It's less than 48 hours before my back surgery. Gulp. It seemed so far away earlier this summer when the decision was made to have the surgery - sure was a good idea then. But now summer has slipped by and here we are on Labor Day Monday and Wednesday is coming quickly.
Tomorrow the process starts with a quick stop at the hospital for some blood work and whatever other fluids they need and then it's Go Time starting at 5:30 Wednesday morning.
The official name for the procedure is TLIF - Transformaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion. Simply put, a disc removal and fusion on the lower back with some extra hardware thrown in for good measure. The goal is to once and for all remove the numbness and pain down my right leg. Here's a good video of the procedure - http://www.spine-health.com/video/transforaminal-lumbar-interbody-fusion-tlif-video
What I love about this video is how nice and clean the anatomy is - where's the blood and gristle? Somehow I don't think the real thing is quite so sanitary.
I'm definitely anxious about it all - mostly about the recovery both in the hospital post surgery and the weeks following recuperating at home. Visions of tubes and needles and bad hospital food has me wound up so am working hard to keep busy and stay calm these next 2 days.
Donna has been a rock star in helping me prepare. She's been so busy with her own Dad's health issues and the Elvis episode, I feel bad that her plate is so full. So I will try and be a good patient and not be a jerk just because I don't feel so good. If you don't hear from me a few weeks post-op please come looking because I probably pissed her off and she stuffed me in a closet!
While recovery time is a bit up in the air, I've definitely set some goals - I want to be well enough to be part of Alison's 30th birthday party in Las Vegas in late October and I want to be able to walk 18 holes (not play of course) but walk some Saturday morning this Fall with neighbor Lance when he plays. I figure that being on a golf course in the fall will be great for my rehab and my mental well-being. But for now, let's just get to Wednesday night.
More to come. Keep me in your thoughts and let's hope my surgeon is a morning person and brings his A-game on Wednesday.
TLIF on Three. 1 - 2 - 3 - TLIF!
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