The Surgery Scoop

Tree near the entrance the arboretum. These are all photos from our most recent trip there a week and a half ago. They give you a sense of the place overall.

When this post arrives in your inbox Thursday morning, Mom will hopefully be just about to head into surgery. She is scheduled for 7:20 AM surgery with a 5:45 AM arrival time. For those of you who are interested in a bit more detail about the surgery, recovery, etc. I'm posting it here.

Otherwise, I'll be using my blog to keep people updated on things here over the next few days, as I have done in the past with both Mom and Dad. Thanks for understanding my using my blog as my major way of communicating right now!

Mom and I have used the 'bonus days' we had to get more stuff organized before surgery, as well as squeeze in a bit more fun. I've mostly just had more time to get anxious, and am very ready for the surgery to be OVER and know that Mom is doing okay. Mom is ready too.

Entrance to the arboretum.

What exactly is Mom having done? 

Mom is having a cervical fusion of the C3-4 vertebrae. The neurosurgeon will remove the degenerated disc, replace it with a piece of bone from a corpse (yup, this is the way they do it!), and then secure it all with a titanium plate. Both my uncle and my grandmother had fusions in exactly the same location! Guess it runs in the family?

She will have another surgery in three months to decompress the area on the lumbar spine. 

Why is she having this surgery done?

Shortly before Mom's heart attack, Mom and I had gone to see the neurosurgeon about her spinal issues. She has both cervical and lumbar stenosis (narrowing of the spinal column). When we went to see Dr. Neurosurgeon in October 2010 he said: "Wow. Those MRIs are remarkable." And remarkable wasn't a good thing.

When he showed us the MRIs of her cervical and lumbar spine it was clear that the nerves in the spinal column were so compressed, it is amazing that Mom functions at all. He said he couldn't believe she could walk into the office.

He felt that he wished she had had the surgery on her cervical spine "done yesterday" (and he is super conservative!). If she were to have any sort of fall or accident the instability in her cervical spine could result in her being on a ventilator. I felt sick to my stomach as he kept emphasizing how unstable her spine was!

So, we scheduled surgery for December 16th. A month earlier, she had the heart attack, which meant a six month delay in the surgery.

So basically, we've been in a holding pattern for the last six months while we wait for her to get this first surgery done. The blessing is that she had the heart attack before the surgery, because the alternative could have been disasterous.

But, the waiting has been difficult and painful for Mom. She's in a LOT of discomfort. I've been so worried about her falling or hurting herself while we wait. Her stenosis and degenerative disc disease has reached a point at which surgery was and is the only and best option. She has been having a lot of issues for years, but now they are impeding dramatically on her quality of life. Being in this much pain is not at all heart healthy, but all of the consensus by all of the doctors was that unless absolutely necessary, surgery should be delayed until at least 6 months post-heart attack.

One side of the arboretum. They are adding new parts all of the time!

Who is taking Mom to the surgery? 

Jeannine. 

Jeannine's mom has had several brain surgeries by Dr. Neurosurgeon so she is in charge. I don't know what else to say except that I have so much trust and comfort in having Jeannine take care of Mom, and Mom feels the same. Jeannine's better at it than I am, as she stays more calm! She will be texting me and calling me with updates, taking care of Mom at the hospital, etc.

We love Jeannine!

Who is doing the surgery?

Well, we only have one neurosurgeon in town and we have never heard anything but rave reviews about him. We carefully weighed the pros and cons of going out of town vs. staying at our local hospital, and ultimately decided that Dr. Neurosurgeon is exceptional, as is the support we have with Jeannine and others.

Mom had received enough opinions and consults over the years from other neurosurgeons, orthopedic doctors, physical therapists, etc. to know what she wanted.

Who is taking care of me during while Mom is in the hospital? And of me and Mom after surgery?

Thankfully, the same woman who took care of me when Mom went to Arizona earlier this year will be taking care of me and also helping when Mom comes home. Peg is excellent at 'mothering', cooking, etc. 

We have the petsitter coming in to take care of Fuzz.

Dad and Abbie are 'on call' for whatever we may need.

And, we have a list of those of you who have offered to help with rides, outings, groceries, Farmer's Market runs, etc. We are learning to ask for help and are grateful to know we have people to call and help! 

Another 'big view' of the arboretum.

What will the recovery be like?

We have been told that the biggest discomfort immediately after surgery is a very sore throat, difficulty swallowing and not having a voice. This is because the incision is made in the front of the neck. The vocal chords are pushed to one side to make room for the surgery to take place. 

Otherwise, Mom will have internal stitches and just some steri-strips on the incision (seriously that is less than I had for my port removal!). Amazing! She can shower right away and doesn't have to wear a collar. She can also do stairs right away.

The hospital stay is expected to be 2 nights.

The hardest part is that she cannot lift more than 5 pounds for 6 weeks! This is going to be a HUGE challenge. This means no carrying laundry up and down the stairs, no lifting a large bottle of laundry detergent, no lifting a large pot of soup, packing teeny tiny bags of groceries, and well, you get the point. We are not quite sure how we are managing this part of things. Mom will be carrying one towel up the stairs at a time. :P

Mom also will not be able to push me in The Rolls for 6 weeks. I DO have an electric Red Rolls that I will be taking for neighborhood StRolls but we don't have a way to transport it for outings.

It is so, so, so important for Mom to be careful and not lift too much or she will just mess up the healing process. The fusion needs time to set.

We also expect Mom to be VERY, very fatigued for the first few weeks. We will see if she is grumpy too! :) 

I have lots of projects around the house to keep me busy. And lots of correspondence to catch up on. We have lots of good TV and movies to watch together if Mom feels up to it. She also has a stack of library books waiting to be read.

Mom used one of her 'bonus days' this week before surgery to engage in some retail therapy. She is now prepared for her Pajama Days with a pair for every day of the week! :) Gotta love big sales!

What improvements will Mom see?

At this point we don't know how much relief Mom will get from this surgery. She has a lot of numbness and tingling down her right arm. She wakes up with it numb. And using her arm to garden, drive, etc. creates numbness and tingling. That should be relieved by the surgery. She also has weakness.

Mom really feels that this surgery is simply a step towards the lumbar surgery. Most of her discomfort comes from the extreme sciatic pain she has, along with weakness and numbness down in her leg and foot. Despite neurontin and the epidural, she is still enduring a LOT of pain.  This likely comes from the lumbar area and not the cervical area, but the two are so interconnected that we can hope the first surgery will bring her some relief.

Standing and walking are incredibly difficult. Mom is incredibly strong and stoic, but it has been hard for her to hide the pain. I can see it in her face. There is just no space in her spinal column for her poor nerves. She struggles to stand up long enough to make dinner, go to the market, etc. and using the electric carts at the stores when I am not with her.

Mountains in the background. We are having the most beautiful, lush Spring.

Mom is so ready for both of the surgeries to be over and to regain some quality of life. This has been and will be a hard year for her. :(  We hope after her second surgery her warranty will be good for the next 30 years or so? :)

We hope for a year of healing for both of us. After that we plan to 1. go on vacation, and 2. find some way to give back to all of you who have given us so much.

Thank you for all of your continued prayers, love and support!

Blessings,

Emily