.jeri.

Greetings from my life on the couch!

I know I've been posting comments on FB, but I still can't quite get in a totally comfy position with my laptop for long typing, so the thought of doing posts on my blog is one I have been putting off. But I figured an update was overdue.

Thanks to some skilled doctors, loving family and friends, a lot of prayer, and the mercies of God, I made it through the surgery and am doing well! Last Thursday morning we got up at 4:30am and headed down to St. Jude. We filled out paperwork, waited a while, and then a nurse took me in to get me ready for surgery. I took one final pregnancy test, got an IV hookup, got those awesome (annoying) circulation socks fitted on me, got dressed in my little hospital robe, and got to chat with Ric and my mom while the doctor marked where the incision would go. When the surgery grew close, they said they were going to wheel me away. I felt good and calm until right about that moment. When I kissed Ric goodbye, I totally started to get scared and dropped a few tears as they whisked me toward the operating room. Luckily they injected me with something to make me relax even before doing the knock-out anesthesia, so all I remember was total fear and that I was in the room, and then I woke up in the recovery room. Sweet, merciful, ignorant bliss!

When I woke up, all I felt was complete relief, because I was awake, could wiggle my toes, and the pain wasn't at all as bad as I thought it would be. I spent only 30 hours in my hospital room. The first thing I did there was ask Ric for my wedding ring back because I was so upset I had to remove it for surgery. Most of the time I was nauseous so I hardly ate, I watched as much tv as I could to while away the time, I slept a lot, had visits from family and Abby and Amy, and was annoyed as one could be by my roommate, who was the most needy (without truly being in need) patient ever - so I often listened to the new Morrissey album with my headphones on so I could drown out her incessant talking (even at 4 in the morning). The morning after surgery, I had visits from the physical therapist and occupational therapist, who both thought I was in great shape because I could walk unassisted, climb stairs, go to the restroom, and dress myself. They said I was good to go. So, several hours later after the paperwork had finally been filed, I was discharged only 32 hours after my surgery.

I've spent the last week improving more and more each day, to the point where I didn't even really need any pain medication today. I can climb stairs easily, I take walks through our complex slowly but easily, and I can shower and fix myself food. I am not allowed to bend, twist, or arch my back, and can only sit up for 30 minutes at a time, so I have to do a lot of lying around. So, I break up my days with naps (still recuperating), emails, blogs, FB, tv, movies, books, and any little things I can do around the house (which isn't much).

My pain is broken up between two things, the incision point (in the front) and my actual back. The incision is basically like that of a c-section, so I guess now I know what that's like. That was actually the worst at the beginning, because moving around agitated it a lot. And the back itself just gets achy, but thankfully none of it is even so bad as the pain I had from my discogram. It really just reminds me of bad back pain, and some of it isn't even that bad.

I am so amazed at how fast recovery is going. I feel really good. The main thing now is to continue to treat my back well and let the fusion happen. That means lying on the bed and lying on the couch a lot, and at any given time, I'm usually using about three to four pillows to be positioned just right. Haha. Next week I'll receive a bone growth stimulator device to use 30 minutes a day, which is like some sort of exterior electric stimulation device. So, there you have it.

I just want to thank all of you for your support and prayers. I couldn't have done this without them. Please continue to pray that no complications will occur and that the fusion will happen naturally and successfully. I think a lot of my major health problems will probably disappear if the fusion is successful, although I am pretty sure my hip and shoulder problems are unrelated and will have to be followed up on separately, which is really discouraging. If you could pray for an easy resolution to those, I would appreciate it, because I really just want to be able to get out there and get jogging again within the year.

Hopefully I'll get the movie reviews flowing again soon. I've already put myself so far behind, having seen eight movies so far during my convalescence!