Six weeks post surgery

It has been a busy holiday season with socials and parties in both Corvallis and Portland. I have probably been doing too much. (such as making 80+ blintzes for our wonderful family Hanukkah celebration) As a result, I am tiring quite easily and sleeping a lot. Although the discomfort and pain in the muscles in my back is better, it often flares up if I do too much and I have numbness in my left hand and neuropathy in the fingers.

I saw the neurologist today and he said that given the type of surgery that I underwent, he is very pleased with the progress I am making. He put me back on neurontin for the neuropathy and nerve pain and recommended light massage and soaking in a hot tub. (He says pamper yourself a bit!) He still wants me to limit my activity to walking and only putting and chipping for golf. (Also, very careful interaction with the grandchildren!) It is evident that he expects the recovery to take 3 months or more and that I may always have some residual nerve damage. I will have scans at 3 months and he and the oncologist will reassess whether I will need further treatment or surgery.

Wishing you and your family days filled with good food and fellowship and moments of wonder and reflection.

Continued Progress

Just realized that it has been three weeks since I last updated the blog. I am improving but more slowly than I would like. The muscles in my neck are really protesting to having to support my head without a good portion of the C6 vertebra. As a result I have a lot of pain and discomfort from muscle strain and spasms. I still need to be horizontal for periods of the day to give those muscles a break.

That being said. My incision has healed nicely and I have a rather large indent at the base of my neck where they removed part of the vertebra. I am trying to get out and walk or ride the stationary bike every day to get some of my stamina back.

I had a wonderful time at the beach with family over Thanksgiving. We had 10 for dinner and the weather treated us to everything from warm sunshine (walked 3 miles on the beach) to heavy rain and high winds. Typical Oregon coast in the winter.

I am working very hard to appreciate each moment that I am given. A friend sent me this link which is a lovely reminder of how we should live each day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?feature=player_embedded&v=nj2ofrX7jAk

Took a leap forward

I am happy to report that at 10 days out I am feeling much better. Am on a homeopathic medicine for muscle spasms that seems to be working during the day so that I can be up much more without pain. I seem to have more energy each day. 

My apartment at Willamette View certainly is a good place to recover from surgery. All my meals are prepared for me and I can eat in my apartment or the dining room depending upon how I am feeling. I have a lovely retired nurse who looks in on me every day and checks out how my incision is healing. There are lots of activities going on...I have listened to a jazz trio concert, seen an excellent African film at the foreign film night and even played some bridge. The weather this week has been lovely so I have been getting out for walks. Discovered a bike path nearby that leads in a mile to a little shopping area with a wonderful little coffee shop. So I have walked there twice for a coffee and rest before heading back.

I see the doctor on Tuesday to have the staples taken out and to make certain everything is healing. Then I will return to Corvallis and go almost directly to the coast for Thanksgiving with my sister and Becca and family. 

Knew it couldn't last...

Well, here we are on day 7. I have been coming along pretty well and knew that recovery usually isn't linear. Today I took a few steps backward with lots of pain and discomfort. Spent a good deal of the day on the bed lying flat. Pretty boring as there is not much you can do from that position. Most of you know that I am not very good at staying quiet. I am catching up on Podcasts. I brought a few books to read but it is difficult to hold them over my head. If I had known, I would have gotten some books on tape and put them on my IPhone. Having Becca's in laws for dinner tonight so that should cheer me up

Post Surgery- Day 5

I am steadily getting a little better and a little stronger with each day. The pain comes and goes but I am able to control it with Tylemol. I can stand a little pain just to get off the narcotics which really make me crazy. Had a bit of a scare with the muscle relaxant that I need to take for the bad muscle spasms. The prescription said take one to two pills every 9 hours. I tried one and was nauseous and couldn't stand after about 15 minutes. Had to sleep the effects off. So I now take only 1/2 and at bedtime so I can sleep.

I have moved over to my apartment here at Willamette View so that Becca and family can go to the coast.. Everyone here is so helpful. I have a frig full of food and lots of offers to help. I can be upright for a couple of hours but then need to lie flat to get the pressure off my neck.

I will spend the next two weeks here recuperating. I will have the staples taken out right before Thanksgiving and then the whole family..Sue included plans to go to the coast for the Holiday.

We couldn't have hoped for a better out come from the surgery. Hopefully the scans in Feb. will show the tumor gone and my neck will remain stable so that I don't have to have a fusion at a later date.

Back up at em!

Becca's Message on Nov 6

As usual, you can't keep Mom down for long. 

As the surgeon had predicted his removing the tumor completely eased the shooting pain and numbness that had been going down her arm. And after 24 of recovery, the only thing left that hurts is the muscles in her neck which were 'fileted' and moved around a bunch to access the tumor. Wearing a soft collar makes a huge difference. With it she feels almost normal.

The PT guy came by to check her out and teach her some really helpful ways to support her neck while transitioning between lying down/sitting up and to check out how steady she was/whether she could handle stairs. She went down to the little rehab room and rocked the tests so he gave the thumbs up. The PA and surgeon stopped by and were pleased but decided that they'd prefer she spend the night one more time and then she'd be set to go in the morning. 

But right now she's up sitting in the chair in her room and we'll go for a walk in a bit.

So pretty much as far as we can tell, everything went as well as it could have and Mom's looking forward to regaining her strength and healing. She'll be back at my place tomorrow and then will move on to Willamette View for 2 weeks towards the end of the week. 

Thanks again to all for your good wishes before and during. I've been sharing the messages with her and it really brightens her day.

Becca

Surgery Went Well

Note from Becca on Nov 5, 2012

Hi all-

Becca reporting from the hospital. Mom's surgery took about 3.5 hours and went really well. The surgeon said that he felt really good about how much of the tumor he was able to excise and expected that all of the pressure on her spinal cord and nerves should be relieved. Depending on how she feels and how well she's able to get the pain under control (because many have warned us that this will be a painful surgical recovery) she can go home tomorrow. 

Anyway, she's up in her room and a little woozy from pain meds but otherwise is doing pretty well...

Thanks all for your well wishes and positive energy and good thoughts for Mom. We truly believe it makes a difference.