3/20/12- The day of my surgery!!

Well, this was it, no turning back! I did not sleep the night before surgery, I had so much running through my mind. Everyone will tell you, oh its okay, don't think about it, etc etc, but that's not realistic at all! Its normal to be terrified, nervous, feel sick to your stomach, etc...it is a major surgery and it is scary. But I will say that if you have been dealing with horrible enough back pain for some time that you need surgery, the pain of the surgery to get better seems a lot more do-able than the horrible back pain without it. 

The hospital I had my surgery at was about an hour away from where I live. Its Atlanticare Regional Medical Center-Mainland Division in Pomona, NJ (right near the Atlantic City Airport). My surgery was scheduled for 9:30am, and they told me to be there at 8:30am to prep, so my mom and I left at 7:30am. The emotions of saying "goodbye" to my dad when he went to work, and my sister and brother, were a lot. The whole car ride there, I felt sick, I was shaking, and I was beyond scared. I was glad I had my mom by my side through it all, and I knew that when I woke up, my boyfriend, sister, and aunt would be there, and my brother and father shortly after that. When I got there, the staff was so nice and really made me feel comfortable, it made things a lot easier! 

Next thing I knew I was being taken back to the OR. I met with SO many different people, my surgeon, the nurses, the anesthesiologist, the x-ray techs, the blood saver person, this person, that person- I was overwhelmed. My mom was still there by my side, and wasn't letting go until they wheeled me away. Once the IV was in, they gave me medicine to relax, and I don't remember much after that. I remember being wheeled back and it slowly getting more and more cold, and that was it. Next thing I knew I was awake in recovery. I was in and out of sleep and still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. I had to wait in recovery for about an hour before I could see any of my family. As the anesthesia started to ware off, I started to feel everything, and boy was I hurting!! Once I got to see everyone, I was a little more happy. I was hooked up to so many machines I didn't even know what was what. I had a morphine pump (I promise you, USE it- I tried to be superwoman and not use it but that was a bad idea, you WILL need it and it WILL help a lot!!), oxygen through my nose, antibiotics through my IV, blood pressure cuff, heart monitor machine, and two things on my lower legs that helped circulate the blood on. I couldn't move much at all. My mouth was SO dry and my throat hurt really bad (I'm guessing from the tube), I was so pale and my face was so swollen, and to top it off I was running a fever and my heart rate was through the roof! I had to use the bathroom and so I called the nurses in and said I wanted to get up. They were impressed and helped me up. It was very, very hard getting up the first time, and was a very slow process. Once I was sitting on the bed, I had to put my back brace on, and then used a walker to pull myself up with. The first step I took, I knew EXACTLY where my surgeon took the bone from, my left hip hurt so bad! I was determined to walk and use the bathroom though. I couldn't go, no matter how much I tried and they told me that if I didn't go by a certain time they would have to use a catheter to empty my bladder. I was SO upset and kept trying, I did not want a catheter! I eventually went, yay, and everything was fine! Nurses periodically came in to give me medicine/check on me, and they were phenomenal (I only had an issue with one nurse, and trust me, he knew it!). I was pretty much just drinking water and chewing on ice, it felt really good with my mouth being so dry. I couldn't eat, I didn't have an appetite at all (surprisingly)! Night time came around, visitors left and my mom stayed with me. I was in pretty bad shape the first day, sick, in so much pain, so uncomfortable, and so helpless. I couldn't get comfortable in the bed so I switched with my mom and tried the chair, the nurses had ice packs on me and were closely watching my heart rate and fever. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep the first night at all. Here are some pictures of my experience:

My back before surgery:

 About to be taken back, yikes!:

  Right when I got into my room after recovery:

 My first time getting up, needed all the help I could get:

 Putting my turtle shell (brace) on, hurting:

 My first time standing after surgery!!:

 On my way, very slow, but on my way!:

 Me after surgery, you can kind of see how swollen my face was:

 My first night, rough night, you can see the ice and everything im hooked up to =[:

Everyone's experience is different, my first day was horrible I am not going to lie, but it gets easier!! Day 2&3 in my next post with some more pics too.