Day of Surgery

(Quick apology in advance, I am skipping a couple things get get to the meat and potatoes of the post since anybody searching for this title probably wants to know about the surgery, not my personal story leading up to, so I will complete that while it is fresh in my mind, then return and complete the back story just in case that part can help somebody as well.  And again, sorry about the horrid grammar!)

     Also in short I am having 2 procedures, the first will be performed through the lower back and will be two titanium screws in each of the two vertebrae L5 and S1 along with two titanium rods along the screws parallel to the spinal column which will bull the fleeing vertebrae into alignment and decompress the spine in the affected area, crushed bone will be packed alongside the titanium rods which will harden forming the fusion.  The screws and rods are to hold until fusion is healed can be removed but most likely not.  The crush bone will come from a center portion of the vertebrae which they remove as well as either cadaver or synthetic bone.  I am writing this mostly from memory and will fix any inaccuracies I find later.  I will recover for approximately 48 hours from this procedure then be brought back for a second procedure.  The second procedure will be performed from below the belly button and will include a cut through the abdominal muscles, moving some organs out of the way then they will remove the disc completely and replace with a "cage" which will hold the decompression and then another titanium bracket with 2 screws into the L5 and 2 into the S1 will further stabilize the spine from the front.  This second procedure aims to insure the fusion from failure, possibly decrease recovery time, and increase acceptable activities post recovery.  After which I am expected to have 3 days in recovery at the hospital and at least 3 months before any thought of returning to work.  Guess that wasn't in short but should be understandable.

     I followed all advice to a "T" leading up to pre-op.  Quit eating, drinking at midnight, took only the medication allowed.  Allow me to preach, if you smoke you will be hit with the most dire of complication WARNINGS due to the habit, I quit 3 years ago, best thing I could have ever done in order to achieve lowest level of risk in surgery.   Okay that is done.  Arrived at hospital extremely nervous but I brought my game face.  Got the pre-op out of the way then it was off to never never land.

     I elected to try a somewhat newer procedure to the hospital where I was being treated in a ketamine drip added in its own designated separate IV.  I was told this could allow a greater control over pain and potentially lessen the need for as many narcotic medications throughout the procedure and recovery.  Yes this is "special K" on the street, and yes the doctors even said they were putting me in a "K hole" which is street lingo.  Once again, google diagnosticians beware as you will receive nothing but horror about this drug, and according to my mother if you are into drama/mystery television programming you already know the mischievous nature of "K".  I'm adventurous to an extent so I decided to go with it.  I can't lead you one way or another because I don't know what difference it made other than to tell you of my overall experience.

   Upon waking up from anesthesia,  immediate extreme pain in my lower back and overwhelming urge to urinate to the point of excruciating pain from the penis.  I informed the medical staff best I could and as repeatedly as I could but I just couldn't get the words to add up other than,  I gotta pee!!! HURTS!!!  but,  they got the point.  I remember extreme confusion and asking "where are we in terms of surgery, am I done, is this the first or second" "My Penis, I gotta PEE"  "PAIN" in the fog of coming out of anesthesia it took about an hour extra in the post op phase to get my pain under control.  In my memory now it seems like it was about 10 minutes.  My mouth was extremely dry, lips extremely chapped (note to anyone having this done- TRY TO INNUNDATE YOURSELF WITH CHAPSTICK BEFORE HAND) I mean dry to the point my skin was breaking and I have sores on my upper lip now that I either bit or just broke open from chapness.  My throat was so dry I almost couldn't swallow the miniscule saliva I still had forming in my throat.  Finally I had some ice to chew, but no water!!!  Again at the time from my perspective it was life or death, but now it was just a couple minutes of discomfort.

    In the completely confusing pain scale of 1 to 10 that they use I gave myself a baseline of 5 which was bearable and only a little worse than the worst pain I had felt in my back pre-surgery.  I entered into the post op recovery room at a 9 or 10.  But was brought down to 5 between the Ketamine and Morphine.  The worst pain at that point was the catheter which is the tube they put down the urethra of your penis into your bladder to extract the urine during and after surgery, they put it in while you are under anesthesia.  How do you get it out, if the pain isn't controlled it feels like the most extreme urge to pee without the ability to because there is no urine buildup, just a tube blocking the pathway.  Sounds horrible, it is.  Pain control helps but only to a certain extent, lets say 7 to compare it against their pain scale at my ratings.  I've passed a kidney stone about half the size of a BB with jagged edges through the urethra... pretty much the same feeling.  Now in order to have them remove this tube you must show them that you are able to make it to the toilet with assistance to relieve yourself when you need to go.  I wasted no time, I probably shouldn't have but I got up and willed myself to that bathroom door, probably turned green in the process but that tube was coming out!  Now when they go to pull it out, they asked me to take a deep breath, then upon exhaling they whip in right out... yes, PAIN but relief immediately follows, until you have to pee, then its razor blades for about the first 3 times only while you are peeing over about 3 hours I think, then that subsides completely.

At that point your focus shifts to staying comfortable in the bed, keeping things in reach without stretching, and perfecting the art of log rolling putting on your brace, exiting and entering your hospital bed without bending your back.  PRACTICE THIS BEFORE THE SURGERY, WITH YOUR BRACE ON.  I did and I'm hurting still, but it took me no time the get the technique down to a bearable task.  You will need help getting to the bathroom for the first day at least, don't risk it by yourself, get the nurse at the first sign your bladder gives.

Yes I am throwing a lot of extreme and excruciating out there because in the moments those are your thoughts.  But let me give you an overall before I finish for the day... So far it is not nearly as bad as I imagined beforehand.  If you go in expecting the worst, any improvement from that is amazing and a welcome surprise.  Writing this right now I am 36 hours past the first procedure and I am very comfortable with heading into the second considering the progress from the first.