Tuesday Morning

Today is surgery day for my darling eventing daughter. I can hardly say the word discectomy – it gets scrambled coming out of my mouth. I know what to expect generally, but not the specifics. I’m  nervous, but confident this will make her feel better.

Tuesday Afternoon

Emily went into surgery at 12:02. The procedure consisted of a 1″ incision on her lumbar spine, through which they go through the muscles and tendons and drill a small whole in her vertebrae to get to the ruptured disc. When they wheeled her off for OR#8, she was definitely ready to “get ‘er done”!

Just before 2 PM the doctor came out and informed us that everything went as expected. The disc was in pretty bad shape (which was no surprise) but  they were able to remove the “gel” that had spilled out of the disc and remove the pressure from the nerve. He indicated that the nerve had been impinged upon for quite some time and was very irritated, so it might take quite some time for her to notice the difference in the back pain. But the leg and buttocks pain should be gone.

In the Recovery Room

Before 3 PM Emily had asked for us to come in. I happily jumped out of my chair and nearly ran to her. When she saw I was standing next to her, she said “I love you mommy” and asked for a kiss. That’s the memory I’ll take away.

By 4 PM she actually got up and walked to the bathroom. It wasn’t easy, but it was movement. She drank juice, at a cracker, and slept until 6 PM, at which time they were willing to let her go home.

Every movement at this point is painful, but so far she has no regrets.

At Home

By 7:30 PM, Emily’s boy friend was here hang out with her and my best friend Amy Richardson arrived with beergaritas (or, as we call it “summer in a glass”). We made it through day 1.  From here, we’ll take recovery, literally, one step at a time.

 CHEERS!

Life in the Horse Lane, My Life

It’s been too long since I posted on this blog. I have no excuse. But I’m starting fresh. Why? Because for the upcoming season I’ll have a different perspective of the sport – from the sidelines. Perhaps only as an owner, not the mother. Here’s why …

For several years, my daughter has had on-again, off-again back pain – mostly just after an event – sometimes to the point where she couldn’t get comfortable in the car on the drive home. We always assumed it was muscular or a pinched nerve because after a day or so, it would subside and all returned to normal.

But this past January, during a volleyball tournament, something happened. Did I ever mention that she played High School and Junior Olympic Volleyball in Maine? Anyway – during this highly competitive 3-day tournament in she came off the court and could hardly walk. Somehow, she played through it for the weekend, but it was in more pain than I’ve ever seen her in – even after falling from her event horse on XC.

She went to the chiropractor, tried acupuncture, anti-inflammatory meds prescribed by our general physical, hot/cold treatments. She did basic physical therapy core strengthening suggested by the doctor. She stopped all activities for weeks at a time and still, nothing helped. After 3 months of severe pain and a set of clean xrays, we were sent to the Orthpaedic specialists for an MRI.

My eventing daughter – who is heading off to Purdue University  in the Fall – was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and 2 severely herniated discs at L4-L5 and L5-S1.

Degenerative Disc Disease is something typically found in much older adults – like my age. Apparently it’s quite rare for it to be found in an 18 year old. Of course everyone’s first question “Is this the result of riding for so many years?”. The doctor’s answer was a clear “No”. She drew the short straw. It is her genetic makeup.

So here we are – with an 18 year old event rider with no absorption in her lower discs. And the pain? Well, there are really 2 options: do nothing for 2 years to allows the herniated discs to retract on their own. This seems like a good place to remind you that she is 18, headed off to college, and would like to have a normal, active college freshman experience. The second option is a 45 minute surgery to repair the discs and 6 weeks of physical therapy. This would put her in pretty good shape to enter Purdue and feel well and strong.

Pain free? Those words may never be in her vocabulary again. With the degeneration of the discs (no absorption), she will likely always have some sort of back pain. But severity can be managed now that she knows it’s there.

So here I am – a mother mucker with a new job: Nurse

Surgery date: Tuesday, April 24, 2012.
We’re counting the days to no pain.

Life in the Horse Lane