm and said I would be going into surgery in about 30 minutes. About half-an-hour later the anesthesiologist came in and went over his questions then said it would be about 20 minutes. About half-an-hour later, a nurse came in and said they were getting the operating room ready for me and it would be about 30 minutes.
Another 30 minutes passed and my surgeon came in and said they were getting the operating room ready for me and it would be about 30 minutes. After that half-hour passed, another anesthesiologist came in and went over his questions then said it would be about 30 minutes.
This went on for five and a half hours! The seventh time they said just 30 more minutes I said “pull the IV out, I’m going home.”
I’m now waiting to see a different surgeon. This one has a great reputation but quite a wait for an appointment.
In the meantime I’m sitting around, drugged and in pain. I can sit for only a few minutes at a time before I have to get up an walk. I can only walk for a few minutes before the pain forces me to lie down. I can only lie down for a few minutes before I have to get up and go through the same cycle all over again. The only way I get any sleep at night is the pain meds literally knock me out.
Anyways, to those who inquired about my whereabouts, thanks for thinking about me. To those who thought I had finally gone away—sorry, I’m still here…
I have been reading the forums whenever I can sit for a few minutes but haven't replied to any posts because my brain is pretty foggy from the meds.
Thanks again to all of the fine caring folks who asked about me. I truly miss everyone and hope I'll be back soon.
