2017 is here and now that the craziness is gone from the month of December I just want to reflect on it a bit. On Tuesday November 29th I can't even remember what exactly the day entailed other than the fact that I worked out. That evening my neck began to hurt. Now for me this wasn't an uncommon occurrence being that I have had chronic neck pain the last few years off/on. I can remember a flare up when pregnant with Lainey at 7 months along that caused me to stop working out until after she was born. Typically I just go to the chiropractor, rest, and within a few days to a week the pain goes away. What Mom has time for anything more...I feel that normally I put everyone's needs before mine. This pain was worse than normal though. I don't know why but I knew it was different. I ended up going to the emergency room the following day while I was at work. I had an MRI of my neck (which pretty much sucked a big one). I am claustrophobic and had a horrible stuffed up nose so laying flat on my back with a mask over my entire face was not easy. I did it though although I do know their was motion on some of the images. I am so thankful to have my co-worker/friend doing the scan and she was amazing getting me through it. I work in the medical field and am not great at being a patient. SURPRISE I immediately learned that I had a herniated disc in my cervical spine. The disc in between C5-C6 was compressing my spinal cord. Our radiologist said it was about 60% compressed. I of course was freaking out and so upset. My first thoughts went to my children when surgery was mentioned. Specifically Everett because he was only 3 months old and between the age/breastfeeding thoughts were just flooding my head. I was anxious about getting any kind of medicine, pumping, lifting restrictions, etc.... I am a control freak and over analyze everything as well. At that moment sitting in the ER I was totally not in control and I did not like it. I was sent home in a soft neck collar, a prescription for something to reduce the swelling in my neck ( I don't remember what it was), and instructions not to fall or get in a car wreck. I knew what was going on was serious especially with working in the radiology department. My report said expeditious neurosurgeon consult. Not good at all. Not to mention I just had come off of 12 weeks from work on maternity leave. I had no vacation time at all and had used all my family medical leave as well. I had only been back at work for 2 weeks. I never in a million years could have imagined this was how my December was going to begin. I am thankful for the sweetest friend ever (Allie) for keeping me company in the ER and keeping me calm. Also Dr. Vandover and the nurses were great too. The next day I had an appointment at Belleville Memorial with Dr. Heffner. Everything was really moving at warp speed. I am so thankful that I was able to get in immediately. Dr Heffner said I definitely looked way better than my scan. Rhett went along to my appointment and then we enjoyed a rare lunch out just the two of us. A huge thank you to my Mom for watching the kids this day. It was suggested by the Dr and then decided by Rhett & I that surgery would happen soon. It was set up for December 13th just two weeks after my initial pain began. I soon learned that I did have sick bank time and was granted an extended leave at work. I had 6 weeks worth of sick bank time accumulated which meant I would get paid while being out. It helps when you have been somewhere forever and never had any health issues before. I have had my wisdom teeth removed, PRK surgery on my eyes, and 2 vaginal births. Neck surgery is a totally different ball game than any of those. In the week leading up to my surgery I continued to take the medicine I was given from the ER. It was a bit of a pain because after taking it I couldn't feed Everett for 4 hours. We have no schedule I nurse Everett on demand. When he's hungry I feed him, when he's tired he sleeps. This got a little tricky at times but I do have a wonderful supply of milk in our deep freezer if it was needed. The thing I was most nervous about was any medicines I would be receiving during anesthesia and pain medicine after the surgery. After some research, talking to the lactation lady, and discussion with the anesthesiologist during pre op it was determined I would most likely not have to dump very much milk at all. Prayers answered because I was so afraid I would have to take pain medicine for like a week after surgery and Everett would only be able to take a bottle and then not want to nurse again. It's actually quite the opposite lately though. He has refused to take the bottle recently when I had to leave for a bit. When I go back to work soon that might be a problem. I got all my pre op stuff taken care of in the same day including blood work, X-ray, etc. I was totally not used to being the patient. I worked my normal shifts at work leading up to when I would be going out. Another concerning thing for me was the fact that I was told that I could not pick up Everett for at least an entire week after surgery. How in the world was I even going to be left alone EVER that first week. Not being able to