runner's surgery blog, L4/5, 2008

[runner]

Hi, Mark,

I am getting to that...something else happened after the surgery.

R

[runner]

Recovery, Part II:

I did much better at home. The outpatient PT person showed me how to take care of myself at home, what not to do, went over my medications, and orders.
I got the hospital bed so I didn't have to go up and down the stairs in our house.

I was getting stronger by the day, but I still had a high heart rate (110-120 or so) and was wiped out.
So I was laying on the couch one day with my oldest daughter on one end and me on the other, watching Blue Planet, and I started feeling funny. It was about 25 days since my surgery and I started getting a fever.

I started watching my temperature because I did not have any cold symptoms, just a fever and feeling of being ill. When my temp went over 102 degrees, my daughter called my doctor's office and managed to get a message to the surgery RN. She called my daughter back and told us to go to the ER.
She told me to stop taking any medication, including pain medication, not to eat or drink, and go. So off to the hospital we went.

When we arrived at the hospital, it was busy, and we checked in and soon, I was triaged, a triage RN, takes your vitals and your complaint down. We went to a waiting room and I was able to lie down. By this time, I was in a fair amount of pain because I had not had anything for pain for a while. Nothing to drink either.
Eventually, I was taken back into the ER and they did blood cultures, and blood work and did a chest x-ray. Back to lying down and then finally, we went to a room. It probably was not that long but I was in pain. So it was a relief to get to lie down on a bed, ER bed as it was.

Once there, they hooked me up to an IV, gave me pain medication, and Zofran. The P.A. came in took down my history, my complaint and so forth. They ordered a CT and I did that. All this time, I was thinking this isn't so serious. Until they decided to admit me and the ER doctor came to talk to me. My surgeon decided I needed to stay in the hospital.
The ER doc told me they might have to open me up again as I might have a post-op infection. He told me that my WBC was elevated, my Lactate level was high (it was high normal) and some other labs were off. I had leukocytosis, which I didn't know at the time. Also a high CRP and sed rate.

Once back to the ortho floor, they started me on IV antibiotics, Vancomycin and other medications. All I could think about was how hard the surgery was, I could not go through another surgery. I was like, "No way."

This time, my nurses were great. My husband came to see me and I don't recall much else that night. It was weird being back in the hospital. I was in a private room, which struck me as funny. I was NPO after midnight that night.

Thank God, the next day's labs, my WBC was back to normal, so was my kidney function, my Creatinine, GFR, and Chloride. They discharged me that day, after getting another dose of antibiotic.
So I am leaving my room and I read my bulletin board and realize I was a rule out sepsis patient, that was my admitting diagnosis. I may be an RN, but I guess we can be dense too.

I feel like I dodged a bullet and I was never so glad to leave a hospital!
The blood cultures never grew out bacteria, but I knew it was an infection. I was just ever so happy not to go under a knife again.

So my recovery was difficult, and I was still in pain--but not as bad as before the surgery--and I kept saying, "Well, why am I not doing better,?" and my doctors would say, I had two major surgeries and it takes longer to come back/recover from two surgeries. However, I am happy to say, I started improving more the next summer, and at the one-year-mark and I just continued to make progress and was happily surprised. Eventually in 2012, my heart rate went back into the normal range and my stamina improved. And then my BP dropped out of hypertensive range.

Not only that, I was going to movies and concerts here and there and exercising. In September, 2012, my surgeon told me I was free to go and if anything ever came up, to give them a call, but I didn't need regular appointments anymore. First time that was happening since 2007.

I was planning to go back to school in 2013 and then back to work when I felt able to and you know how they say: If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans, (Woody Allen).

New chapter in my life, cervical problems start for real, in Mid-October, 2012.

To be continued...

R

[jsewell]

Runner i have been reading your current stories and i have had similar experiences. We should get together and entertain each other with our stories. So i was a really obsessed runner, when i live in Ca it has always been trail running. all this came to a hault, not by my back but by a hip replacement. But at this point i would never be able to run with this back of mine after 9 back surgeries.
Are you albe to run at all? Do you live in the LA area?
Judy

[runner]

Hi Judy,

Yes, we should talk.
You have me hands down on the orthopaedic surgeries. I have only had two lumbar ones, two knee scopes and nose surgeries. Nothing on my feet, though I have had injuries there and plenty of running injuries.

I am sending you a PM.

Runner

[runner]

Having surgery next Wednesday (10th) and it is two-level fusion.
Will explain more next time.

R

[Maria]

Good luck with upcoming surgery Runner!

[jsewell]

Good Luck with your surgery.
judy