Two weeks to go - Any semi last minute advice?

[Cirobi]

Wow! What a wealth of suggestions! Thank you so much! Boy, my list of to bring and to do yet is growing rapidly. I hadn't thought of speaking to my OBGYN about my BCP regiment. I'm really not so sure about going off of them because part of why I take them is because I wind up with extremely heavy flow and tons of cramping pain if I don't take them and have been on them for years. However, I just jotted down as a "to do" item to call them just to make sure. I actually got very lucky with regards to my cycle. I hadn't thought about it at first because I'm so regular on the pill that I take it for granted a lot. I had a mild panic moment about 1.5 months ago after using the ladies room one day when I realized how hard it would be to deal with that while having trouble bending for using the restroom. I quickly looked at a calendar and calculated which week it would be and I'm JUST missing it by a couple days. Boy did I give a sigh of relief!

That's very interesting what you said about having a relative there regularly. I was talking to my boyfriend about things because his work schedule changed recently (he's working a tennis camp in addition to giving private lessons but free briefly in the evening) so we were trying to figure out how things would work to even get me to the hospital since I don't find out until the day before what time I should get there. Anyway, I will be talking to my parents on the 21st so we'll map out a plan then. They planned on coming down to stay at my house for a bit to help me out once I was discharged, but I may have them come down sooner and set up my sofa bed for them. If they're down sooner it would make discharge day easier since I have no idea what time of day that would be.

I'll also look into having a grabber ready ahead of time. Is there a specific type of store I should look at for such things?

The mention of the hospital booties reminds me of how horrific they were when I went for my discogram. They assumed my foot size without bothering to ask and of course gave me a pair that were way too small. I asked for a larger pair but they never brought any. Unfortunately the assumption that my feet are "normal" sized doesn't work because I wear size 12 women's shoes. *sigh*

Thanks again for all the advice. Wow, so much to do yet.

thanks!

~Sara

[LBP]

You're welcome. You realy must make an appt with your OBGYN, espec if you have issues going off the pill.

re the grabber...I have no idea what brand. My dad had one from his hip surgery that he says is called the "golden retriever" It's more sturdy than the one we bought for my surgery. Mine broke but his is holding up great.

Discharge is a complete unknown so having someone on call is best. I had surgery on Mon. On Wed my dr said I wouldn't be discharged till the following Mon, and I couldn't fathom being discharged. But a nurse commented how I would be discharged Thurs? I panicked. Thurs I was just starting to move on and off the comode and going into the bath room. Thurs night and Friday day I made a big jump forward in progress. ON Fri the dr told me I'd be discharged on Sat. But I was getting really antsy and sick of my nurses so I asked to be discharged. They never told me "yes" so a few hours later I asked what the status was...only to find out it was approved, they were waiting for my ride to arrive!!! But I was waiting for them to say yes before calling my ride!! ARGH.

Since PT and OT wont let you stand and walk around without non stick socks, I'd either bring your own non-stick larger socks OR bring slip on shoes with a good rubber bottom.

On the shoe issue, my left sciatic was so strong that I couldn't wear my regular size slip on tennis shoes. The heel of my shoe dug into my sciatic making the pain unbearable. so I bought a pair of the same shoes a size larger, which I am still using. An easy fix is buying rubber soled slippers with no back.

[LBP]

You might not be able to take your bcp the day of surgery and you wont be taking any bcp pills until you are able to eat solid food...so not taking it for 2 or 3 days may screw you up. Just a heads up.

[LBP]

btw...I don't think there's been any mention of the need for laxatives post surgery. The hospital nurse will give you a suppository if you dont have a bm in enough time. At home the pain meds will likely make you constipated. I took and still take Miralax every night and occassionally I still have to insert a solid form suppository. You'll want to be sure you have these in stock for when you get home. And I was told by a good friend...don't drink any carbonated beverages for awhile otherwise you might get painful gas bubbles before the anesthesia fully leaves the body.

also If you read my thread under surgical outcomes you'll see I had lots of problems with using tampons after surgery. Even this past week, it's still been difficult but better than the week after surgery!

