Four weeks ago today, I was in the hospital having had surgery to correct my scoliosis the day before. My neurosurgeon said the surgery lasted about six hours, but I was sedated for about 12 hours. They sedated me at about 7:30 a.m., but my neurosurgeon said surgery did not begin until about 9. I woke up after 7 p.m., but my neurosurgeon said surgery ended around 3. I had warned the anesthesiologist before that I was a slow metabolizer. My guess is that they did not give me a reversal, but they just let me sleep after surgery, which was probably a good idea.
I have no idea how many people were actually a part of the surgical team, but I know there were two neurosurgeons to decrease the amount of time I was in surgery. I learned right before surgery, that there was also a surgical neurophysiologist who would be monitoring my nervous system the entire time I was in surgery to make sure the neurosurgeons did not harm my nerves. [A few days after surgery, I told my neurosurgeon that he should have told me about the surgical neurophysiologist months before surgery because knowing someone was there whose entire job was to make sure my nervous system was not damaged made my stress levels go down as that was one of my big concerns. He apologized and said he thought he had.] Then there were who knows how many nurses, the anesthesiologist, the nurse anesthetist, and at some point during surgery, an x-ray technician came in, so they could check their work.
After surgery, I now have a rather renovated, blinged out spine that has been enhanced with two rods (one per side), 26 screws, and (by my count on the x-ray) seven artificial discs. My neurosurgeon swears I will not set off every metal detector I come near. I have not tested this yet. According to the radiology report, my spine has been fused from T7 down to the pelvis, which I think is about half my spine. So yeah, my spine was rather messed up before surgery. Sadly, as best I can tell despite all that metal, my spine does not seem to have bionic abilities.
I spent a week in the hospital. The day after surgery, in the morning I was able to stand, but then I got lightheaded and had to sit back down. Later that afternoon I was able to stand again and sit in a chair a few feet away. I was walking with a walker I think the next day, only a few steps though. After a few days though, I was doing slow laps around the hospital wing with my walker. Once I started getting out of bed, I was given a rather uncomfortable back brace, which would not be so bad except it strangles me when I sit upright.
I have been home for three weeks, and I can’t express how happy I was to get out of the hospital. It took several days before I could sleep in my bed. There were a variety of reasons for that, but for the first couple of days, the couch and ottoman were just more comfortable and easier. Now I have pretty much mastered the log roll to get into and out of bed. I can manage a lot on my own, but I have trouble getting things below waist height. I am not supposed to bend, and my thighs, particularly my left thigh, are so tight, I can’t really squat either. I am actually not in much pain anymore. When I go to bed and lay on my back and thus the incision, then I have some pain as it is still rather sensitive. Most of the problems I have now is that my body got used to my scoliosis and compensated in various ways. Now my body is trying to get used to this new spinal configuration. My left leg is much weaker than the right, and as the scoliosis was to the left, clearly I had been compensating for some time unknowingly. Also when sitting, I keep leaning to the left.
For several years I have had pain in my back near constantly, and x-rays proved that the pain was exactly at the apex of the spinal curve. The good news is that pain is completely gone. Now I just need to regain my strength and flexibility. I have been given strengthening and stretching exercises, which help. At the physical therapist’s advice, I bought a pair of walking sticks, which I use to do laps around the house to increase my strength and endurance. I still get around with a walker though. I don’t need the walker for support. I need it for stability, as I walk rather wobbly currently. Also, when standing from a sitting position, I need something to push off with my arms.
I don’t regret having the surgery. I admit I am somewhat frustrated by how slow my recovery is, but I know that is to be expected. My only regret is how long it took to get an accurate diagnosis, so I could make the decision to have the surgery. I have suffered needlessly for years. I only hope to get back to normal in the coming months and once again have the active lifestyle I used to have.