First Post Op Follow-up

The weekend was pretty uneventful, I had a visit from Cammy on Saturday because she was dropping off pictures from water day so I can add it to a cd full of pictures from the year.

Today I had my first post-op with the neurosurgeon. He is pleased that my bladder has pretty much come back, but a little disappointed that the bowels didn't come back with them. Usually the recovery of the bladder and bowels goes hand in hand, but not always. He lets me know that if we hit the 3 month mark and things still haven't come back that we will start to consider it a permanent thing. He checks out my incision and says that it is looking good. He also says that the numbness in my left leg is normal, and we're looking at the same time frame for the bladder and bowels. Cody asks how different my current situation could be if we'd gotten in sooner. The neurosurgeon thinks we got the surgery relatively early (he thinks the disc ruptured on Wednesday, so surgery on Friday was an early reaction). He also said that I need to start walking around more, trying to get back to normal. The only thing with this is that the numbness on the bottom of my left foot makes it a little uncomfortable and my feet are still pretty swollen. I tell him that my calves (even my right one) are numb and that I noticed it when I was shaving my legs the day before. He squeezes my leg and says that if there was a blood clot I would be jumping off the table in pain. He suggests that I just give it more time. I ask about paperwork that I need filled out for work. He says it will cost $25 and they can mail it out when it is done (The Tempe Doctor's Office was going to charge $25/page!). We leave the office and head to the library to drop off my library books that were due. Then we head to school so that I can turn in my signed contract. I get to stop in and see Lynn, and she is happy to see me up and around. When I get into some detail about what happened she is insistent that I don't go back to the Tempe Doctor's Office, since they dropped the ball. She suggests that I send an email out to the staff for recommendations. I'm not ready to see the kids yet because I'm afraid they'll try and hug me and they're incision height. I get to see some other teachers that I have been missing as well. We grab some McDs for lunch, then head home. Even that little bit has me pretty exhausted. We relax and watch some t.v. and I send out the email to the staff getting some recommendations for a new doctor's office.

Oops...

It was so nice to sleep in my bed last night. Even if I didn't get to sleep on my stomach like I always do. The neurosurgeon said no more stomach sleeping, that it is bad for my back. So, I took Lynn's advice and laid on my side with a pillow in front of me, and another between my knees. I slept pretty well, and managed to make it to the bathroom with a full bladder, no accident. We spent the day watching some t.v., its uncomfortable for me to sit on my bottom, because it stretches the skin on my back, so I curl on my side with a pillow between my knees. I take the Percocet every 4 hours and it knocks me out! I end up doing a lot of sleeping off and on. Once, I wake up and I feel like I have to go to the bathroom and have a bowel movement, but I don't make it to the bathroom. One of the side effects of the Cauda Equina Sydnrome is that I don't currently have control over my sphincter muscle. I can feel when my bladder and bowels are full, but I can't always control them. So, as much as I hate to do it, I send Cody out to buy some Depends. While he is out the chiropractor calls to find out how I am doing. I'm on Percocet and not thinking clearly. I can't remember the name of the syndrome, so I don't tell him. I let him know that I am still numb and uncomfortable in my pelvic region and that I do not have control over my bladder and bowels like I used to. He asks that I keep him updated and let him know if there is anything that I need. What I need is to be back to the way that I used to be, but I don't see that happening for awhile. Cody gets home and I try out some of my new Depends underwear. It sucks that I'm 34 and wearing diapers again, but if it means I can sit on my furniture instead of staying on the toilet, then I guess it will work. I decide since I've already talked to the chiropractor that it's time to talk to my P.A.  at the Tempe Doctor's office and let her know about the major ball dropping that happened. I call and leave a message that I need to talk to her, not her nurse, but my P.A. herself, and to please have her call me when she can that day. A little later I receive a call back from her, she asks how the surgery went and how I'm feeling and I let her know (Cody had called her office while I was in surgery to let them know I was having it). I let her know that I had called her several times a day on Tuesday and Wednesday with my concerns about being numb and that I asked for a call back. She looks in my file and says that the only note there was is from Tuesday saying I asked about my x-ray results from the previous week. I ask if she even got my call from today, and she said no, she was just wanting to check on me. I let her know that I have been with this practice for 14 years, and even though I moved across town I continued to stay with that office because I trusted them, and genuinely enjoyed the doctors there. Having had this major miscommunication with the office staff and them not properly passing on messages is serious, and I let her know that I'm not sure I will be continuing with their practice because this misstep almost cost me the use of my legs. She says that she understands and she puts me on hold for a moment while she informs the Doctor/Practice Owner of the ball dropping. He is upset as well. The rest of the day goes by pretty uneventfully, except for the unfortunate news that Maurice Sendak (author of Where the Wild Things Are) has passed away.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me (Part 2)