Sara....how many levels are you having done? Are you getting Charite or ProDisc and whose your surgeon?

Don't worry about bringing things to keep you busy. I can't imagine wanting to do anything the fist day post op. It's hard enough to pay attn to the tv. Maybe day 3 you might want something and then someone can bring you your cross stitch or a soduko puzzle book. The only thing I would have liked is a portable DVD player to watch movies. But not worth buying if you don't already have one.

[Cirobi]

Thanks again for all the advice! This is great!

To answer some of your questions, I'm only having one level (L5/S1) replaced and it'll be ProDisc. My doctor is Dr. Balderston with 3B Orthopedics in Philadelphia.

I'll probably make sure I at least bring my mp3 player with me. If it's quiet for too long and I'm awake, my mind starts wandering and focusing on random stuff that isn't always a good thing but I can get lost in some good music. I could bring my laptop for watching DVDs but I'll probably stick to music, a couple good books and cross stitch (if I can even focus to do any stitching).

Hm, good thought on the tampons. Amazing how that didn't even cross my mind.

For the sock issue, do you think a pair of slip on sandals/flip-flops would be sufficient? I just bought a couple pair of sandals/flip-flops to replace my beat up old ones and they'd likely be the absolute easiest things to get on in a pinch. Socks generally keep me too warm and I'm pretty sensitive to warm temperatures. Hopefully the flip-flop/sandal thing would work because it's hard enough for me to find shoes that fit me, let alone a size bigger.

Did your sciatic pain occur before your surgery at the level you described with regards to the shoe issue? I've been able to avoid constant sciatic pain so far with the exception of certain chairs causing some pretty high sciatic pain down to my knee. I haven't really felt pain down to my feet thankfully.


Thanks again! I'm going to go hide from my users at work and see if I can't get an appointment with my OBGYN or at least talk to her over the phone about the whole pill issue.

I can't thank you enough for all this great advice. I'm really glad I made this post as it's helped me tremendously with things I wouldn't have even thought of in preparation.

~Sara

[phylly]

Sara,
Good luck on your upcoming surgery. I ditto all of Amy's info on what you'll need at home. The other thing that I found wonderful was the continuous ice machine. Your Dr. can prescribe it. It is like a cooler that fills with ice and pushes cold water through a pad that you lie on. It is wonderful. if you can't get that, there are some large ice packs that I kept in the freezer and used on a chair to sit on or lie on.

The other thing I used was a little rolling cart near the bed to keep stuff on so I wouldn't have to reach too far for things like the phone or a glass of water. I drank lots of water and kept a pitcher near the bed.

You sound so organized and with help, you will be okay. Nothing can prepare you for the initial pain and just make sure they have you on as many meds as you need to be comfortable. I do not mean to scare you but the pain can be difficult the first few days. Ice really helps for that too. All my best wishes.
Phylly

[Cirobi]

Hi Phylly,

Thank you for the suggestions and kind words! I'm really glad you mentioned the ice packs. I had those on a much earlier list but did manage to forget about them. That continuous ice machine sounds really neat. I'm not sure I could get one though. I'll still ask my doctor what kind of extra cost that might be to have it. I do have the automatic ice maker in my fridge and ziplock bags, haha. I'm sure that wouldn't be very comfortable to lay on though. I plan on heading to a nearby mall over lunch with some of my work buddies, so I will check out the pharmacy that's there to see what kind of cold packs they have. I had purchased at one point a set of gel packs that had one for heat and one for cold, but I think I threw them away one summer while moving in or out of college dorms. They may be nice to lay on or for sitting. I know that ice was always my best friend in sports and I've used it regularly over my less sporty years because of how much it helps. I always loved getting a nice ice pack after my physical therapy sessions in spring 2007.

Don't worry about telling me how bad the pain is. While I certainly won't be looking forward to it in a general sense, it's much better that I know how bad it could be. I've always been pretty good with pain, but if the pain is too much I will definitely yelp. I still recall the pain I was in after getting all 4 of my wisdom teeth out so I figured on imagining that multiplied by a few times for potential post-op pain in this case.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm being too obsessive about preparations, but I also figure it's probably going to help me relax and recover better than if I missed something and wound up worrying. I find myself preparing as if I won't have help even though I will at the very beginning, but I feel better knowing I'll have things set up so that if I needed to I could do it myself.

