Back Surgery*

I believe it was in December, when I lifted an extremely heavy present (ok, it was a bench vise for one of our sons' shop benches) to wrap that I hurt my back.  Actually, I herniated a disc in the lumbar region.  Down below my waistline.

I don't remember there being pain right away but eventually it started to hurt in my left hip and advanced down the side of my leg to the calf.  Pain that makes a person squirm. 

After that my left foot had a weakness in it. 

I had an annual checkup during this time and mentioned all this to my doctor.  He did a simple test in the office and declared that I had Foot Drop and that I needed to have an MRI.

MRI.  Does that strike fear in your hearts?  It does with me.  I'm claustrophobic.  Yeah.  So there are 2 kinds of MRI machines that I know about.  One is a tube that the normal person just so barely can fit into.  I am not a normal sized person...umm maybe call me supersized.  And the other machine is where you are the hamburger and the machine is the bun.  Oh how I hoped to get to be the hamburger.  No such luck.  I got the tube.  Let me tell you, I played lots of mental games to get through those 45 minutes!  If I ever have to do this again there will be drugs.  Lots of drugs.

After that, they found out about the herniated disc and I was told I needed to see a neurosurgeon.

I saw the neurosurgeon and he said I needed microsurgery asap since recovery from foot drop is time sensative.  I had gone to the appointment alone, not expecting to hear the word "surgery" and so I didn't decide that day.  I went home to discuss it with DH.

A few days went by, I made another appointment with the neurosurgeon so DH could go with and that day it was decided to go ahead with the surgery.

Of course the only open date was March 12th, my 60th birthday.  Yup.  Well, when you have to do something asap, you just go for it.

The Saturday before the surgery, I got sick.  Head cold.  Sneezing.  Coughing.  Fever.  Surgery was called off and rescheduled for the 21st.

On the 19th, the neurosurgeon's nurse called and asked if we could do the surgery on the 20th instead of the 21st.  At that point I was basically over the cold and ready to get this over with.  Surgery on the 20th it was.

Well, let me tell you, surgery at 60 is a lot different than surgery at any younger age.  It knocked the snot right out of me.  Over a week later, I'm still sweating if I'm up and around for too long.  Naps are the bomb!

Everything went ok with the surgery.  I won't know for possibly months if the strength will come back in my left leg and the foot drop will be resolved.

For now I'm not allowed to sit for more than 20 minutes at a time.  Walk as much as possible, including stairs and if I'm not walking I lay down.  Don't ride in a car for more than 20 minutes.  Don't lift anything over 10 lbs.

Let me tell you....I'm bored.  Bored.  BORED.

And so I've learned to knit while laying on my back. 

 

And this is the proof.  Rachel's Table Runner from Green Gables Knits. 

It is saving my sanity, folks.

*This is long.  I won't blame you if you don't read it but I needed to get it down so years from now I can look back and recall all that was involved!

The cold from H E double toothpicks

All along this winter I have been smugly thinking that I haven't had a cold for such a very very long time.

The smugness god has risen it's ugly head and bit me.

Spontaneous eye tearing and nose dripping. Swollen painful sinuses. Headache. Sore jaw from too many days of mouth breathing. Itchy sinuses with the need to sneeze. Augh! And then when you do actually sneeze...it's many times in a row...but it feels wonderful. Sneeze = an exposive sinus scratch.

And so I thought I'd do some reading or knitting but my reading glasses seem to set off some kind of pressure reaction from them just sitting on my nose!

If I could unscrew my head from my shoulders and put it on a shelf for a couple days, I'd be a really happy person.

I'll be ok. I think I'm feeling better today. I just really needed to complain a little.

Giving...

the gift of life.

I donated 2 units of blood today.

I started donating years ago after my dad had surgery and needed a blood transfusion during the operation. We could have lost him if not for people giving blood. It was all I needed for incentive to start donating.

It's a good thing.

Wandering mind

On Thursday I was on a clear liquid diet to prep for a colonoscopy. I never realized how much random, mindless eating I do during the course of a day. There were so many triggers that made me go to the cupboard or the fridge for something to munch on. I finally had to go play the piano to break the urge. And that is something I could do more often to keep from eating. And a big plus to that would be that I'd get back to playing piano.

My dad had colon cancer. He was totally cured because he noticed the symptoms and took quick action. And now because he had it, I & my siblings need to have a colonoscopy every 5 years. The prep is much worse than the actual procedure. I sleep through the procedure. The gallon of golytely is another thing. The assisting nurse at the procedure called it swamp water. I can't think of a more appropriate way of describing it. But please, please, please, if you need to do a colonoscopy, do it. Don't put it off. Just do it.

Our weather is edging towards winter. The leaves are all gone. It is in the 20s overnight and the sloughs are starting to getting a thin layer of ice around the edges. I'd take this weather for the rest of the winter but I know that won't happen. Snow will come. And stay. Eventually.

And now just a couple shots of the kitties, lounging around in the upstairs hallway:






































Happy Weekend Everyone!

Ramblin' ramblin' ramblin'

Many have written very comtemplative new year's posts on their blogs. But I've never gotten into the making resolutions, fresh start deal of new years. It's just another day in my life. No better. No worse. No more special. In my opinion, if you want a fresh start you can do it any day of the year. Doesn't have to be new years day. So whatever works for you is good but this is what works for me.

I've done a few things in the new year though.


I finished a pair of socks that I started about a year ago. Isn't that sad? But they are finally done. That's the main thing.

I've been working on the pile of papers that just seem to keep growing on my desk at work. It's going to be a long month I'm afraid. The computer is telling me to send out 1099s and I don't even have the forms yet. Uff!

I donated blood yesterday. I got my 2 gallon pin! That's a fair amount of blood if I do say so myself! :) The story about what got me started donating blood is this....Years ago my dad had surgery for colon cancer and started bleeding during the surgery. If I remember correctly they gave him 3 units of blood that day. If someone hadn't donated and that blood wasn't available he probably wouldn't have made it through the surgery. So I'm paying it back and maybe by this time I'm paying it forward too! Oh, and he came through that surgery fine and never needed chemo or anything. He passed away years and years later from old age.


And to end my post I'm giving you a look at our backyard again. Plenty of snow and today it's cold and windy. High temp of -12 with a wind chill advisory that it could be as low as -40 wind chill.

I'm going now to find my CuddleDuds.

I got mine. How 'bout you?

Seasonal flu shot.

Over the weekend....A Birthday!

The sweetest little boy in the world had a birthday over the weekend. There was cake...as you can see...and ice cream and more presents than any 2 year old will know what to do with. But it was fun fun fun and so I say Happy Birthday DGS!

And now I have a miserable cold with a very painful sinus thingy going on. I'm going to try some Benydryl or something like that but I'm afraid I'll be napping on my desk today. I'm not even in the mood to knit and that is a dangerous thing. There aren't that many days left and I have lots of it to do!

Winter is here and it is a COLD one.