Cody drives me back to our side of town so that we can go to the E.R. for the MRI. I call my mother in law and let her know where we are headed, she says she can leave work, but I tell her not to worry and we'll keep her updated. Thank goodness the P.A. gave me the shot of Toradol, or the pain in the car ride back would have been unbearable. When we get to the ER, we get another wheelchair, because the left leg is giving me problems still. I let them know every step of the way that I was just here a week ago. We have to wait for about 90 minutes before we get to the back. The pain is escalating, the Toradol must be wearing off. They ask for me to get into a gown, I do. The insurance lady comes to get my card and info. I have to give a urine sample. So I wobble over to the bathroom (I'm almost as far away from it as you can get) wait for the person who is currently in there (because of course there is only one) and then finally work on the urine sample. When I take it back, they kind of freak out. But, because if all of this back stuff isn't bad enough, I'm also menstruating, isn't it just great to be a woman? They nurses come back and ask about the symptoms again. I let them know that I'm experiencing numbness in the pelvic area and left leg. They ask about the urine, I tell them. What is my pain level, I'm at about a 5. They ask me to turn over, they're going to perform a rectal exam. I do, they put on the gloves and I know they're getting ready to stick their finger in my bottom... but I don't feel anything. They ask me to squeeze, I tell them I can't, I can't even feel their finger. Now they're worried. They give me a shot of Valium and Demerol to prepare me for the MRI. They leave... I start to get a little sleepy, Cody is still there, then all of a sudden I'm on fire. I feel like every nerve ending in my legs are on fire and as if someone has scooped out my uterus and its hollow. I'm now at like a 20 on the pain scale that goes to 10. Cody is very concerned that I'm going to pass out from pain. As I'm writhing around in pain the insurance lady comes back in and wants us to put down some money (we just gave them $500 last week when we were here). Finally a nurse comes in and gives me a shot of Dilaudid and things start to come back under control pain wise. They wheel me for the MRI, and the Dilaudid is starting to wear off and my left leg feels like it is on fire, but I have to stay perfectly still during the MRI or they will have to do it again. I somehow manage it. I get back to a room, and Donna is there talking on the phone to my mom, Kathy, because Cody had to go home and give Castro his insulin (for the first time by himself). I want a glass of water so badly (those of you who know me, know I'm not a water girl), but they say that I have to wait for a neurologist to review the MRI before I can do anything. A nurse comes back in and tells me that I will be having back surgery in the morning. I can have some dinner or something to drink, but nothing after midnight. I call my mom, and try and reassure her that its going to be okay, I'm going to be okay. Cody comes back, then leaves to get me a salad for dinner. I'm put in a bigger room for pre-surgery. I'm allowed to have Dilaudid to help control the pain, and the goal is to make it through the night.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me (Part 1)

I wake up and I am still experiencing numbness in my pelvic region, extending down my left leg. I call my P.A.'s office and again let them know that I am numb and I need her to call me back. Then I call chiropractor's office and grab the first open appointment. Cody drives me over there, and I'm so slow... I can barely feel my left leg... my buttocks are numb, my pelvic area is numb, I'm slow and hurting despite the medications that I am on. I know.. its unusual to say that even though I'm numb it's painful, but it is completely possible. I get into see the chiropractor, he takes a look at me, palpates my back and says that the x-ray came back clean. He said it looks like there could be some calcification in the kidneys, which is a sign of a kidney infection, so he palpates my kidney and asks if it hurts, which it doesn't. He tells me he is not going to adjust me, I need to call my P.A./PCP and arrange for an MRI. He tells me again that the numbness is related to the bed rest and how I'm doing it, nothing to be concerned over. We leave and I book an appointment for my P.A.'s office, insisting I still need her to call me back about the numbness. Now, let's keep in mind that I live in Peoria and my P.A.'s office is in Tempe (a 40 minute drive). Sitting in the car for the short trip to the chiropractor was painful, I know that heading to the P.A.'s office is going to be torture, so I try and time taking the Percocet so it will be the most beneficial. When we get to the P.A.'s office in Tempe for appointment, I'm headed to the back walking with Cody and my left leg feels like it goes out from under me. They bring out a wheelchair and wheel me back. The P.A. takes one look at me and asks me what I'm doing there. I'm not really in the mood to bring up the fact that I've been calling. I tell her that the chiropractor recommended that I get an MRI, to get an MRI I need a prescription from the doctor. She asks me about my pain level and I tell her I'm at like a 6 or 7, the highest it has been, but I'm more concerned with the numbness that I'm experiencing in my pelvic region and down my left leg. The P.A. says that the best way to go about this is for me to go to the ER and have an MRI done. If she were to just send me for an MRI they would have to wait for her to get the results, but if I go to the ER they can have a neurologist look at it right away. She is very concerned about the numbness and wants to know if there have been any issues of incontinence with it. I let her know that there have not been. She gives me a shot of Toradol to help make the trip to the ER more bearable, and tells me if there are any issues admitting me, to please call her and she will talk with them. She expresses that I must tell them about the numbness in the pelvic area because this is very important. As we get out to the car I see I have a voicemail from the P.A.'s office telling me that my x-ray has come back normal.... lack of communication.

