Recovery at Six Weeks

If you've been diagnosed with this lovely tumour, or something in the same family that involves messing around in your spinal cord, these are my answers to some questions I had before surgery. (If you are reading this to keep updated on how Sarah is doing, then there is some repeat info.)

My tumour was bigger than most by the time it was diagnosed, so my laminectomy was more extreme than others will encounter. If only one or two of your vertebrae and a smaller length of spinal cord is affected, then your recovery will not likely be as intense.  My neurosurgeon had to cut apart six vertebrae, graft a ligament from my thigh and leave me with 12" and 5" scars (but with modern technology, scars are nothing like they were even 10 years ago).

• The sexy hospital gown - I wore it for a month (honestly, they are the best jammies ever!)
• Morphine - man's best friend. I had no side effects and it managed my pain beautifully
• Laminectomy - full. Spinous process for six vertebrae are gone, replaced with a ligament from my thigh
• Scrubs - they make the nurses a little nervous, but fantastic to wear
• ass lying in bed for two days - for me it was seven days
• 3-7 day steriod taper - yep. They blast the crap out of you with steriods then wean you off them
• foley catheter - yep. 24 hours for me, then a week of them trying to get me to use a toilet. Joy.
• compression pumps on your legs - yep. six days for me
• deep breathing - not so much, they weren't very concerned about my lungs. Same with the incision, they were generally pleased with how it was healing, but did keep a close eye on it (them).
• physiotherapy - I really, really underestimated the intensity of how much physio I would need and get, but I also was only thinking about coming out of the hospital in best case scenario
• The Today I Take Nothing for Granted post makes me cry when I read it. You cannot fully appreciate what you have. Ever.
• You need to buy a wheelchair - nope. Not for me. It looks like the rollator is as fancy as I'll get. And then I'll hand-me-up it to my parents when my nerves have finally healed :)

At Six Weeks - Deficiencies

• Still no temperature or sharp pain sensations in my left leg.
• Still no vibration, soft touch or proprioception in my right leg
• Both feet are numb most of the time which makes walking on hard surfaces feel painful
• Both legs are numb up the back of my thighs and butt which makes sitting on hard surfaces feel painful

At Six Weeks - What I can Do

• Ambulate with caution and assistance
• Stand on my own (briefly - 2 minutes, max), but no twisting, turning or losing focus.
• I can function in my house and do household "stuff" ... with lots of rest
• Beginning to explore the outside world with extreme caution and in small doses. Yesterday I "went for a walk" outside.  From the stop sign to the west to the stop sign on the east and home.  Maybe 400 metres.