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Getting ready for my operation!
I had to fast from 12:00am before my operation .The only things I could drink were
1:Sips of water
2:Sips of cola
3:Sips of black coffee
4:Sips of tea with no milk
I recommend that you don't have anything before the surgery .Trying to go to the bathroom after surgery is not an easy task!
I also recommend that you try to sleep as much as you can.

Tuesday: 3/24/98 - Day of the operation
I had to be at the hospital at 6:00am on this day!
Here they will ask you if you had post-op.This should be done usually 1 week
before the operation.
Then you are admitted and go into a room for preparation.
Here they will give you a gown, cap, and slippers(Girl socks).
They will ask you about you're medical history.
You must remove all jewelry ,which should of been done before you go to the
hospital.This way noone can walk away with it.
After this,you will go and get set up!
1:They insert you're IV
2:about a half hour before they will give you the sedative to put you asleep!
Next thing you remember , is waking up in the recovery room in pain.
Here you will wait for the room and you will be checked for High blood
pressure and any symptoms that require attention!
At this point you're family will be notified and told that the operation is done.
You cannot have any visitors at this time.

When wake up you will notice a button next to you .
This is you're pain management  button.The morphine will be you're best friend
and will take away the pain! I pressed every half hour and seemed to be enough.
At first my button did not work so you have to make sure that the machine is working.Trust me when I say that you will know if it is working or not . I trusted the nurses to check it, bad choice, they have many things  to do so they might overlook some things. You need to be aware of what's going on around you. I suffered for an
hour, but it really wasn't that bad.The bigger pains come later.
At this point it seems that the operation was a success and took about 3 hours!!!!!
12:30pm:Admitted to a room where friends and family can visit you.
1:00pm:Set up you're TV and phone, if needed.
1:30pm:Lunch,I recommend that you eat solid foods at this time.
the stronger you are the faster you will recover.Some might not be able to,
because of the drugs making them sick,but in any case it would be in you're best interest to eat as much as possible.
during the hours of 12:30pm and 4:45pm I experienced a pain in my back
which felt like a fist was resting on my back.You will not be able to move much and
you will be lying on you're back,yes,you're back.It might seem weird but it is much more painful lying on you're stomach than on you're back!!!!
You will be in and out of sleep for the next couple of hours and need to get this rest.
The nurses will check your status of you're blood pressure and Temperature every 2 hours.
The one thing you need to do is urinate as soon as possible, if you don't, they will have to put a catheter in and you don't want that.For the woman, I do not know what they do so you might want to resource to see what the procedure is.
Most uncomfortable positions, at this time, would be:
Sitting and standing for long periods of time, and lying on my side and stomach.
Wednesday: 3/25/98 - Very boring time at this point
Early Temperature: 98.1 / Late  Temperature: 99.1

After a night of sleeping lightly ,I felt good enough to leave the hospital!!!
This might not be the case for everyone but for me I felt ok other than the pain.
7:00am:Breakfast,at this time you should be well enough to eat
Still have the blood pressure and temperature routine every 2 to 4  hours.
12:00 pm : Took out my IV and disconnected my pain management  button.
Replaced with pill form pain killers and makes it easier to move around.
12:30pm: Lunch,You will be more comfortable at this point to eat !!!
From the start of the day till the end I was experiencing stomach cramps. This
could be due to the pills but it is worth the pain.
6:00 pm:My doctor is amazed that I am doing so good that he said it was ok to
release me if I wanted to leave,and that's what I did.
6:30pm: Went home
The car ride was very uncomfortable and should not try to go anywhere after you get home.
rest , rest , rest
you need to get rest,it is very important so that you're body can heal.
12:00 am : Went to sleep uninterrupted for about 4 hours which felt great.
At this time, I am taking Vicodin 500-5 MG tablets every 4 hours  for pain.
I have decided to take the Vicodin during the day and Ultram 500MG tablets
at night before sleep.This way I'm not feeling groggy when I wake up.
Most uncomfortable positions, at this time, would be:
Sitting and standing for long periods of time and lying on my side and stomach.
Thursday: 3/26/98 -  Still boring-pain is going away slowly
Early Temperature: 98.3 / Late  Temperature: 97.2

