1st set of x-rays; second post-op visit w/ surgeon; & pictures

Ahh! Today was very exciting for me. Its May 9th, 2012 and I had my second post op appointment with my surgeon this morning! I am 1 month and 19days (50 days!) post-op of my L5 S1 Fusion today! I got my first set of X-Rays on Monday (5/7) and was very excited to see what all is in there! Here are some pictures I took of my x-rays, please don't mind my cameras flash, they're still very cool to see =]:


The first two were taken with me laying on my back, it shows the rods and screws and everything, and those little white lines in the middle show the placement of the cages in between:

 It's hard to tell, but there is some bone growing on both sides of the titanium (which my surgeon was very pleased to see!):

 The next two pictures were taken while I was laying on my left side and show the screws from a side view (it's crazy to see that that is inside of me! Ah!):

 And another view from the side:

I am very excited to say that my surgeon was very, very pleased with my X-Rays, he said that they were so ideal that they could be in a textbook! As I mentioned before, he said that there was some bone growth on the outside of the titanium hardware, which is a very good sign! He said that it is now time to take off the brace (YAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! But very scary at the same time, yikes!!) and to gradually start to do things at home little by little. He was extremely pleased to know that I am only taking Tylenol (still NO anti-inflammatory medicines such as Advil, Motrin, Naproxen, etc) and rarely pain meds or Flexoril, which I take when absolutely needed. He said he is very pleased at my progress so far, and it is still a long journey and we have to take it step by step, but so far so good!! I am now to start Physical Therapy and he did warn me that there will be new pains and increasing pain due to starting to move and learn to bend and do things, but it will slowly get better/easier. He said that people tend to get frustrated, but that the physical therapy will help so much in the long run and to stick with it! This is what my script for PT reads:

Lumbar Physical Therapy

LE's and Back - range of motion,

exercises, strengthening, modalities, and 

design a home exercise program.

Evaluate and treat-

3x a week for 4 weeks

So I am waiting to get this PT approved from the auto insurance and am really hoping they don't screw me over and prolong this process. I can't and don't want any delays regarding me getting better and doing the steps I need to do to get there. So I am scheduled for Monday 5/14 to start and hope it can stay that way. I am looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time, but like I have said before: I've come this far and worked this hard to get the surgery, I am going to do any and every thing in my power to do my part in the healing process and in the process of getting better. 

I will be seeing my surgeon again in a month and not really sure what else after that; but I am very happy with what I heard today, he seemed very confident and happy with the results so far and it makes you happy knowing that. I wanted to cry and give everyone in that office a hug (haha!) because of all the fight and push to get the surgery and all the help they have been and for always making me feel so comfortable and so important there; it really does make things 1000x better having a surgeon and team you truly love.

Where am I at pain wise? It's still definitely here and some days are better than others, but every single day is a different experience. The rain makes me more tense and have more pain, but I'm sure if you've had back pain (or any pain for that matter) you know that weather does affect how you feel. I have been taking Tylenol PM before bed, to help with the pain and to also help me get to sleep faster. I can't complain at all about sleep considering what I was going through/getting before the surgery, but some nights I am tired but can't get comfortable so I just toss and turn until I fall asleep. The PM Tylenol does help though and I do recommend it because once I am asleep, I'm pretty much asleep until the morning which is awesome!! I still have some mornings where I am very slow to getting up and stuff, but I'm sure that is to be expected. I am still trying to walk as much as I can and I want to start doing a walk around the apartment complex every night, on top of what else I do during the day. The pain is bad, yes, but its do-able knowing that it will slowly get you back to yourself again! So keep your head up, I know it gets hard sometimes, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. =] This process is by no means a quick one, and there are a lot of ups and downs, but I think knowing that going into this surgery, helps you with what you may expect. 

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and there are days where I look at what I have been through from this accident and surgery and every single treatment and thing in between and I just think to myself that if the saying is true, I could probably take on the hulk one day!

Ooh and ps- another tip I'm not sure if I mentioned or not, but I use vitamin E cream usually 3-4 times a day on my incision, which helps moisturize and will hopefully help with the scaring, but so far I love it..you defiantly need to ask your surgeon first before you use anything though, I couldn't put anything on for quite some time after surgery so make sure you check...just thought I'd let you know =]

Any questions or anything I can help with, let me know, I would be more than happy to help if I can. =] Here are a few more pictures:

 I'm brace-less!!! Exciting and scary at the same time! :

 Bye-Bye turtle shell that made me so hot!! =] :

 My incision/scar a few nights ago, looking A LOT better than my original pictures I put up:

 & again: