Only 9 days until surgery....Eeeeek!
 

After many tests & train rides down to NYC, I am scheduled for ADR surgery on January 20th. As each day winds down & I get closer to the big day, I get more & more nervous.

I'm still unsure as to whether or not my insurance will pay for my surgery. If they won't, I at least have worked out arrangements with my doctor's office & hope that everything works out with the agreement. I really can't go in to too much more detail about it though.

I have been making preparations in anticipation of my surgery. I have most of what I need for the hospital already. I just have to pack what I have on my checklist. I still have to fill out the health care proxy paperwork & there are a few things around the house I still need to take care of beforehand.

I guess it's good to keep busy so I don't think about it so much. Can anyone think of anything else that I should be doing before surgery?

I got the letter the day after my surgery confirming they would pay for it, I had a verbal ok before that so went ahead with it.
Best of luck to you.

keziah,

I'm hoping that I'll have an answer this week. I'll be following up with my doctor's office today or tomorrow to see if they have heard anything.

How are you feeling since your disc replacement?

My surgery is scheduled for the 26th and I'm still waiting for word on my first appeal. I'm supposed to call tomorrow for an update. Personally I see my surgery being delayed at least until April. Need the blasted Bryan disc to get approved too.

Nairek,

You didn't mention what you have done in your home environment to get ready. Do you have someone to help care for you after your discharge? Stock up on food and non-perishables, for sure. Do you have a "grabber?" That helped me tremendously to prevent bending over. A raised toilet seat too is also a huge help. It is so normal to feel the anxiety rise as the days get closer. Try and stay busy to distract yourself. Easier said than done, I know. What levels are you having done? We are here for you when you get to the other side. I'll be thinking and praying for you Nairek. Best to you!

good luck on surgery
 

Nairek,

I wish you best of luck.

There are a lot of things that should be on your checklist including raised toilet seats, grabbers etc. I had my surgery out of state and I stayed in a hotel near the hospital for a couple weeks post surgery before flying home. I used 2 grabbers to put on socks/footsies. I also used the 2nd grabber when I frequently dropped the first grabber. I absolutely needed the raised toilet seat in my hotel room. The grabber was also very useful in the hospital room! To pull up your covers or grab a pillow from a near by chair, pull the food tray closer to get a drink, etc. After my discharge, I was in a hotel for a couple weeks before flying cross country. I had my dad get me a little basket and drink holder attachment for my walker so I could get to the hotel breakfast and move around on my own. For me these were some of the best investments given my situation.


I also had very sensitive/painful nerve issues in my feet (heels and left big toe) post surgery so ended up needing a pair of shoes one size bigger than normal, including larger size slippers with no back on them. Slip on shoes are the best. You don't want to be messing around with lace up shoes.

You must have someone helping you during your stay in the hospital. You need someone to stay on top of your care to make sure things are not falling through the cracks. Nurses are less likely to dismiss your sane advocate who calls for them to do or fix something. I was left on the comode forever with toilet paper out of reach, and my comode was too far from my bed to move safely by myself. Nurses would also forget to re hook up my leg compression machine after a visit to the comode or after a PT or OT session, or they would forget to put my oxygen back on...and my dad would notice and questions these things way before I did.

If you have to bring meds from home that are unrelated to your surgery...there's procedure to follow. They have to keep the meds in special place and it takes some energy to get that coordinated once you are able to eat and thus able to restart any other meds. The nurses are not always understanding or knowledgable about what you might be taking. My dad was very helpful in getting this organized for me. You are not supposed to bring home meds with you going into surgery. Someone needs to bring them to you in the hosp after your first day or two post surgery.You wont be allowed to take any outside meds without your surgeon's approval and not until you are able to eat food.

Before surgery, I asked my surgeon if I should do more PT or pilates. He strongly urged pilates to help increase my core strength. He said the stronger your core section going into surgery the easier the recovery. So if you can safely do things to improve stomach / back muscles, it sure wont hurt. Maybe some things you've learned from PT? I had a really good private pilates instructor who was used to dealing with people who had back problems, so I felt safe doing pilates with her. I would never recommend doing pilates or starting anything new if you don't know what you're doing, and don't know if your doing it safely.

One more thing...get some Miralax or your prefered laxative for home. Take it regularly after discharge from the hospital! Nothing worse than being constipated when you're in pain from a surgery. In addition to Miralax, you may also want to get a little jar of gylcerin suppositories (a more drastic immediate laxative). I was in a lot of pain post surgery. I took a lot of morphine in the hospital, threw up a few times. At discharge they wrote an Rx for Nordco (a little stronger than Vicodin), it wasn't doing the job and I needed percocet. I ended up using both forms of laxatives to get things moving. I was taking the max number of percocets for awhile. I was up every 2 hours, all night long to move around due to horrible foot pain/big toe throbing pain, and every 4 hours taking the pain meds. It was rough the first week + after discharge. Not saying this will happen to you but it's better to be prepared and not need something than the other way around.

I didn't have a big appetite after discharge. Just basic foods to take with meds. Pudding, crackers, pretzels, juice, water, fresh fruit.

Best of luck

surgery
 

one more thing...

IF your surgery is delayed for a number of hours...tell your family, significant other, or friend to go home and get some rest. You may need them more when you wake up from surgery than going into surgery.

My surgery was not the first for the day for my surgeon. He got delayed in surgery for 5+ hours more than expected, so I was in the pre-surgery waiting room all day long - no liquids or foods - waiting with my Dad. He was so exhausted by the time I actually got out of surgery that he wanted to leave. He had been at the hospital waiting around for about 12 hours from the time I checked in, until I finally woke up after surgery. He didn't realize how badly I wanted him to stay, even just for an hour. I was crying after he left because I couldn't reach anything I wanted to try and make me more comfortable.

Also..if you can time your period to be as far off as possible post surgery...the better. my range of motion was not so good to deal with this issue...got a little frustrating. I was a two level so maybe that was part of it.

not trying to scare you or make you upset...just figure others can learn from our experiences.

I really can't add anything to the above, I just popped in to wish you well. Good luck and godspeed. :angel:

You've got some excellent advice from several people here. How wonderful !!

I just wanted to wish you good luck and let you know we'll be here waiting when you get to the other side. Please keep us in the loop when your ready and able to post again !!

only 10 days until my surgery...yowsa!
 

i can relate to your nervousness. i am terrified. i'm having a 2 level ADR in my cervical spine. i have degeneration in c4-c5 and c5-c6. i don't have any pain there remarkably, but my surgeon said my neck had to be stabilized in order to have lumbar surgery ADR in l4-l5 and l5-s1. those are the little buggers that cause me all this god aweful pain. i am looking for advice on what to bring and expect as well. good luck with yours, emily