Debbi's Back Surgery

 When Debbi was in High School she

developed Spondylolysis

(which is a broken back)

She is now diagnosed with

Spondylolisthesis

(which means the broken vertebrae

 has shifted)

Back in High School

The Doctors tried to get it to

heal, but it never did

So she has been living with the pain

all these years....17 to be exact!

The doctor's always told her she would

need to have the L4/5 vertebrae fused

someday....that day was 

to be Wednesday May 20th.

We drove down to Utah a little early

so we could be there to celebrate

Sydney's birthday on Sunday

and were going to be at Debbi's

during our stay.

Early Monday morning Steve woke up

sick as a dog.

We quarantined him to one room

so Debbi wouldn't get sick.

By Wednesday morning he was feeling

much better and was

able to go to the hospital with Debbi.

Day 1 - Wednesday

Debbi had to check in at 5:30 ..... A.M.

We both were able to go with her along

with her good friend Tiffany.

.

By about 6:15 she was in

Pre-Op and ready to get on with it.

(surgery was scheduled for 7:30 a.m.)

The surgery went very well. The Doctor

anticipated the surgery would take

about 2 1/2 hours but was

finished in just under 2 hours and

said everything went perfect!

Her L4 & L5 vertebrae are now held

together with two rods and

four screws.

After recovery we met her up on the

14th floor in room #1408

Debbi calls this her 

Drugged-up Selfie....ha ha ha

Somewhere "out there" there is a funny

video only a "bestie" would

be permitted to take....

We spent all day at the hospital with Debbi

and had lots of time to admire

the view from her room.

We were able to see three temples from

this window,

Draper, Jordan River & Oquirrh Mountain.

Day 1 went well and the doctor, nurses

and assistants all loved Debbi

and said they wished all their patients were

like her.  They set her up with a

pain pump so she was able to manage her

own medication.

Day 2 - Thursday

Today was kind of rough.

The morphine was making Debbi very

nauseous plus

she started both Occupational and

physical therapy

This was her first walk and ....

all of her "stuff" 

walked right along with her.

Even though she didn't feel that great

she was still able to

read her text messages and eat

a few bites of ice cream.

In the afternoon Kevin and his family

came up to the hospital for a

short visit and.....

later that evening Debbi's friends

dropped in to see her,

Amy, Kara, Debbi, Coutney

Day 3 - Friday

Debbi enjoyed these beautiful and

fragrant bouquets from her

mom & dad and friends.

Today the doctor took her off the

morphine pain pump....yay!

and look at this....on a walk with her physical

therapist and NO WALKER!

(and no brush...???)

Here Debbi is showing off her new

found talent of

putting on her socks with the

sock-aide tool

Everyone thinks Debbi is doing really well

and we are hoping her nausea

will get better without the morphine.

She even got to take a shower today!

Debbi is planning on leaving the hospital

tomorrow and is anxious to get home.

Day 4 - Saturday

After talking with the doctor via the phone,

he has decided to discharge

Debbi today.

The nurse removed her incision dressing

leaving only the Steri-strips exposed

(all her stitches are on the inside),

they removed her IV's, 

gave us all her prescriptions and

discharge papers then....

She got dressed and.....

called for her wheelchair.

got into the car and

Saying Goodbye to the

 Intermountain Medical Center....

off we went!

We will miss the cafeteria food and the

long days, but are glad to be

going home.

Day 5 and beyond

Debbi had everything she needed right at

her fingertips.....

meds, sick bag, picker tool, back brace,

water cup with flex straw, snack 

and medication log

She came home with five different 

prescriptions including the

pain medication Norco.

she was still having quite a bit of

nausea so we decided to take

her off everything and go

with Plain 'ole X-tra strength Tylenol.

that did the trick and before long she

was feeling much better

On Tuesday she was doing well enough

to go for a short walk outside

We borrowed this shower chair and it is

working great. We cover her incision 

with an aqua-guard patch and with everything

right there on the chair she is able

to shower & shampoo her hair all on her own.

She can only lay down or stand....

Sitting is only allowed for less than 30 minutes

when she is eating.  When she

is up she wears this handy back brace.

There aren't a lot of things you can do while

laying in bed but watching the

French Open during the day and

 movies at night are definitely part of the routine.

in addition to a few friends, Kevin and

Sydney have been over to visit

Debbi since she came home

She is doing great and knows that each

day will better than the day

before.  Her recovery time is anticipated

to be about 3 months with

her first follow-up appointment at 4 weeks.

Day 1
After surgery dressing

Day 3
Gauze dressing covering the Steri-strips

Day 4
Just the Steri-strips
the only dressing remaining when she
went home

Day 14
(incision is about 4 inches long)
No more dressing!
lookin' good

Before Surgery

the vertebrae just above the tailbone

has shifted down leaving a big

gap and compressed nerves

After Surgery

nerves have been decompressed

and the rods & screws will hold

the vertebrae in place.