A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

Two weeks and two days ago, I went "under the knife" in an effort to quell the pain of my lumbar spinal stenosis. I was kind of hoping to have felt results by now, but not really.

On April 20, I underwent surgery on my L2 and L3 vertebrae to alleviate chronic pain and discomfort that had been affecting my daily life for some time. For those who may not be familiar with a lumbar laminectomy, it is a surgical procedure that involves removing part of the vertebrae in the lower back to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots.

The procedure itself went smoothly, and I was under general anesthesia for the duration of the surgery. After the procedure was completed, I spent one night in the hospital for observation and to ensure that I was healing properly. The medical team provided me with pain management medication to help with any discomfort during this time.

I felt pretty good when I went home, too.

However, five days after the surgery, and discomfort had returned. I still had the original dressing on. I went to my primary care doctor and had them check the dressing and put on fresh.

Another five days and I had to call for more pain meds, since the hydrocodone they originally gave me didn't seem to be doing anything. They gave me oxycodone which did help more. Mostly, it just made me want to sleep; but since I'm recovering from surgery that didn't seem to be a bad thing. The blotchy bruises are just blood clots.

By Tuesday, the surgical site was looking much better. My back still hurt like the dickens, though; especially when I first got up in the morning.

Two more days:

And here's today. Visually, I think it looks much better. But it still hurts a lot when I first get up, or after I've been lying or sitting for awhile.

My follow-up with the surgeon is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Fingers crossed it starts feeling better, in addition to merely looking better.