Staples Out!!! Stage 2 of Recovery. (Incision pictures included)

It's been 15 days since my second back surgery.  I am still feeling very confident about this one.  Of course I am still healing from the surgery and am quite sore in some areas, but the pain hasn't been horrible.  I haven't taken the "real" pain pills since last week as the pain has been tolerable with Tylenol or Motrin.  I do tend to have a pretty high pain tolerance, and the neurostim device definitely helped right after the surgery. 

A few days ago I photographed my incision again - y'all know how I have to keep notes on everything.  It has continued to heal well.  It's still puffy around it but so far doesn't seem to be retaining or collecting fluid as bad as last time.  That bruise you see on the right side... that area is definitely sore. 😬

I got curious about the incision was comparing to the last time so of course I had to do a comparison photo:

The photo on the left is from when I had the spinal fusion in January 2017.  The photo on the left is the most recent surgery.  This time the incision is a little longer.  I'm assuming this is because the doc explored the fusion and needed just a little more room.

Today I had my post-op appointment and thankfully got the staples out.  Wahoo!!!  Those things were driving me crazy.  Every move I made they were pulling on me.  Yikes!!  When the nurse was taking the staples out I asked about the top one - or should I say two since there were two in the same spot.  I laughed when I asked about it telling her I guess there was a misfire.  She snickered a little but said she was going to have to talk to the PA about that double whammy.  LOL

  
Because of where the incision is located I've had to keep it covered.  It's in a spot that is rubbed by my pants and I was terrified of pulling a staple out.  I had a lot of issues with tape irritation following the last surgery so we changed the type we were using.  As you can see my skin does not like it either.  OMG the itching!  Maybe now that the staples are out I can finally keep it uncovered.

Today I also got the hardware he took out of my back.  He couldn't give it to me the day of the surgery because it had to go through a sterilization process.  There is still an artificial disk cage and a screw that goes across diagonally through L4 and L5... those will remain in place indefinitely.  I took a photo of the hardware with my index finger next to it to give you an idea of the size of the screws that were in the vertebrae.  Wow.  

So... stage 2 of recovery begins now.  I return to the doctor in 4 weeks for another follow up.  I still have some restrictions with bending, lifting, and twisting as my back continues to heal.  And I'm hoping like crazy that the incision heals quicker than last time.  🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞 

Neuro Stim System off ear / First look at incision (pictures included - you've been warned)

Today I removed the Neuro Stim System (NSS) from my ear.  If you read my previous blog post  you already know that I think it's a fascinating device.  When they placed it on my ear they told me to leave it on for 3-5 days.  All of the research I found said it worked up to 5 days... but I found one article that said it was being used for people with chronic pain and was changed every 7 days.  So, I decided to give it an extra day, just in case it was still working.  I definitely know that it worked for several days and will be requesting it for any future surgery.  Almost anything that takes away pain with the use of less narcotics is a great thing.

Here's a look at the device still on my ear:

It was definitely interesting being there.  I couldn't lay on that ear when sleeping or use that ear when talking on the phone, and I had to be careful doing things like brushing my hair.  But it was worth any adjustments I had to make for the pain relief it provided.  

Here's a look when I first started removing it - notice the tiny probe that was inserted into to my ear:

There were actually 4 electrodes attached to my ear, 3 on the front and 1 that was a different color on the back.  I assume the one in the back was a ground wire.

All of the electrodes had 1 tiny prong on them except 1 of them - that one had 4 little prongs:

The best part about removing the device was being able to wash my hair!!  

Dry shampoo can only do so much for so long.  😆

After surgery they told me to leave the bandage on for a week.  During the last surgery the bandage came off within a matter of days, but this time it was hanging on, and itching me like crazy.  So I decided 6 days was long enough and removed the bandage before my shower.  Thankfully the incision looks pretty good right now.  I'm really hoping it heals better than last time.  🤞 

It's pretty puffy around it, but that's to be expected.  And theres a pretty good bruise on the right side showing up too.

