Life – 2Busy Mamma

Sometimes we have to make decisions about our health and we assume they are for the best. Well I made a decision about a surgery that was made purely out of PAIN. 10yrs later, I am still regretting it because of the fact that I never got better period!

To start this off as to why I had an Anterior/Posterior Fusion done is I have Scoliosis. Yes this is my X-Ray, I snapped a photo of it when I was at my most recent doctors visit a few weeks ago.

My first back surgery was in 2002 it wasn’t complicated, just surgery to repair damaged nerves. I just all of a sudden went down one evening, woke up the next day and couldn’t walk. It took me a few days to get in to the orthopedic surgeon but I endured the pain. Thank goodness I didn’t have a surgery happy doctor at the time. He tried everything else first and made surgery the last option. I had all types of pain management (injections), I was put in traction and therapy. None of this worked to get me successfully walking again. So we had to go with the last option which was surgery. I was good for about 5 months and I was back down again barely to non walking. The doctor said the next surgery he could do was going to be a little complicated but he really didn’t want to do it. Mainly because it had a may or may not help me factor to it. I understood that because constantly cutting on me taking chances wasn’t in my future. So from time to time I was periodically still getting injections for pain.

Over the years leading up to the surgery in 2009, I continually tried to work. I was off work more than I was at work because I would be in excruciating pain daily😕. I would use crutches to help me get around. It was a lot of days my supervisor just couldn’t bare to look at me trying to work in pain. He would put me in my car and drive me back home and had a co worker to follow and take him back to work. He would tell me, look this job is not going anywhere. He was like you come in here with a brave face on everyday and I clearly see you are in pain and everyone else does too. I know you want to come to work because you got kids to take care of. Trust me we are not going to fire you for missing days knowing your situation. I would thank God daily for having such a caring boss and co workers because they looked out for me. I know working anywhere else I probably would have been fired and nobody would’ve thought twice about it.

I was constantly struggling trying to work because, I didn’t want my children to see me not working. I couldn’t see myself waiting on a disability check from Social Security every month. I was divorced they only had me to depend on and I wanted to be that strong single mom for them. My mom helped me with picking them up from school, preparing dinner and making sure homework was done. It was also a good thing at the time, my kids were old enough to help me once my mom would go home.

Well in 2008 I got remarried and moved to Houston,TX. I would say around May 2009 I lost what little feeling I had I my legs. The lower part of my body felt like I had a chain with cement blocks attached, hanging from my waist dragging me down. I went to see my primary care doctor and she referred me to an orthopedic spine surgeon. I once again went through injections and lots of test with contrast. I always joke and say I have had so much contrast injected in my body I should glow in the dark 😉. In July 2009 the doctor determined I needed a Fusion surgery. I was in so much pain I didn’t give it a second thought I just went with it. The doctor wanted me on strict bed rest until surgery. Well my supervisor was like no you got to come to work or get fired. She then in turn said; we already have to put up with you leaving early when you have doctors appointments. My boss watched me daily struggle coming in on crutches barely could move, in tears and didn’t care…..literally. When I did leave work for surgery I had already told myself I wasn’t returning there once I recovered. My husband and mom, were really upset they were wanting me to work in the condition I was in. I had leave plus FMLA and management wouldn’t cooperate.

August 8, 2009 surgery day, which should have been a sign. The staff that was supposed to be there to monitor my brain functions during surgery was a no show. Sooooo, surgery had to be rescheduled for a few days later. Once again surgery day August 10th, everything was ready to go. Surgery (Posterior) lasted 8 plus hours which was longer than anticipated and I lost a significant amount of blood. I was in ICU for almost a month. The anterior part of the Fusion was supposed to been done a few days later but it couldn’t happen. The blood loss prevented that since it was so much. Therefore, the anterior was scheduled later in September. The next day after the Fusion my mom was furious because I was weak, in ICU, not in my right mind and the doctor wanted me up and walking. My mom said even the ICU nurse was like I don’t think she is in any shape to be up. Well the doctor is always right remember 🤔. My mom and daughter said he got help to get me out of bed and I wasn’t aware of anything at all. My mom said the next thing they saw was me drop to the floor and started seizing. She still talks about that today with tears, she said the picture never left her mind of that day. From there seems like nothing was right.

