I Beat the Bridge!

Obi Wan Kenobi you are my only hope

I DID IT!

 

Ben and Kathryn were at my side for the entire race. During the last mile I needed their support to help me cross the finish line.



I'm in it for the bling



Why would you walk over a bridge? The views!

Training for the bridge

 

The month of October is dedicated to training for a 10k.

 

 

I'm nervous because:

 

Not sure I can finish the run in the time allocated.

I haven't walked this distance in a long time.

I hate this bridge!

 

 

School is back in session

 

Some of us were more excited about the first day back to school. For me it was back to work without pain. I'm excited to get back to "normal". It's going to be a great school year.

 

Talked some wonderful friends and my daughter to compete in the DC Color Run. Everyone had a wonderful time and added more bling to their collection.

 

When making your follow-up appointments with the neurosurgeon I recommend that it is prior to any activities like a 5k. He was a worried when I told him that I was experiencing pain (but it was just muscle pain). He told me I was a "neurosurgeons worst nightmare" and wanted to know if I would be jumping out of planes any time soon.

 

I forgot to download the x-ray for the follow-up appointment. My back is healing well. The neurosurgeon said that they consider this a fusion. I will still need to follow-up with him at least one more time but he is very happy. I haven't been cleared to run yet but it's coming. 

 

August is for spending time with the family

Every year we travel to northwest Pennsylvania to spend time with my husbands family. It is our little slice of heaven. The kids catch pollywogs in the pond and there is no set bed time. We sit around the table playing cards and laughing with multiple generations. At night you fall asleep listening to the peepers.

I was able to complete my virtual run in August. Since Pluto was the mascot for this years race I took the puppies with me on the last "run".

 

September I will be see the neurosurgeon again. I hope that everything is healing well.

 

July was over in a blink of an eye

The month started with last minute studying for the National Certified School Nurse Exam. Lucky for me I was able to study while waiting for my husband to get out of surgery. Unfortunately sitting on the waiting room chairs was hard on my back. The drive to Georgetown Hospital didn't help either. My focus shifted from me for awhile.

 Once my husband was healed it was time to start walking again. I went for a hike with my close friend Possum. I had never hiked these trails before and they were not labeled well. Hiking down to the beach was easy...

we couldn't find any sharks teeth...

we enjoyed the sights and sounds...

and then we got lost. Finally we decided to follow a deer path up the hill. After much huffing and puffing we reached our goal of 3.1 miles.

Not sure that I will ever follow Possum into the woods again!

Refocusing on my goals

I am back in physical therapy. It has been good to get moving again. Working out in the pool is surprising hard. I am sore but it is a good sore. Each workout seems to ends with a nap. Today I have set some short term goals to get me to the long term goal of a healthier me and the 5K/10K.

Short term goals:

1. Attend physical therapy 3 days a week
2. Work with personal trainer 2 days a week
3. Increase my daily steps to 10,000
4. Track my body measurements not my weight

Ben continues to be at my side through it all.

Training has begun

I have started training for the Star Wars 5k and 10k. While I was in Williamsburg I walked my June virtual 5k. My time was an hour and a half to finish but it's a start. Aqua therapy has been set up and I'm talking with a personal trainer to help me. 

292 days!

Osteoclast and Osteoblast

Saw the neurosurgeon today and we talked about how to handle the pain that I am in. There was pictures drawn and examining x-rays. We talked about osteoclast and osteoblast. The quick explanation is clast reabsorb old bone tissue while blast create new bone tissue. Right now I have more clast than blast. That means the fusion is not as stable. Around 6 months post-op the scale starts to tip towards more blasts. So it was decided that we would take the watch and see approach. In 3 months I will have another x-ray to see if there has been more bone growth. We will also re-evaluate my pain level. Hopefully in that time there will be a steady decrease in my pain and increased bone growth. If that happens we will not have to go through another surgery.

Next time I might just take the gown to keep. I'm really thinking that I could start a fashion trend if I be-dazzled it and added a belt.

As a family we traveled to Williamsburg, VA. for a lacrosse tournament. I was able to pack, drive, go to a water park, attend 5 lacrosse games and take care of my husband who was having a gallbladder attack. 

Adding to our stress we added 2 new members to the family. They are keeping us very busy but are helping me to stay active.

I wasn't able to attend Girl Scout camp this year. On Wednesday evening I did go for the campfire and received a few gifts while I was there. I miss being there but right now taking care of myself is priority number one.

Epidural Injection Day

Not me or my doctors - Shock photo

I swore that I would NEVER do another epidural injection.

Today was my 4th and hopefully last epidural injection EVER! My anxiety was through the roof today. I asked to go home several times today but my husband would not allow it. The neurosurgeon wanted us to do due diligence and see if injected I would experience pain relief. Not holding my breath.

Size of the needle that was used

It starts with you being taken back into the procedure room. Here you get to pull your pants down past your butt and climb on the table. You lay down on your stomach, not so easy with back pain. Your back is washed with cold, brown soap (from my old pediatric ER days) and drapes are placed to have a sterile work space. Today I was lucky enough to receive 4 lidocaine injections. One at L4 and one at L5. When they tried to insert the needle (see above) there was some discussion of pain, some tears, 2 more lidocaine injections and some more tears. After the table and x-ray machines was adjusted several (thousand) times (see the first photo) we were ready for the needles.

