One year ago today, I had a surgery that I always said I’d never do. I had back surgery, where L5 and S1 were fused together, plus I got some hardware added to the mix. It was terrifying, to say the least, but what led up to it helped me to finally make the decision to have it done.
When I was a child, my parents noticed that I stood funny. One shoulder was higher than the other and after so many times of telling me to stand up straight, they finally took me to a doctor. He checked me out and decided that I needed to have a body brace for the rest of my life. They went for a second opinion and that doctor said that I needed a steel pin through my spine! Both doctors concluded that I had scoliosis, and those were their treatment options. I need to add that the last doctor had a son who was active in high school rodeo while my sister was in high school, and he ended up being diagnosed with scoliosis as well. His dad had him get the steel pin through the spine, ending his rodeo career. Lucky for me, my parents didn’t accept either of the options given for me, and they opted for the third option, which was for chiropractic care. My aunt worked for a chiropractor in a town an hour away, so every Saturday, we traveled there so I could be treated. Finally, a family friend recommended someone local that he was seeing, and I transferred to that doctor and began my treatments with him. The doctor and his wife, also his secretary, became family friends. I was given exercises to do at home and had to call in to the office weekly to tell them that I was indeed doing them. The deal was that after a certain period of time, they would give me a fancy typewriter in a case that I thought was pretty cool. I ended up earning it and was pretty excited. When I went to join the military and this one dipshit looked at my medical records, he didn’t hide the fact that he didn’t believe in chiropractors: “So, you think you had scoliosis, huh? You think you were cured, huh?” Well, dumb ass, it’s not something you “cure”, but ok…
I always had horrible headaches from my neck (cervicogenic) and lower back pain. As I aged (and gaining weight never helps anything) it got worse. Years ago, I injured my back at work while lifting a tub of ammo and that kind of started a quicker downward spiral of pain, and weight gain. It was from the visits to my childhood chiropractor through workman’s comp after this injury that I found out I had a congenital issue (that I was born with): Spondylolistheses. At the word “congenital”, my medical care was no longer covered by workman’s comp. But before they made that determination, I saw an orthopedic physician and he did x-rays. At 29 years old I already had severe osteoarthritis in my spine and his opinion about the Spondylolistheses was that I would most likely need surgery later on down the road. I had it in my mind that that would never happen. Back surgery always seemed creepy to me. I suppose it’s because I only had experience with seeing the old school surgeries on people and they didn’t seem to turn out well.
I finally got tired of the pain and limitations. I did years of physical therapy, chiropractor visits and tried medications, but I don’t do pain pills except after a major surgery, and only if I really really need them. My physical therapist talked to me about all the options out there. There was a pain management clinic in Missoula that sounded interesting. I asked my doctor about it, and she sent me for an Xray first. The results from that warranted an MRI. The results from that warranted her wanting me to see a Neurosurgeon. The VA gave me the option of traveling to (I don’t remember now where it was) or seeing someone local. I did some research and found Dr. Beck in Missoula. His reviews were good, and people traveled from other states to see him. So that’s who I chose.
My issues were more than the Spondylolistheses. Besides the other big words I never really understood, I had (or still have?) stenosis (where the holes in the vertebrae are getting smaller. Due to arthritis, I’m assuming. This compresses the nerves and causes the pain, numbness and tingling. There was also some broken and cracked pieces and parts of the vertebrae. So, he went in and fixed it all up. I made the mistake of watching a bunch of YouTube videos on the surgery beforehand. That stuff is very interesting on the other hand.
I was really nervous when I went in for surgery. Like extremely nervous. The month before, I lost a dear friend while in surgery. Granted, she had cancer and was very frail, but it weighed on me heavily. And I always worry before surgery anyways. But all went well, and when I woke up, I felt fine. I was wheeled up to my room and Lee and my parents were there. That night I walked a long way around the hospital and that damn painful knife in the lower left side of my back was gone!! For the next 6 weeks I wasn’t allowed to twist or bend and that drove me crazy. Showering while sitting on a shower bench sucked. I never knew how much I appreciated a thorough butt crack cleaning. Haha!! Any time I was up, I had to wear the back brace. It was uncomfortable but made my back feel better. At my follow-up appointment, I had to have x-rays first. The doctor said everything looked fine and sent me on my way. He said to ease back into my activities, and there were no restrictions. He pretty much wrote me off after that.
What exactly is “easing back into activities?” When it’s spring and there’s so much to do? And then it’s summer and fishing? Well, I was scared to do too much and end up falling. I was afraid of breaking something that was still healing, like the fake bone material or the Medtronic hardware he used. And I was starting to be sore all the time from doing stuff. And I requested physical therapy, even though he said I didn’t need it. (really??) My physical therapist said that the recovery time is 12-18 months, because that’s how long it takes for the nerves to heal back together.
All I know is that is sucks to get old. Oh wait, one other thing I know. I'm glad that the VA paid for that surgery!! Once the paperwork started rolling in for everything, I was reminded at how blessed I am to be in the VA healthcare system! That surgery and associated costs were well over $100,000!!!!!!
Add comment
Comments