GlazeFamily3
Peeking in everyone's windows ...
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
- Messages
- 1,272
Hello Lilypad world. I wanted to check in as it has been a few months since I have been here and I have missed you all.
My husband had surgery to repair three severely herniated discs on October 22. It was an outpatient surgery, which still boggles my mind, but apparently that is standard procedure. The morning after his surgery, coming out of our downstairs bathroom, he blacked out and fell to the floor. For over one minute, he was unresponsive and I truly thought I had lost him. It was the worst moment of my entire life. I called 911 and the paramedics thought that he passed out due to pain, as the pain medicine had not kicked in yet and he was in an immense amount of pain. However, we went to the hospital to get tests done to confirm this. His EKG and blood work came back normal, so they decided it was a vagal response to pain.
That night, he began experiencing a sharp pain in his leg, similar to one that he had before his surgery. His back doctor was concerned his fall had reherniated his back, so the next morning we went back to the doctor. His doctor ordered an immediate MRI, which we were thankfully able to do rather quickly. It did show a new herniation, but it was very small. Thankfully, it was small enough to heal by itself an did not require that he redo the surgery (which was our initial fear).
On Halloween, Darren returned to his back doctor for a check-up. The doctor removed the stitches and was pleased with the healing. Darren was excited because this meant he could take a shower without being wrapped in saran wrap (we had to wrap his back in order to shower after surgery). He took that shower on November 1. It was a little long because he was just enjoying a nice, hot shower... and he decided to rub his back rather vigorously to try and get the sticky from the bandages off. I was there when he stepped out of the shower and he looked extremely pale. I was able to get him seated and he passed out again. This instance was shorter, lasting around 30 seconds, but it was extremely scary. His back doctor recommended we see a heart specialist to make sure something more serious was not going on.
A few days later, we were able to see the heart doctor. She thought both instances were a vagal response to pain, which is what Darren and I both believe to be true. However, we decided to go through a series of tests to make sure. He has been wearing a heart monitor since November 10 and will wear it for a month total. This monitor constantly monitors his heart activity. The nurse at the heart doctor told us that the monitor company will call us often, as they are overly cautious and call about everything. She told us not to worry, though, unless the actual doctor's office calls. We haven't been called ONCE, which means his heart is doing well. This is such a praise. Also, yesterday he had a heart ultrasound, but we likely won't hear the official results from that until after Thanksgiving.
As for his back, it is healing well. Darren has been off pain medicine since November 5 and has not needed anything for pain since. He said he isn't experiencing pain, which is incredible. Coming off the really strong pain meds was a beast. It caused insomnia, stomach issues, headaches, sweating and chills... it was rough. That lasted about 3 days.
He is doing better now. He is more mobile and can sit up for longer periods of time. He said the hard thing now is that he feels the best he has in at least six months and not to overdo it. I am still paranoid and I feel that I will be until I know for sure everything is okay with his heart... and that his back is completely healed (we return to the back doctor next week, when he should be cleared to start bending some).
On a positive, silver lining note... God has really used this time in my life to speak to me and I have grown an incredible amount as an individual. I have learned that I am capable of so much more than I realized. I have seen God's hand at work in our lives on so many occasions... from friends and family sending food and gift cards, to friends and our church pastor maintaining our lawn, to friends taking my daughter out for the day to have fun. My love for my husband has grown deeper than I ever imagined possible. Our marriage was really amazing before, but it is stronger and better than it has ever been.
Also, I have taken this time to do something I have been wanting to do for a while... I started a blog. I blogged for many years, stopping about three years ago. I have missed it in recent months and decided to give it a go once more. I've began turning some of my scrapbook layouts into templates that you can grab for free and you can see the first one here- https://extrasprinkle.com/2018/11/14/digital-scrapbooking-template-around-and-around-volume-1/
I hope to be around more soon. I also hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.
My husband had surgery to repair three severely herniated discs on October 22. It was an outpatient surgery, which still boggles my mind, but apparently that is standard procedure. The morning after his surgery, coming out of our downstairs bathroom, he blacked out and fell to the floor. For over one minute, he was unresponsive and I truly thought I had lost him. It was the worst moment of my entire life. I called 911 and the paramedics thought that he passed out due to pain, as the pain medicine had not kicked in yet and he was in an immense amount of pain. However, we went to the hospital to get tests done to confirm this. His EKG and blood work came back normal, so they decided it was a vagal response to pain.
That night, he began experiencing a sharp pain in his leg, similar to one that he had before his surgery. His back doctor was concerned his fall had reherniated his back, so the next morning we went back to the doctor. His doctor ordered an immediate MRI, which we were thankfully able to do rather quickly. It did show a new herniation, but it was very small. Thankfully, it was small enough to heal by itself an did not require that he redo the surgery (which was our initial fear).
On Halloween, Darren returned to his back doctor for a check-up. The doctor removed the stitches and was pleased with the healing. Darren was excited because this meant he could take a shower without being wrapped in saran wrap (we had to wrap his back in order to shower after surgery). He took that shower on November 1. It was a little long because he was just enjoying a nice, hot shower... and he decided to rub his back rather vigorously to try and get the sticky from the bandages off. I was there when he stepped out of the shower and he looked extremely pale. I was able to get him seated and he passed out again. This instance was shorter, lasting around 30 seconds, but it was extremely scary. His back doctor recommended we see a heart specialist to make sure something more serious was not going on.
A few days later, we were able to see the heart doctor. She thought both instances were a vagal response to pain, which is what Darren and I both believe to be true. However, we decided to go through a series of tests to make sure. He has been wearing a heart monitor since November 10 and will wear it for a month total. This monitor constantly monitors his heart activity. The nurse at the heart doctor told us that the monitor company will call us often, as they are overly cautious and call about everything. She told us not to worry, though, unless the actual doctor's office calls. We haven't been called ONCE, which means his heart is doing well. This is such a praise. Also, yesterday he had a heart ultrasound, but we likely won't hear the official results from that until after Thanksgiving.
As for his back, it is healing well. Darren has been off pain medicine since November 5 and has not needed anything for pain since. He said he isn't experiencing pain, which is incredible. Coming off the really strong pain meds was a beast. It caused insomnia, stomach issues, headaches, sweating and chills... it was rough. That lasted about 3 days.
He is doing better now. He is more mobile and can sit up for longer periods of time. He said the hard thing now is that he feels the best he has in at least six months and not to overdo it. I am still paranoid and I feel that I will be until I know for sure everything is okay with his heart... and that his back is completely healed (we return to the back doctor next week, when he should be cleared to start bending some).
On a positive, silver lining note... God has really used this time in my life to speak to me and I have grown an incredible amount as an individual. I have learned that I am capable of so much more than I realized. I have seen God's hand at work in our lives on so many occasions... from friends and family sending food and gift cards, to friends and our church pastor maintaining our lawn, to friends taking my daughter out for the day to have fun. My love for my husband has grown deeper than I ever imagined possible. Our marriage was really amazing before, but it is stronger and better than it has ever been.
Also, I have taken this time to do something I have been wanting to do for a while... I started a blog. I blogged for many years, stopping about three years ago. I have missed it in recent months and decided to give it a go once more. I've began turning some of my scrapbook layouts into templates that you can grab for free and you can see the first one here- https://extrasprinkle.com/2018/11/14/digital-scrapbooking-template-around-and-around-volume-1/
I hope to be around more soon. I also hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.
SO glad you hubby is doing better and you are doing better Desi. We missed you but your family is the most important thing in the world. Happy Thanksgiving!