12:00 am - 4:04 am : Slept for the first time for more than 2 hours at a time since my operation!
4:04 am : Took a Vicadin W/O eating.
4:04 am-7:00 am : Watched TV
7:00 am :Very sick : Almost fainted and got sick,broke into a sweat and did not have a fever!
Could of been caused by not eating before I took the Vicadin.
8:00 am - 1:30 pm : Walked around the house ,drinking alot of fluids.
Walking with a cane for now just to ease the pressure on my back.
1:30 pm : Ate lunch (Chicken soup)
1:30 pm : 5:30 pm : Rested in bed watching TV
5:30 pm - 7:15 pm : Slept
7:30 pm : Sat up to eat dinner (Lasagna),and watch alot of Hockey!
7:35 pm : Took a Vicadin again hoping it will help and not get me sick!
11:20 pm : Feel great but still have aches.The Vicadin did not get me sick so I guess you
need to eat before you take it!
11:25 pm : Took Ultram "2 tablets"
11:25 pm 12:00 am : Watched TV
Most uncomfortable positions, at this time, would be:
Sitting and standing for long periods of time, and lying on my side and stomach.
Friday: 3/27/98 - Starting to move around a little better
Early Temperature: 97.8 / Late  Temperature: ?(not there yet)

12:01 am - 3:00 am :Sat up watching TV getting up once in awhile!
3:00 am - 10:30 am : Slept for a long period of time and it felt great,even woke up on my
stomach without complications.
10:30 am : Got my coffee and moved around a little.
1:00 pm :Ate lunch ( Ham & Cheese on a roll with mustard )feeling pretty good at this point.
1:15 pm : Still feel a little pain , took a Vicadin.
1:30 pm : Washed my hair and gave myself a sponge bath and it feels great to put on
regular clothes ,still uncomfortable sitting for long periods of time.
2:00 pm : Wow is it boring,nothing on TV .Walked outside for a little while because it is
70 degrees and did not wanna miss this day!
2:30 - 4:00 pm :Sat here in pain to update for all of you great people that are stopping bye to
visit my site ! I hope this is doing some good for the people with the same problem!
4:00pm - 7:00pm : Rested until dinner
7:00pm : Ate dinner ( Shrimp Stir Fry )
7:30pm : Took Vicadin
12:00am :Took Ultram

Most uncomfortable positions, at this time, would be:
Sitting and standing for long periods of time, and lying on my side and stomach.
Getting in and out of bed.

Saturday : 3/28/98 - Still don't feel correct

Well , The weekend has begun on the painful side,my stomach is hurting now and i am
waking up in positions that really don't feel good .My routine has not changed ,I'm still not
moving around that much and I feel pain if I stand too long or sit too long.
The fact is that I'm trying to do too much for what my body can handle .I know that the injury
will take time to heal but I really wish it would be now!!!!!!!!
I'm not taking as many pills now , which might be the cause of me having pains , so I guess
I just have to deal with it .I will be keeping notes through the rest of this recovery so that I don't
have to keep up with time.It seems to be easier like this,I found it hard and silly to tell you
what might happen at what time,especially when it doesn't change that much!!!!
My routine is the same day by day,I don't really do much but sit around and watch TV.I hang
out once in awhile with visitors and try to walk around. Being cooped up in here is driving me crazy and making me more sick.I still cannot take a shower , so I currently have to wipe myself down with towels,this is not easy to do either.
My wife is washing my hair and  cooking most of the time so I thank her for being there when I really need her! This has to be a burden on her too!!!!! I have moved a couple of times that did not seem to be the right way and it hurt bad!!!The one thing I learned is that you have to be careful about every movement that you make.I have heard my back crack a couple of times and I really don't know if it is bad or good but I guess I will find out in time!!!
 

Well I hope you like my journal and I will try to update on my site daily .It's very hard to sit
here for a long time so give me some slack here and there .

If you have any personal questions or would like to know
something than E-Mail me and I will try to best answer your questions!!!!!
Thanks for stopping by !!!!!

Most uncomfortable positions, at this time, would be:
Sitting and standing for more than a hour at a time
Going to the bathroom,and I sure don't mean taking a leak (hurts the back but good)
Sudden Movements
Sunday : 3/29/98 - I'm stinking bored
Well so far it has been a painful day.I woke up and got out of bed with pains in my stomach
and pain in my butt ( not my wife ).I have taken the Vicadin and I hope this pain goes away!
what a difference a couple of hours makes,the pain went away and I feel ok right now!!!
Spent some time working on our Links Page!!!
The day has gone well so far,but still , I can't do much of anything but lay down for long
periods of time.I have seen the cut that they put in my back which turns out to be a 1 inch
slice in the lower portion of my back going from the middle of my back to lower part of my back.
Not too bad ,but still kind of swelled from the operation.I can only hope that this is going to
go down a bit more than it is now!The energy factor that i was talking about ,is the energy
that I need to do something.I have to pump myself up to get up or lay down.It's very frustrating.
Fortunately, I have been able to walk around and do stuff that I generally need to do without
alot of pain.Today was very relaxing and one more day gone till I'm healed!
I went to sleep without taking any pills so we will see what happens!!!

Most uncomfortable positions, at this time, would be:
Sitting and standing for more than a 2 hours at a time
Going to the bathroom,and I sure don't mean taking a leak (hurts the back but good)
Sudden Movements