Good News

Yesterday I had my follow-up appointment with my surgeon. He is so nice and cool with good bedside manner. I saw the MRI that I was too drugged up to remember  in the hospital. The MRI from the day I went to the hospital shows the disc bulging out a HUGE amount. He was like "no wonder you couldn't move" The surgeon said "I remember thinking when I was operating 'I'm gonna clean that out so good b/c I'm never going in here again!'" I sure hope he is right. We talked about what is reasonable for me to do and what is not. The disc above the one he has operated on twice now is herniated some, but not causing me pain. I still have several other issues as well in terms of the curvature of my spine, degenerative disc disease, and other stuff I can't remember. The key will be to not injure that one above--and that is often a problem b/c now that there is barely any disc left below it puts more pressure on the ones above it. He recommended I take one-on-one sessions with someone who teaches pilates and is also a physical therapist so they can make sure I don't injure myself. I called the place he suggested and they do have someone, so I'm going to arrange that (ya know with all the extra time I have in my life!). We left on a happy note--no more pain medication, not much pain, and I hope I never see him again...at least not in the hospital. It is crazy to think that I have felt better than I have since 2005 (I think) and maybe I can put this behind me...going forward somewhat carefully (no bungy jumping, no snow skiing, no snowmobiling, no crazy stuff) and I should be ok! Any time with little to no pain and no pain medications is a blessing for me. I've lived with this for far too long. I'm happy about that!!!