This is where much of life will occur for the next few weeks. This procedure is major surgery. Muscles and nerves are moved during the procedure, and they don’t like it. They told us before the surgery that there would be six weeks of no bend, lift or twist. They did not mention that to do so would cause severe pain. Getting on and off furniture, the bed and the toilet are the major sources of pain. When you lift your body up, you use those muscles in the back. Since they’re currently angry, they get revenge.
We did end up renting a walker for a month. It was an excellent choice. He doesn’t actually need it for walking, but he does need it for sitting down and getting up.
So – now he rests, gets some sleep (which he was not getting in the hospital), and we wait for bone growth to occur.
The patient looks great!
ReplyDeleteYes, those back muscles are used a lot more than we realize.
It seems like you guys have more than your share of waiting to heal. May this be the last medical malfunction...you both deserve some clear sailing.
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I feel for you Jim! Wishing you minimal pain and speedy healing. Take all the drugs the doctor allows so those muscles have a chance to repair themselves!
ReplyDeletePoor Jim! After seeing how much pain my step-father was in after breaking a vertabrae this spring, I can really understand how difficult various movements are. And yes, a walker is great to help pull up with. I hope the six weeks will fly by. I agree with Mark J. above who noted how much "waiting to heal" time you both have had in the past couple of years. I can empathize after this year myself. Let's hope for much healthier autumns and winters for us all!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the well wishes. We, too, are really hoping that the both of us can get healthy and stay that way! The last few years have been very tedious.
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