A Little Spring Vintage on the Baker's Rack and Surgery Update

Hi Friends, I just wanted to share a quick post letting you know I survived the Cervical Spine surgery that I had on Monday. I guess "survived" is the correct term, but it's not been an easy few days. I'm home and taking it really easy. I'm not in a cervical collar, which is nice, but I feel a little vulnerable to moving wrong or overdo-ing it. I thought I'd share a pic of my Spring Baker's Rack that I put together last week with some vintage birdie and garden items for a small distraction. It may be awhile before I can do much else around here.

I really didn't know what to expect after this surgery (Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion) it seems each person gets through this differently. I had 2 levels that needed to be removed and fused; C4 and C6, what was left of the disintegrated discs taken out and a rod and screws fusing 4,5,and 6. My husband has teased me that I won't be able to go through an airport without them hauling me over for inspection. Oh well, traveling hasn't been anything I've been able to do much of anyway.

They warned me that my throat and neck would be sore, but that was an extreme understatement. I said it felt like a truck ran over my neck. Pretty blunt, but any swallowing has been difficult, as the surgical procedure requires the trachea and esophagus be physically pushed aside to be able to get to the anterior spine. It will get better each day, (I'm hoping).

A year ago I started having problems getting a deep breath then it got worse and I went down hill. Terrible headaches, neck pain, and dizziness turned into arm and leg weakness, numbness and pain. I'd been to 7 or 8 different doctors and they each had a different diagnosis or idea. Finally after having MRI's of my head and neck repeated from 2016 they showed I had 2 areas of critical impingement of my spinal cord. Problem was the doctors had never seen a spine impingement cause a breathing difficulty. They just had never come across this as a symptom unless it was an accident or trauma. But leave it to me to be the one with symptoms that are whack-a-doodle. I blame it on autoimmune illness and swelling of tissue. The good news is that my breathing has improved a lot since the surgery, so I'm hopeful that the cervical spine problems will have been the cause of my breathing problems. The arm and leg weakness are improved also. Still having neck pain and headache but I think that's normal from the trauma of the surgical procedure.

It was weird not having my husband with me at the hospital. He was sent to the surgical waiting area and I didn't see him again until he picked me up outside the next day to go home. I feel so badly for people who had to be at the hospital by themselves without family support. All the hospital staff of course had on masks but they were very friendly and caring, and I didn't feel uncared for. I'm so glad that this is over, and I'm believing that I will come out of this soon if I'm careful. I don't know when I can be blogging "as usual" because this post has taken me multiple settings to write since being in front of the computer puts stress on my neck.

I just needed to touch base with you all. Hope you all are well and wearing masks. I'm having a bit of a "moment" seeing everyone running around to stores, bars, and restaurants without wearing masks. This virus hasn't backed off, it's still out there and I'm afraid we're letting our guard down which will compromise all of us. Thanks so much for all the prayers and well wishes from my last post. I sure appreciate your friendships and caring. Hope to see you soon,