September 10th I was moved to a room from ICU, and the therapist started coming in. I was measured for a brace and therapy wasn’t going so well. I had a lot of instability and shaking going on. So the therapist didn’t do the therapy everyday. September 15th I got to go home for a few days before the next surgery which was the anterior part scheduled for September 21st. That surgery went okay I was in the hospital for like 2 weeks afterwards. I started suffering from chronic stomach/intestinal issues after this portion of the surgery. After I was let out the hospital I started aquatic therapy. A week into the therapy, the therapist stopped me coming out the locker room. She said she wanted to stop the therapy. She said she noticed a lot of instability when I exited the pool daily and she didn’t like how I was walking. Once again the issue of instability and shaking was brought up. This was a concern of hers. She stated the fact that we were in water. It was nothing strenuous we were doing for those symptoms she saw. So she contacted the doctor and he didn’t agree with her. She told me the therapy would stop on her end. Regardless of what the doctor said she was stopping it because something was most definitely wrong.

Over the years more issues started occurring with my body and joints. I have had hell getting doctors here in Houston to give me answers as to what is happening to me. I simply never got better. I am still in intolerable pain daily, I shake at times horribly, I cannot sit up all day, can’t stand long, walk a long ways, I cannot ride too long without my legs going to sleep, my sleep quality at night is zero. I started having breathing problems in February of this year. The pulmonary doctor ran test and thought it was my heart. So I saw a cardiologist and got test done. He determined my heart was fine. My pulmonary doctor did more x-rays/test and said the culprit of my respiratory issues is my Scoliosis. Since I wasn’t getting anywhere with the orthopedic doctors in Houston, I ended up going back to Dallas,TX to the doctor. I scheduled an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon that did my first surgery in 2002. He immediately examined me and listened to my problems and concerns. I found out my strength in my hands, arms, feet, quads and legs has deteriorated significantly. His diagnosis from the exam and from what I explained that I am going through is, my Fusion didn’t fuse in the upper half of my back. I am scheduled for a CT/Myelogram to get 100% confirmation of that diagnosis. I explained to him I just wanted another opinion and no surgery. I said I have been through too much since this surgery in 2009, he wholeheartedly agreed. The doctor that did the surgery didn’t provide me with too much of anything after surgery.

Had I known the quality of life for me was going to change drastically like this, I wouldn’t have had the surgery. Like I said the decision was made purely out of pain. My options were have this surgery or face injections forever. The injections were not an option for me anymore. I have had so many over the years they don’t work for me anymore for pain. The few things I could tolerate to enjoy before surgery I can’t anymore. I wasn’t able to return to work. I can only sit up for an hour at the most. I need to lay down after that hour to relieve a lot of pressure and for my legs to regain feeling. I had to buy a computer that I could speak text into. Sometimes my hands will work for me to type and sometimes they won’t. I can write something and my handwriting is good. I can write something 10 minutes later and it looks like my 5 year old grandson wrote it. I do a lot of shaking and I still do a lot of falling. It’s a lot to deal with and the gradual onset of everything else that came along afterwards it is depressing.

Anyone considering this surgery as an adult please get 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinion. I did have one doctor tell me that he wouldn’t have done the surgery. He said he didn’t like doing it because it was too long , risky and very complicated. He was honest about that which was good, but it didn’t help me with my situation. Now I just have to enjoy the quality of life I have without thinking about my issues. It’s hard dealing with pain day in and day out. My life is very limited now but I still enjoy it. I just look past the bad and incorporate it with the good.

This is just something I wanted to share and will update about my test results and diagnosis.

Until Next Time

2Busy Mamma