This is were being a nurse that has assisted with lumbar punctures (spinal taps) does not help with your anxiety. Yes that is the size of the needles. No that is not my back. Since the area is numb the placement of the needles does not hurt. Placement is checked using radioactive dye. You can feel the dye being injected. More adjustments are made to the table and x-ray machine (not sure about the needles). 

Now they will inject lidocaine and steroids into both needles. You can feel this injection as well. Needles are removed and they clean up all the cold, brown soap. Now I get to slowly sit up and wipe the tears away. The x-ray tech let me know that I seemed to be an old pro. Made my walk to the recovery room and had some ginger ale. Met up with my driver and support system for the day after 15 minutes to head home.

Don't let the smile fool you. Trying to hide my anxiety.

I was at home and sleeping by 11:00. Not calling it a nap since I slept to 3. Thank goodness my family was here to support me today. Don't know how I would do this without them.

Every mile gets easier?

 

Every mile gets easier?

 

I decided to start with a virtual race since I'm still healing. No need to worry about a golf cart picking me on this one.

 

One 5k a month with the goal of crossing the finish line.

 

If you are interested in joining in on the fun head to the runDisney website and register.

Yeah I'm doing this...

In 325 days I will be "running" the Star Wars 5k and 10k.

I think that I might have lost my mind!

How did I get talked into this?

So Obi-Wan, he likes me to call him Ben, tells me that the force is strong in me. He tells me that he will be at my side during training.

First day of training in the books. Thanks Ben for being there for me. Now to work on decreasing that  time.

The little engine that could...

 

Talked with the neurosurgeon on Friday. It's one of those good news/bad news situation.

 

Good news!

 

Based on the x-ray, CT and MRI the hardware has not moved. Yeah! but that is lying down and doesn't show if there is any micro-movement. There is a great improvement to the lumbosacral joint opening compared to the images prior to surgery. That is medical talk for there is more space for the nerve to pass through. It is looking very textbook.

Bad news!

 

I'm still having pain. He wants to do to another epidural injection. This does not excite me. I have told him multiple times that I would NEVER do them again. I have placed a call to the pain clinic to schedule the injection. He is going to use it as a diagnostic tool to rule out micro-movement. I will also start back with physical therapy but this time in the pool.

 

 

Perspective:

 

I have a high school classmate that has a daughter that is the same age as my son, 11. She has given me perspective on my pain. She has FOP, a rare genetic disorder that causes bone to form in muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues. When I want to complain about my pain I think about this little superhero and how she never stops smiling.

 

I will get through this. I will work harder to get stronger. I will smile because every day is a blessing.



Deja vu

 

Monday afternoon I went to get more x-rays of my back. Hospital gowns are starting to became a part of my wardrobe.

 

 

On April 25th I started to experience some pain in my left butt cheek. The next day I went to physical therapy and it was painful to do my exercises (did them all; no excuses). Thursday I called the neurosurgeon. The pain remains in my left butt cheek but now there is tingling and itchiness to my toes and ankle.

 

 

Tuesday I saw the neurosurgeon in clinic. The appointment started off okay. I was excited to hear that based off my x-rays the hardware had not moved. He also thought that there was some inflammatory process going on causing the nerve pain. Amen! Steroids and let's call it a day.

 

Then the conversation turned to the symptoms that I'm having. My head starts to spin when he says that we might need to do a CT and MRI to check for micro movement. He says that the manufacture wants them to believe that support is not needed in the back and that's "bullshit". Only 4 small incisions. We will schedule the surgery in early June so you will be healed for the start of school.

 

We were aware that this was a possibility. Not sure who is more disappointed about this.



  

So Monday I will call to let him know if the pain has gone away. I am to continue physical therapy and can finish out the last 24 days of school. Trying to remember that there are worse situations that I could be in.

 

 

P.S. The flyer below hangs on the wall at the neurosurgeons office. It is the only thing hanging on the wall at the office. I'm pretty sure that Ebloa is so 2015. Anyone out there need spam?

 

Rough week

I'm so FRUSTRATED! ANGRY! SAD!

I have been good and have done EVERYTHING that has been asked of me.

There has been nerve pain this week. I haven't had nerve pain in 4 months.

Called the doctor yesterday and didn't hear back from anyone.

Couldn't find my back brace this morning.

There is pain when I sit, stand, and walk. Even putting my shoes on this morning was difficult.

Trying to stay positive. Telling myself that something is inflamed. Hoping that nothing has moved.

I just want to cry.

Back to Work

 

I can't believe that I'm saying this but it is good to be back at work. Four months at home in bed was miserable. My return was timed perfectly, eight days at work followed by four school days off for spring break. Those first days back I was just trying to get back into a routine. Most of those days I spent looking for things in my health room that had been moved. You never know how bad your OCD is until you take four months off work.

 

After the trip to Disney I started to have trouble with an ingrown toenail. Long story short I have been on antibiotics and had it professional removed during spring break. It is healing now. I'm proud of myself because I only missed one day of physical therapy. 

It's hard to believe that in 32 days summer break will start. The anxiety of the end of the year checklist is starting. Thank goodness that the NJHS students will be helping me out this year. I am still limited to the amount that I can lift. If you only knew how many personal items are in my office. It will get done but remembering that I can't do it by myself will be the struggle.