I'm HOME...And On The Mend...

Well, a month in the hospital is something no one expected...ever! But I'm home! Finally...and in time for Christmas. Like my surgeon warned me, there was the potential for complications and I had several. The first surgery (the only one scheduled!) on 11/15/12 went well, all things considered. It was a long and grueling surgery and it was very painful coming out of anesthesia with 32 pedicle screws and 2 new rods on either side of my spine. But little did I know, that would be the least of my worries. 5 days later, I was put on the emergency surgery roster for excess fluid drainage from my 20" incision. The "washout surgery" was supposed to take about an hour but it took 4 due to the discovery of blood clots and CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) in my incision as well as a staph infection. SO, once I was all cleaned up and closed up and back in ICU, the hardest and most surprising part was coming off the ventilator. I had an extremely difficult time breathing on my own apparently and it took many hours for them to successfully extubate me without stopping breathing or having my oxygen levels drop. Eventually, I was moved to back to my room. The next day, I had trouble breathing and it was painful to take a deep breath. After an x-ray, it was discovered that I had bilateral pleural effusions and later that afternoon, my Dad came back to the hospital to be with me while I had the fluid removed from my lungs (well, really the area around my lungs...the space where your organs lie is called your pleural cavity; mine had filled approximately 40% with fluid).

After 8 days, I was transferred to a nearby inpatient rehab hospital, which was nothing like the experience I had when I went there in January following my initial fusion. The "room" was more like a "ward," holding 4 other patients and we were all sharing a bathroom and shower. It was a daily occurrence to see urine-soaked adult diapers on the floor in the bathroom and for a somewhat self-admitted germ-phob, this was my worst nightmare. "Privacy" consisted of pulling my curtain over in an area which barely covered my bed and having a "private" discussion with healthcare providers there was impossible. Aside from that, I had completed just 4 days of therapy before being transferred back to my original hospital (where I had surgery) for high fevers, chills and night sweats. I spent 13 hours in the ER before being admitted to a room and at that point, I had gotten very little pain medication and was in a ton of pain. It was nearly midnight by the time I had gotten a room and I arrived at 10:30am so to say it was a long day is an understatement.

The next day a ton of doctors came in to see me and by mid-morning, it was clear I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I had a fever of 102.6, chills so bad my teeth would chatter and my body would shake, sweats that required a change of clothes every 2-3 hours because I was soaking wet from the fever and a rash on my stomach and back. After a week in the hospital, 1000 blood tests and fevers that ranged from 102 to 103.8, the doctors were stumped. By the end of the week my blood count had dropped to an extremely low 6.4 (normal is 12), they decided to do a CT of my entire body - and they reserved an OR "in case they found something."  HUH??? In case you FIND something?!?!?! I was terrified. They didn't even know what they were looking for...yet they reserved an OR 'just in case.' Well, by the grace of God the CT revealed nothing abnormal...it was negative (thank God).

It was determined that when they put me on this medication to treat my staph infection from my incision, I had a severe allergic reaction to it. I had been on in for almost 2 weeks at this point, which is when a reaction would most likely occur. Allergic reactions are common but according to the doctors, an allergic reaction to this degree is not - as is having all 3 top symptoms: high fevers (over 102.4), chills and sweats, and rash. Lucky me I had all three. So once the medication was stopped and my system was continually flushed with the IV fluids, I started to improve. Within 3 days, I felt like a new person...no fevers, no rash, no chills or sweats. So I was discharged late Tuesday night, and as my husband carefully got me into the car, the cold air on my face felt amazing...so refreshing...he shut the door and by the time he opened his door and sat down, I was holding my face and bawling my eyes out...I was going home...finally...one month after entering the hospital for back surgery, I was leaving...having overcome so much more than surgical pain...I'm so grateful for being home - - and for being home in time for Christmas is just an extra special bonus. We definitely hit some bumpy and scary roads, but we made it...I say "we" because I didn't do this alone...my family played a host of roles including but not limited to babysitter for my 2 kids, cook, taxi, psychologist, listener when I needed to talk (or cry) and friend. "We" could not have done this alone - and "we" are very grateful that we're ALL here to celebrate the holidays together. I know 2013 will be better than 2012 - it certainly won't be as challenging and with the new year brings new hopes, new dreams and new experiences. And "WE" are looking forward to them all.