Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Tethered Cord Release Surgery and Recovery

Surgery was scheduled for 8:30 on Tuesday morning, so we had to arrive at about 6:30 in the morning. I was only allowed to take my most important medications (fludrocortisone, Midodrine, and synthroid) that morning, which of course made me nauseated because I can't take medications on an empty stomach. We got there and checked in very quickly I got changed and then went through all of the questions that the nurse asks you. Sadly, I had a very rude nurse! They always get mad at me for not starting an IV because I would rather use my port. I told her that I was not going to let her start an IV until after I spoke with the anesthesiologist, who said he would use my port and would only need to start on peripheral IV since they need two access points. The nurse got very rude then and told me that my doctors were wrong and that I needed to let her start it. I still refused and I am glad I did because then I only had to get stuck once, I was already under anesthesia when they put in the peripheral IV, and they took my peripheral IV out as soon as I got out of the recovery room because they still had my port that they could use for fluids and medications. It was nice to get it out for two reasons: one it was causing discomfort and pulling every time I moved and two I sleep on my side curled up in the fetal position which tends to set off the alarm because my IV gets kinked.

After the debate about my port all that we had left to do was wait. I signed a couple of release forms and talked to my anesthesiologist and my neurosurgeon briefly. At almost exact 8:30 they took me back into the OR. For some people this is intimidating, but I like it. Everyone is always so friendly and kind! They explained to me how I would be positioned and and what would happen during the surgery.  After the resident gave the all clear they gave me a sedative (not even the anesthesia yet) and it took about 15 seconds to kick in and I don't remember anything after that!

From the point that I received the sedation until I woke up in the recovery room was a total of just under 4 hours. During this surgery they made a four inch long (approximately) incision in my lower back. The surgeon then removed part of my lower vertebrae (called a laminectomy) in order to gain access to my spinal cord. He then found the fatty pieces of connective tissue (called filum terminale) that were pulling my spinal cord down and attaching it to the spinal column. After he separated these fibers from the nerves he then carefully cut each one in order to relieve the tension on my spinal cord. After this he closed up my incision and I was sent to recovery!

Recovery was pretty smooth. The pain was well controlled through IV medications as well as IV nausea medications. I am prone to vomiting from anesthesia, so I was very happy that they were able to control my nausea. The recovery room nurse was extremely nice and helpful! We were there for a few hours until a room opened up for me on the neurological floor. Thankfully I did not need to go to the neurological intensive care unit for this surgery. My pain was well managed and it was a big difference to not have had surgery on my skull/brain! It is much more intense pain when my upper spine was involved than my lower spine. I as getting an IV pain medication, IV antibiotics, IV potassium, and IV phenegran (nausea med) for the first night until I switched over to oral medications.

The first nurse and the night nurse on the neuro floor were both very nice and sweet! The only issue we had is that my neurosurgeon specifically told me that I did NOT have to lay flat on my back after the surgery. Some surgeons require this, but my surgeon does not. I was fine until about 9 or 10 at night when the nurse told me I needed to be flat on my back for complete bed rest. At first I refused and they called a whole bunch of people and they all said I needed to be flat. Unfortunately I lost that battle and they put my bed flat. Up until that point I was doing ok, but I was in tears after they did that because the pain was awful! They felt so badly for me that they at least let me sleep on my side. When we spoke to my surgeon the next day he was really mad that they put me through that when he specifically said it was not needed. Other than that the night went well, except for the fact that you don't get a lot of sleep. My room was right outside the nurses station and they were LOUD and very disrespectful to those of us trying to sleep. I did not like the day nurse that I had Wednesday. She was rude and not helpful at all! Thankfully I was released that day, so I only had to deal with her until lunch timeish :)

Sorry for the delay in posting an update! I will post another update with my progress since being discharged. I have a very important appointment with a new GI doctor on Thursday, so please pray that that goes well and he is able to figure out why I have been having so many gastrointestinal issues!

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