There are 12 staples total (there were 10 after the last surgery).  The top one has 2 in it - not sure what the deal is there.  Maybe a misfire?  Several of them are already trying to back out some too - especially those two on top.  Guess they don't want to be stuck in me.  Wonder if they will stay in until my post-op appointment.  🤔  You can really see how far out they are in this side view:

I'm scheduled to have the staples removed on the 19th.  with all the issues I had with the wound during the last surgery I'm going to be a little anxious until the staples come out and this wound heals.  And also until lots of time passes.  So far I think I'm doing pretty good.  It seems like the problem has been fixed so far... time will tell. 

Take a look at this!! NSS - Neuro Stim System

Take a look at this!! 👀

This is one of the strangest, and most fascinating, devices. It’s called a NSS (Neuro-Stim System). It attaches to the peripheral nerves by the three electrodes and is an alternative to narcotics for pain relief. It supposedly provides at least 25% pain relief.... and possibly more depending on the person. It’s a fairly new concept with the purpose of keeping patients from taking too many narcotics for pain relief after surgery. The idea is that it stops pain receptors from reaching your brain, therefore you feel less pain and take fewer pain pills. I hate taking narcotics so I was willing to give it a try.

When they first attached it I felt the pulsing. It stopped later in the day and started again and then stopped again last night. I haven’t felt the pulsing at all since last night and was concerned it had stopped working. I called the surgery center and they contacted the company rep who called me within minutes. Turns out it is still working. She told me that typically people stop feeling it after about three cycles because your brain just accepts it. Fascinating.

And I’m pretty sure it’s working on my pain level too. They made no guarantees on how much pain it would relieve, but I had a major back surgery yesterday and have only taken four pain pills since the surgery! I think it’s definitely cut down on my pain level. I will wear it for five days and the cycle will be done. AND I remove it myself. It’s only in place with tiny little probes so it should come off easily. Again... what a fascinating device. 🙂

Back Surgery - again...

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted on here.  I've had good intentions but life has just kept me busy.  Anyway... I'm writing now because I've had another back surgery.  The TLIF last year was successful, however I had some issues that continued after that surgery that I, hopefully, have finally remedied.

Prior to the TLIF my pain went through my lower back and all the way down my left leg.  That was corrected immediately.  I had a pain in my right hip while still in the hospital, but we thought it may be from the uncomfortable hospital bed.  The pain in my right hip continued over time, steadily getting worse.  It kind of moved around and at one time we thought it might be my SI joints.  The doc said it was common after a TLIF for the SI joints to be stressed.  So we tried bilateral SI injections.  Then we followed that with another one on just the right side.  Time passed... more x-rays... more pain... more questions.

The pain increased and started going down my right leg eventually to my knee. But... the biggest problem was that I started getting these random jolts / shocks through my lower back going into the right hip and down the leg.  Intense ones... like being hit with a cattle prod.  We thought maybe it was the hardware causing some issues and the doc suggested removing some of it...but I had to wait until it had been in for a year.  So I dealt with it.

Then this past January (2018) I returned to the doctor because the pain and shocks just continued to get worse.  We tried an epidural - no affect at all.  MRI done...then CT Scan.  Nothing conclusive but images were difficult to read because of the blur caused by hardware.  The doc talked to me some about possibly implanting a spinal cord stimulator, but I wasn't ready to go that route without knowing for sure if the hardware was causing a problem or not.  So we opted for hardware removal and fusion exploration with decompression of any nerve if needed.

So back into surgery I went on April 4.  This one wasn't near as difficult as the TLIF so I was able to have it on an outpatient basis at Northwest Florida Surgery Center.  The doc removed some of the hardware but not all.  Obviously the artificial disc stayed in place.  He also left the screw that is in diagonal from L4-L5.  While he was in there he discovered that the bone graft was growing around a nerve.  He took care of this and hopefully that was the problem.  At least I know I'm not crazy, well, not about this anyway.

I was able to go home after a few hours in recovery... and a horrible time throwing up.  Man that anesthesia messes with me.  It was good to go home though.  It's so much more comfortable at home than in a hospital bed.

Just like with the TLIF, I decided to NOT sleep in the bed.  I didn't even bother trying this time.  Since last year we have got a sectional with a recliner on the end.  I decided to sleep in the recliner.  I just can imagine having Ron or Diesel bump my back.  😲 Not sure how long I will stay in the recliner... possibly up to when the staples are removed (in two weeks).  We shall see.

And so the back journey continues....