I Am Slowly Going Numb.... Numb Going Slowly Am I...

After bedrest on Tuesday, I wake up Wednesday and am concerned because my butt and pelvic area are going numb. I put in a call to the Tempe doctor's office when they open at 8am to see if they have the x-ray results yet, and to ask if she can call me because of the numbness. I call the chiropractor's office at 9am when they open to ask about the numbness. His office staff checks has him call me back and he says that this is normal becase of how I'm doing the bed rest. I take him for his word, I mean... he is the expert right, this is what they are supposed to know. I'm still taking the Percocet that was prescribed by the ER and then the Flexeril that was was prescribed by my P.A. at the Tempe doctor's office. I'm icing my back like the chiropractor said to, but as the day progresses the numbness continues... my left leg is getting tingly, and my butt feels extremely numb. I call my P.A. at the Tempe doctor's office again around 4, because I know that they leave at 5, and am very clear that I need for the P.A. herself to call me back becaue I am experiencing numbness. Time passes and now both offices are closed, the P.A. has not gotten back to me, despite the calls I put in, so I resolve to make it through the night (I sleep a lot, the Flexeril tends to knock me out), and plan call the P.A. and the chiropractor's offices first thing in the morning.

Total calls to the Tempe doctor's office today = 2

Another Day... Another Pain...

I woke up, every intention of going in. I went to bed nice and early and set the alarm for 5 am. I get up, head out to the kitchen, come back into the bedroom for my laptop so that I can print something out for school (because I had this great idea). As soon as I bend down to pick up my laptop, I know that is it… I’m not going in today either. I wait until a decent hour (6 am) and call Cammy again. Now I’ve just got to wait for the chiropractor’s office to open up. He has been out of town since Friday, and I remember him saying he was coming back today when we met on Wednesday last week. Have some breakfast and coffee, I call the Tempe doctor's office and ask if they’ve gotten the x-rays. They say that they don’t have them, so I call the radiology place and have them resend the results to the Tempe doctor's office and ask if they can send them over to chiropractor’s office too. I call the chiropractor’s office as soon as they open and they can get me in by 10am. Getting in and out of the car is rough; I’m walking slower and more stiffly than before. The chiropractor takes one look at me and says he’s not adjusting me, he’s not doing anything. He recommends that I take the rest of the week off of work and stay on bed rest (on my back, pillows under my legs so my knees are at a 90 degree angle). This kills me, I miss my kids, we have field day this week. I want to be at school. Plus, there’s the whole financial thing, I don’t have any paid time left… I ran out of that last week. But, okay… if you’re telling me you can’t even touch my back because it’s that bad and I need to rest, then I’ll rest. We get home and I call Lynn to let her know what the chiropractor said about not coming back for the rest of the week. She again tells me not to worry about it. This was a plan of improvement offense in my last district, the type of thing that would keep you from getting 301 funds, from being offered a contract for next year. She tells me not to worry, Peoria isn’t like that, she’s already offered me a spot for next year, I just need to worry about getting better! This is why I told Lynn back in December, I don’t care where you move me, but let me stay at Heritage! Everyone is this great, not just Lynn… all the other staff is supportive and helpful, the parents are involved and the kids are the best!! I try to relax and just take it easy, which isn’t easy for my type A personality.

Total calls to the Tempe Doctor's office today = 4