Tomorrow is the big day

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Yes, it's Halloween...but, it's also the day of my microdiscectomy back surgery. Yup, at this time tomorrow I will be recovering in my hospital room, hopefully doped up on some good meds! Haha! I'm just ready to get it done & over with, & get back to "normal." I check in at 11:30am, but my surgery isn't scheduled until 1:30pm, so that 2 hour wait is gonna suck. At least I'll have my husband, Mom, & brother to keep me company. Yeah, my brother is coming up too. I haven't seen him in forever, so that'll be an interesting visit. LOL! They (my Mom & brother) are actually on the drive from Texas to here as I write this. They should be here sometime around 10:30-11pm. I got my shower out of the way & am now resting in bed until they get here. Then I'll probably go sit out on the couch for a little while & visit until everyone's tired. I however, probably won't be able to sleep much. As of midnight tonight, I'm also unable to eat or drink anything. That is going to totally suck, cuz I am going to be starving by the time I get out of surgery. Of course, I'll probably be so doped up & sleepy that I won't notice. At least I hope I will be! LOL! Good news is that I should only have to stay in the hospital for 1 night, as long as everything goes well & my vitals are normal. I've heard that they're going to have me up & walking within hours after the surgery to make sure I can do so before I leave. I'm a little nervous about that, as I don't know how my leg is going to react after being in pain so long. I'm also a little nervous about going under general anesthesia, as I've never been put under before, & I don't know how my mind or body will react to that. I'm hoping everything will go well & there will be no complications. I guess I'll find out tomorrow, huh? Well, I guess that's about it for now. I'll post again when I can! Until then, take care & stay safe! Later gators! *Jolene*

Surgery is set

I'm doing this once again from my phone, as it hurts too much to sit in front of my desktop computer. Please forgive me :-) Well, as you can see from the title of this entry there is no denying it. I am going to have back surgery on the 31st of this month. Yup, on Halloween. How crazy is that? Lol. I went & saw the neurosurgeon who specializes in surgeries of the brain, neck, back, & spine, & he was very straightforward about it. When he showed me the MRI of my now-herniated disc, both my husband & I were shocked by how bad it was. There's definitely no other option for me, but surgery. Luckily, the kind of surgery I'm going to have is very invasive & minimal. It's what they call a micro discectomy, where they cut a small incision in my back & go in with a microscope & other surgical equipment & cut out a small part of the disc that is pressing against my spinal cord & causing me to have the pain in my back & leg. It usually only lasts about an hour (as long as there are no complications) & I should only be in the hospital overnight. However, the recovery time can be up to 8 weeks long, which basically means my holidays are shot to help, as 2 weeks out will bring me to the middle of November and 6 weeks out will bring me to the middle of December. Those are the two points at which I'll go in for check ups, so yeah, it's gonna kind of suck, but I guess if this surgery gives me the relief it's expected to, I'll sacrifice my holidays. LOL. I did go get an epidural steroids injection on Wednesday, which has helped with some of the pain I've been having, but it just really dulled everything to the point that I can get around a little bit more than I did before. I'm not complaining about that, as I figured that is what was going to happen, & hopefully it'll last until my surgery date. Only 19 days & counting...so until next time, I hope y'all are doing okay, & I'll post again soon. Take care & stay safe! Later gators, *Jolene*

Another quick update...

Please forgive me, as I am updating this, using my phone, as I hurt too badly to sit on a hard chair in front of my desktop computer, and I don't have a laptop. I just wanted to let y'all know I'm doing okay, but still suffering from immense pain in my left leg, which still limits what I can do. The good news is in 8 days, I go in for another epidural steroid injection in my back, & I'm hoping & praying that it will help with the pain & I'll get back to somewhat normal. Yes, October 10th can't come quick enough! LOL :) Speaking of, I can't believe it's already October! Where in the world did this year go!? Nah, I'm actually very pleased that it's October & officially Fall. I have many birthdays this month (friends) & my wedding anniversary is later this month, so I'm happy about that. Plus, it's almost Halloween! Now, Halloween isn't my favorite holiday (Christmas is), but I do look forward to seeing all the costumes, decorations, & candy that comes with this holiday! Plus, all the scary movies come out/are shown, so I'll have some fun stuff to scare the living daylights out of me. LOL! Ah yes, the fun of Halloween. Who can resist it? Hehe! :) Well, I think that's going to be it for now, as my phone is acting up & making it difficult to type this entry. I hope all of you lovely people are doing well, & I'll post again soon...oh, sorry if there are any misspelled words in this entry! Again, typing using my phone. Lol. Until next time, take care & stay safe! Later gators, *Jolene*