I have had a few operations on my back. In Memory #25, I discussed number one and how the many things that could go wrong, kinda did. As I said, I got almost ten years out of it. From 2003 (November) until 2012 (August) I had not a lick of problems. Then, a spot of trouble began.

Now, I was aware I had some issues with my back. Degenerative disc disease. While this is a normal part of the aging process, and typically happens to everyone, in my case, it is happening at an accelerated rate. By forty, my spine was that of an eighty-year-old. However, in 2012, this was not what was wrong. But we would not know that until the surgery.

What started off innocently enough became a problem. The problem led to seven months of bi-weekly physiotherapy. By month three, we knew I’d have to have surgery to release the pressure on the nerves in my cervical spine. They were impinged where the discs had worn down. The imaging was unclear on whether my spinal cord was at risk, so the usual information was given about what to look for regarding that. I had no feeling in my right thumb, index finger, and part of my middle finger. Numbness in my bicep, forearm, and general tingling throughout the arm, as well as general weakness was also present. The pain was, at times, excruciating. I was put on a high dose of gabapentin, which caused its own set of side effects, put off work indefinitely, and sent home to wait for surgery.

Surgery came in early May 2013. Air pants. Now battery operated! I was up and out of bed within hours. The surgery, being it was done through the front, was relatively easy (the easiest of the four I’ve had). But they move all your throat junk out of the way which makes swallowing difficult after surgery. I was raring to go home at six the next morning. By noon that next day, I was fighting to go home. I had to wear a Philadelphia collar for 6 weeks. I healed well, but the damage was done. I never recovered feeling. The pain never stopped. Twelve years later, I am the same.

Surgery number three, to be honest, is a hard one to explain. I started having trouble with my feet. Numbness, pain, swelling, and a weird deformity. But no one could explain it. I also couldn’t stand and the pain in my back was terrible. Back to the surgeon I went, after a referral process (I think, it is kind of a blur). Imaging, gentle traction, and nothing. I need a revision to the 2003 surgery and six more levels fused. WHAT??? This will fix my feet; this will fix it all. As I had nerve testing done and there is significant signal interruption from the nerves in my back down my legs.

After having my surgery date bumped three times, I finally got it. It was difficult. The pain was terrible. I can kind of look back and laugh now, but really was, at that point, the worst pain I’d experienced. The only saving grace was they had student nurses training the week I was in hospital, and I had my own student. She was an angel. Helped me with anything I needed, I was able to shower daily (which when you’re in an old hospital in a heat wave, you want), got me ice water when I wanted (I drink a lot of water). It didn’t take the pain away, but it helped. I was sent for a lot of extra testing, and she accompanied me for all of it.

The surgery did not fix my feet. It did help with the back pain, and I was able to stand, at least temporarily, long enough to cook dinners again, and now, five years later, my lower back is solid, and rarely gives me any issues. I am now fused from S1 to T12. Fortunately, they did not have to fuse quite as many levels as they thought. I have very little feeling in either leg. I have almost no feeling in my feet (more on that another time), and my legs can be prone to weakness, though they don’t cause much issue with walking. I do walk with a cane now, but it’s funky and blue! Things have changed since 2003, not just my age!