Steve had his post-op visit this morning with the surgeon. Everything went well and the Dr. says that he's ready to slowly (slowly being the key word there!) get back into the normal routine of things. He said by six weeks post-op he could try push mowing the grass again, he could play nine holes of golf (why he thinks my husband is a golfer, we can't figure out!) and should be able to do a wide variety of other things. He said some of the strange "nervy" pains he's been having are totally normal and will go away in time. Dr. Gallaher was very pleased to know that Steve can feel his leg again and is able to notice a vast improvement. The only thing is that he can't feel his pinkie toe on the right foot. Dr. Gallaher said that feeling will eventually come back, it will just take time. He gave us a script for PT and some more meds and we were outta there! He will see Dr. Gallaher again in December and they'll take x-rays then to see how the fusion itself is healing.
We were very encouraged by the visit. This is the first visit that I've gone to. I came out of there with the best feeling. I was so impressed with Dr. Gallaher. He was so positive about everything-there were no "the feeling might come back" or "that nerve pain may or may not go away." He didn't even use the word "if." Everything he said was so positive and encouraging. He answered all our questions and explained everything in layman's terms verses Dr. lingo! I just felt like he was very real and very encouraging. It was a good feeling.
When Steve asked him about going on the four hour trip home, Dr. Gallaher didn't even hesitate. He said "are you going on your bike or in the car?" Steve told him I was going to drive and Dr. Gallaher said that was good. He told us we could do one of two things.......Choice A-stop every now and then so Steve could get out of the truck and walk a little bit or Choice B-heavily medicate Steve so that he sleeps and just drive straight through. We chose a combination of both-we heavily medicated him (thank God for Valium!) and we stopped once!
I'm not sure which was more painful for Steve-me driving and him riding or his back! He was sure grouchy on the way up and then once we get here, the pride kicks in and he thinks he has to be Mr. Tough Guy. Seriously, no one expects him to be and everyone is trying to help him out and do what they can to make him comfortable. He insists he's fine and goes on. Irritates the piss out of me, let me tell you!! I finally told him when we came to bed that this whole pride thing needs to be thrown away. I asked him before we left if he was sure that he wanted to make this trip and he told me yes. Now that we're here, he needs to let people help him just like we did at home-I mean crap, we're all family here!!! We'll see if tomorrow is any better.
I have a four year old niece, Olivia. My Livie, as we call her, is a little pistol, but just the dang cutest thing you've ever seen. When I talked to her on the phone last week, she wanted to know when we were going to come see her. She totally doesn't understand time right now, so she didn't understand that our trip was still 8days away. Well, Monday, I put a card in the mail to her, knowing she'd get it today, telling her to watch out the window because when she got the card, we'd be at Grandma's house. When I talked to my sister on the way up, she said Livie got her card and was "so escited!"
We got here around 4:00 and got the truck unloaded and just relaxed with mom and dad for a few minutes. Around 5:00 the phone rang. I answered it, knowing it was from my brother's house. It was Livie. She said "Hi Grandma" and I immediately said "Who? I'm not Grandma!" She gasped real loud and said "Aunt Shed'ie's here Mom!" She was so stinking excited. It just melted my heart. She told me she had been waiting "hours and hours" for us to get here. We ended up meeting them for dinner at our favorite burger place and I got the biggest hug ever from Liv. It was so dang sweet! Pistol or not, you gotta love that kid!
I really should get off of here and get to bed. Tomorrow will be a pretty laid back day, so that's good. I think my sister, my mom and I are doing a couple of errands while the boys watch the little girls, then the boys will go get fireworks when we get back.
Man, it's great to be home.
1 comment:
It was 6 months after Petey's back went out before he had feeling in his hind foot. It was amazing and awesome to see full recovery....all the way to his teeny tiny feet! I bet Steve will feel his pinky toe. But if he doesn't and everything else is fine that's still awesome!
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