physically pick him up and just carry him to change his diaper....Crap city. I knew Rhett, Margaret, and my Mom would all help but still. Soon December 13th arrived and it was time for the big day. I don't think I was that nervous about the surgery itself just anxious about being away from the kids. My mom was keeping them at our house and Rhett planned to stay at the hospital overnight with me. While waiting in the little pre op room I had labs drawn, an iv put in, able to pump, tons of questions to answer, anesthesia and Dr Heffner visited me. This is when I learned that I would actually in deed be allowed to pick up my sweet baby after all. I could not pick Lainey up and no bending over to get Everett like off the floor or out of bouncer but YES I could carry him. When Dr Heffner told me this I immediately was tearful. His nurse was the one who said nothing over 10 lbs first week but Dr trumps nurse and he okay ed it. Everett was 16 lbs at his 4 month checkup. I got some kind of medicine to relax me and away we went to the surgical room. That stuff made me feel loopy almost immediately. The last thing I remember was the nurse taking my ponytail holder so my big bun wasn't on top of my head. I said please make sure I get it back it's the only one I brought. Honestly the day of the surgery I wasn't even having neck pain anymore. I'm not saying my neck felt 100% bc it didn't but if I would not have had that MRI I would have been going on my life as normal. The issue of the disc compressing the cord was very bad. Once I was awake and in my room is when the real journey began. My only complaints were how dry my eyes were and my posterior shoulder upper back area was achy. I am sure my eyes are a bit more sensitive from my PRK and laying still in the same position for the duration of surgery was the cause of achiness. My throat felt a little sore so after some Popsicles and Rhett getting me some eye drops at the gift shop I was better. I had to stay one night in hospital. My mom brought the kids up to see us and that was so nice. Lainey did awesome and wasn't even scared of my neck brace or all the crap I was hooked too. The bad thing was they were pumping me full of fluids and I was drinking A LOT of water so the combination was making me have to pee literally every single hour if not more. Every time I had to get up I had to page nurse so they could help me to bathroom and unhook things. I felt confident that I could have gone alone but they would not let me. I also pumped every 4-5 hours so that requires getting up and moving a bit. I only had to dump the milk I pumped in first 24 hours after surgery. I used the pain button exactly two times in hospital. I really didn't feel bad at all. I was given a script for meds at home but I never took a single pill. I just took Tylenol a few times the first week. The hardest part that first week was feeding Everett wearing the neck brace and finding a comfortable position to sleep. Also not being a busy bee was a little challenging for me but I stayed very low key. I even skipped two family Christmas parties. If you know me well then you know I am big big on family time and I never miss unless working. I am so thankful for my husband and Mom. They are god sends. When showering I was to keep the bandage covered in press n seal so that was interesting. The steri strips drove me nuts. I just wanted to rip them off right away they were itching me but that was a no no. I had my 1 week follow up appointment and it went great. I seen Dr Heffner's nurse Tonya who I have nothing but wonderful things to say about. I'm pretty sure she knows our whole life story because Lainey kept showing her pictures from my phone and explaining each one in great detail. I got to see my operative report, post op images and what the actual hardware/spacer in my neck look like. That office has really been wonderful this whole ordeal. After my appointment I was able to take neck brace off for good. I had already been taking it off occasionally when just sitting in chair and showering but 24/7 I was looking forward to. I was also released to drive. I was an independent woman again. I still had some lifting restrictions and no vacuuming or heavy housework. After that first week the aching in my neck/shoulder went away. The only complaint I have now is when I lay to sleep on my right side it's uncomfortable. I'm hoping that it will just get better with time. I really feel that everything has gone as well as could be expected. I am young and strong so I knew I would be OK but that's doesn't mean I still wasn't anxious. Dr Heffner said that my disc was even worse than the MRI images showed. He said 80% compressed. Again I am thankful for having the procedure done right away. I look forward to working out and picking up Lainey- things I have had to refrain from. I recently went for my 1 month follow up appointment. All was good and I am to return to work at exactly 5 weeks post op and resume all normal activity. (Other than no running or overhead lifting for 6 months) This was definitely an experience to go through. Overall I am glad I am on the mend and thankful for my wonderful family that helped me through it all.