Everyone's suggestions are amazingly helpful and have really made me feel more prepared for this. I feel a lot better now.

I had a thought regarding using the restroom in my house the other day that made me smile a bit. I realized that when I bought my house I was a little put off by the small size of the only bathroom in the house. Now, since I know I will need assistance bending to use the toilet and such, it's probably a good thing my bathroom is tiny. There's plenty in close proximity to lean on. In fact, I've actually hit my head on the edge of the sink on more foggy-brained mornings, sadly enough.

Thank you again everyone. This has been extremely helpful to me. It won't be long before I "graduate" to the post-op forum.


~Sara

[LBP]

Sara,

re sciatic pain. Before surgery I would have radiating pain down both my legs that I was able to deal with using 1 Neurontin, 1 Tramadol, and a sleeping pill at night. That pain was mostly my butt, hamstrings and heels.

After surgery, the Left side sciatic, especially my big toe was horrendous and unlike anything I felt before surgery. It really felt like there was a noose on my big toe. Thank goodness that is finally gone!

My incision is horizontal and left of center below my belly button. That's why it hurt so much more on the left foot.

re: flip flops. I'm not sure your OT/ PT people will think flip flops are secure and steady enough to get up and shuffle out of bed. You'll probably end up with the non-skid socks then. All I know is that my PT person saw my slip on privo tennis shoes, she asked me why I didn't mention I had those becuase they would have been better for walking and for when she made me do some stairs. Not a big issue so long as the non-skid socks fit your feet.

I believe single level ADR patients get discharged quicker than 2 level patients. Your surgery should be quicker which mean less anesthesia, and less aggravation of spine muscles, and that's a good thing.

[Cirobi]

That's definitely good to hear. I'm really hoping that the combo of the one level ADR, my age and catching the more significant symptoms before they cause an extraordinary amount of damage will help me get through this relatively smoothly. It won't be easy for sure, but I do have my hopes up a bit that I won't run into major complications. I'm pretty sure that if I had chosen to let this go any longer I would have done myself a disservice in the long run.

The general surgeon who will be preparing the incision site for my orthopedic doc told me that getting access to the L5/S1 disc is actually the less risky of the lumbar disks with L4/L5 being the most risky simply due to the placement of blood vessels and major nerves. It's still a major procedure but the level and the fact that I've never had any belly surgery in the past combine to make this easier for both of us - him for the preparation and me for the recovery afterward.

I'll have to check the soles on the sandals I'm getting and just ask the nurses. I'll make sure I have some non-slip socks or some such foot covering just in case, that way I know they'll fit my over sized ape feet.


Thanks again!

~Sara

[ZorroSF]

There's a lot of suggestions here, but the most important is to make sure there's someone with you everyday that you're in the hospital. They will mostly be sitting around the whole time, but you will need someone to step in and convey to the nurses and doctors if they need to change your drug therapy. Doctors have a habit of showing up once or twice then taking off and leaving an intern to take over.

Nurses and Interns hear about pain every single day they are in the hospital and are numb to the complaints. They most likely won't be attentive to your pain. Also pay attention to IV drugs they give you. Some anti-inflammatory drugs can put you into convulsions and make your veins feel like they are on fire.

The last thing you want is for this to happen and not have someone there to chase down the nurse so they can flush out your veins.

take your laptop with you, a long book and some magazines. Don't take any supplements while your in the hospital and don't take any 2 days pre-op. Make sure your honest when they ask you what you are taking at home. Don't leave anything out.


Oh and get a body pillow for when you get back home. your hamstrings will feel so tight you won't be able to sleep well the first week or two. the pillow helps relieve lower back pain and helps to relieve strain in your hamstrings. Don't forget to start slowly stretching after a week out of the hosptal. those hamstrings need to be stretched regularly, but don't over do it. Only do what you can manage.