The surgery is complete and I am home! WOOHOO!!! I actually came home the next day, 12/19, I just needed a couple of days to process before sharing. So here we go…
Settled
First, I feel totally settled now. PHEW!! This Thing had been looming for so long and lasting for so many years, it feels GREAT to finally feel settled and be on the other side of it. In fact, the single night in the hospital I barely slept because I kept waking myself up so happy to feel so settled. I did not wake up from surgery in a twilight zone like the last time I had metal put in. I did not wake up feeling skewed or warped. I just felt settled.
So, how did it all go?
Pretty much as planned! First, all of my organs were moved out of the way. They were kind of stuck in place from previous surgeries but no damage was done. Great job to Dr. Higuchi, the urologist, for this part!
Next, Dr. Stoneback cleaned up the sclerotic and diseased bone. He needed to get down to healthy bone in order for this to work.
Then, a large bone piece was harvested from the left iliac crest. You can sort of see it here, but a different angle would be much better.
And intramedullary bone was harvested from the entire length of the left femur, hip to knee, via RIA. On X-ray I can’t tell at all but the radiologist noted it. Here’s one example among 4…
The large piece taken from the left iliac crest was placed across the top of the pubic joint space and the bone from the femur was used to fill in the rest of the open space. It was packed tight! This angle shows all of that best.
And, obviously, he used a titanium plate and four screws to hold it all together. That is basically it! It was a big surgery but it all went beautifully! And even better, I woke up feeling good!
The wild part? The OSSIOfiber screw that Dr. Mei-Dan placed at my last surgery was completely GONE! It was supposed to have been replaced with new bone growth but not only did that not happen, the screw disintegrated or something, leaving nothing but a hole. TOTALLY BANANAS! Where did it go?!?
Pain?
So, what’s the pain like?
I never took a single pain med.
But here’s the thing. I’m not badass or tough or anything like that. It isn’t like there’s pain and I’m handling it amazingly – high pain tolerance. There just is not any pain – high pain threshold. There isn’t anything to manage. Sure, I’m sore and can feel where the various incisions are, but that’s it. I’m 4 days post-op right now and can get in and out of bed fairly quickly. I’m up and about, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning up, pretty much everything I normally do around the house, just in a wheelchair.
Everyone thinks I’m some sort of master of pain but it just isn’t so. Stuff just doesn’t hurt. I don’t know why, but gosh, I will sure take it!! Each of these 13 surgeries over the last 5.5 years has gotten easier and less painful. And what a good thing, because this would be a tremendous amount to endure otherwise!
My doctors were completely flabbergasted, placing bets in surgery that there was no way I’d be able to come out of this without pain management. They say they will never doubt me again – Dr. Stoneback and crew, welcome to me! I mean what I say.
Surgery Complete, Now What?
Now I hurry up and wait. The bones in question were fragile so I will need an extended wheelchair stint, at least three months, most likely more. I am allowed to stand to transfer but only on my right leg. This is proving to be way easier than I imagined so I’m not mad.
Here are my booboos while I was still in the hospital and before they pulled the drainage tubes.
The tubes are long gone and I’m rockin’ and rollin’ at home, nothing to complain about. I’ve mastered the art of the wait so let’s get to it!
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