Surgery Day – Jitters & Cheers
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.