THREE YEARS

(PART ONE)

It’s really hard to believe, but three years have passed since the last time I wrote

an entry in my blog. You may be wondering where I’ve been or what happened

to me. The simple answer is that I’m still here and a lot has happened, which I

will talk about now.

2021

It seems that as the months of 2021 rolled along life began to get a little busier

too. Especially in comparison to 2020. There were a couple of trips to Salt Lake

City to see family, and a much-needed trip to Maui, Hawaii. Little did we know

that Maui must have been the perfect easy getaway for about half of California.

It was absolutely wonderful to be there despite having to wait an hour or two

every night for dinner due to the crowds of tourists.

It was during that trip that I started to feel pain in my right leg every night when

we walked from our hotel to downtown Lahaina and then back to our hotel. Up

until then I was only feeling it every now and then when I took walks in my

neighborhood.

I finally went to see my Internal Medicine doctor about the pain and he

suggested physical therapy, which I began the following week. PT was just

what I needed. I went twice a week for several months until I got relief.

2022

I started off the year feeling very positive and anxiously looking forward to the

trips we had planned. My pain had subsided and I was able to take my daily

walks once again.

The first trip we took was in the Spring of 2022. We decided it was time we tried

a cruise to see what the Covid protocols would be like onboard and if we would

feel comfortable. We went on a one week coastal California cruise on Holland

America. The ship was less than half full which was the strangest feeling.

The ship only stopped at four ports and we got off at two of them. While we

were walking around Santa Barbara I started feeling sciatic pain on my right

side. It was disappointing to feel pain just a few months after finishing physical

therapy.The next two cruises in 2022 were to use the credits we received when 

our 2020 cruise was cancelled due to the pandemic.

In May we went on a cruise to Alaska as well as a land tour to the Yukon

Territory. It was during this cruise that the sciatic pain I had been experiencing

in my right buttock and down my leg began to be a daily occurrence whenever I

walked any distance. By the time we got to the Yukon Territory the pain had

gotten much worse.

A few weeks after returning home I decided it was time to see an orthopedic

surgeon to find out what was going on with my back. I already had a couple of

doctors at UCSD Healthcare so I decided to search for a doctor there. With no

recommendations from anyone I picked an orthopedic specialist, read his bio,

liked what I read, and decided he was the doctor I wanted. I was very lucky to

get an appointment at the beginning of August.

In July I went on my annual four day quilting retreat with a group of quilting

girlfriends. It’s something I always look forward to every year. However, this

time my enjoyment was clouded by sciatic pain every time I had to walk a short

distance to the dining hall for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My night’s sleep was

continually interrupted by the pain I was experiencing. I ended up packing up

and leaving the retreat early because my body hurt so much.

My internal medicine doctor sent me to physical therapy once again and he also

prescribed pain pills.

In September 2022 we went on our last cruise from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to

Iceland and back again. By then I was using a walker as well as a cane to get

around.

AUGUST 2022-JANUARY 2023

During the five months between my first appointment in August 2022 and

January 2023, my husband and I had met with the surgeon, whom we both

really liked. I had scoliosis X-rays of my entire spine that showed all the

significant deterioration in my curved and rotated spine. I also had an MRI and

CT scan of my entire spine. That Fall there were several appointments with

UCSD orthopedic Fellows and also my surgeon’s orthopedic physician’s

assistant. I had an epidural spinal injection (ESI) in October 2022 which

provided no relief from the pain and another ESI in November 2022 that

provided pain relief for just one month.

During these five months I also went to PT twice a week to help with stretching

and strengthening my right leg.

2023

In January 2023 my husband and I met with my orthopedic surgeon to decide

what to do next. My doctor had the MRI results on the computer and he slowly

went through each view explaining what we were looking at and showing us the

extent of my rotated and twisted scoliosis, major arthritis deterioration, five

bulging disks, slipped disks, and extreme loss of space between vertebra. (I

had lost 1 1/2 inches in height.)

After carefully going through the MRI results the surgeon and I came to the

decision that major surgery was going to be the only way I would get the much-

needed pain relief I desperately needed.

My surgery dates were set for May 2023. On May 1st I would have ALIF surgery.

On May 4 I would have XLIF and PLIF surgeries. Before that time I had an on-

line pre-op class, labs, and an appointment with a vascular surgeon who would

also be operating on me for the first surgery, etc.

By my own choice I secluded myself three weeks before my surgery. My last

contact with family and friends was the first week of April. After that I stayed

home while my husband ran any errands and did the grocery shopping.

MAY 2023

The three surgeries I had were very complicated and, according to my surgeon,

each one took twice as long as they normally would. It also meant I was under

anesthesia for much longer than expected.

The surgeries went very well, but afterwards I had metabolic, as well as blood

pressure issues, that caused a real problem. Most of my daily lab results were

either too high or too low. My blood pressure was so low that I got light-headed

or passed out whenever they tried to have me stand up. My daily PT and OT

exercises were somewhat limited due to my BP. These issues kept me in the

hospital for 18 days. I was then transferred to a skilled nursing facility where I

spent another 12 days.

During my stay at the SNF I received physical therapy and occupational therapy

twice a day for an hour each time. This was exactly what I needed to get my

body moving again. When I was in the hospital I had received PT and OT once

a day, but what I was able to do was limited. Even though I still had a blood

pressure problem at the SNF, I was able to perform the various exercises in the

small gym there and little-by-little I started improving.

As the days went by I started feeling more positive too. The internal medicine

doctor who took over my care at the SNF was finally able to get my blood

pressure under control and my metabolic panel also started to get back within

the normal range.

After the first week at the SNF I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I

just knew I would be going home soon. By the 12th day at the SNF plans were

made to release me. On the last day of May, 30 days since I had been home, I

was discharged.

HOME SWEET HOME, PART TWO coming soon