Did You Know Feature:

Neck Muscles

Did you know that we humans use our neck muscles to sit up? 

I didn't until I had 5 cervical spinal discs herniate, 3 of them so severely that they flattened my spinal cord at C5-C7. 

The pain and resulting damage left me unable to sit up on my own some days. 

As taught by physical therapists, I would roll to my better side and try to push myself up.  Most of the time I could do it, but not every time; there were times when I had to call for help and have a loved one pull me up. 

Even if you don't have the specific injuries that I did, if you ever have invasive cervical spinal surgery, I can tell you, that you will most likely experience this same challenge. 

If I hadn't been in a hospital bed for 5 days after my surgery, I don't know how I would've gotten out of it to go to the bathroom. 

As it was, even though I put my hospital bed up to as much of a sitting position as it let me, I still needed the nurses' assistance to get out and to the bathroom the first couple of days.

I share this data so that you may prepare accordingly. 

If you live alone and/or don't have someone who can be home with you 24/7 after your surgery, you are going to need to rig something strong that you can have lying next to you, so that you can pull yourself up.

If that's not possible and you are lucky enough to be a man, you only need to keep a jug handy! 

I'm sure if you ask your doctor or call a medical supply place and ask them for their thoughts, they will have solutions for you!

Regardless of if you are male or female, believe me, after being under general anesthetic and on pain pills for a while after your procedure, you won't have to worry about getting out of bed to go number two, for a very long time...

I am no expert on what you can rig or how, but I can say that it will need to be sturdy and attached to something immobile. 

DON'T tie a sheet to a standing lamp because when you pull hard enough to pull yourself up, such an item can fall over and then cause you to lose balance and fall out of bed. 

DO NOT risk injury! 

Again, I am not an expert on this and only trying to plant the seed of preparedness so that you can avoid the frustrations of not realizing in advance what awaits you; but the onus is on you to exercise common sense when figuring this out. 

If you live alone, call your insurance company or agent and ask them if they cover in-home assistance for such situations.  You very well may be able to have a nurse come in a few times a day to get you meals, make sure you take your meds, help you up, etc...

Spinal Trap Tips For A More

Successful Post-op Experience:

1.  Get a case of bottled waters and keep them next to your bed because pain pills dry your mouth substantially and it is important to stay hydrated.

2.  If you like to read, stock up on your favorite magazines, books, crossword puzzles, etc...and keep several pens/pencils next to you because you will drop them but not necessarily be able to retrieve.

Click this link to see what you should buy to help avoid bending over after surgery!

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3.  If you keep a TV in your bedroom, make sure you change the remote batteries in advance so that you don't have to worry about that not working when you need it most!

4.  Make sure that you use a surge protector power strip for all of the plugs in whatever room you are going to sleep/recuperate.  You don't want to lose out on the ability to have power and TV over something you could've prevented with an essential item!

5.  Flashlight, back up batteries, candles, matches/lighters - keep  next to your bed.  If you have a power loss that a surge protector couldn't stop, you need to be prepared because if you are on multiple Rx's, you can't take them in the dark...

6.  If you're like me in that most pain pills make you nauseated and vomit, keep a barf bowl/bucket near your bed, as well as cans of Canada Dry Ginger Ale and a box of saltine crackers. 

Canada Dry is the only brand of Ginger Ale I will drink because it is by far, the best!

7.  If you do get nauseated easily, ask your dr. to write you a script for an anti-nausea pill.  The one I've been given is Promethazine 25mg.  The upside of this type of Rx aside from stopping the vomitting, is they also help you to sleep. 

8. Mashed Potatoes, Soups, Fresh Fruit - When I awoke in my hospital room, I immediately turned into a version of the possessed girl in the movie "The Exorcist".  I projectile vomitted.  My sheets were changed.  I did it again almost immediately. 

Sheet change #2.  A few minutes later?  Yep, projectile #3, followed by another sheet change.  By the time I had my 4th bout, the nurse made absolutely no effort to hide her frustration. 

That was the last time, until the first time I ate...my stomach felt like such crap, the entire rest of my stay, I only ordered the fresh fruit plate and would put the watermelon and grapes in my mouth, suck all of the juice/water content from them and then remove whatever was left. 

When you have a 3"-4" incision in your neck, you don't want to be projectile vomitting because, it hurts. 

 Anesthesia, anti-inflammatories, and pain pills are not very kind to your stomach even if you don't have my exorcist experience.  Thus, have fresh fruits like bananas, grapes, and watermelon on hand as well as homemade soups and mashed potatoes and eggs and fresh bread for toast and eggs. 

I cooked a week's worth of mashed potatoes and baked chicken and made a pot of homemade soup in advance of my surgery.  If you don't cook, find a diner that makes from scratch soups and potatoes because no one should eat crappy food when they feel good, let alone when recuperating from spinal surgery! 

(Texas Roadhouse chain is in many places, they actually have very tasty mashed potatoes!)

9.  If like me, you take multiple herbs, vitamins and supplements, keep those near your bed as well.  I took less after my surgery, simply because my stomach was too raw to take them all. 

Thus, I took only those which I considered non-negotiable to miss out on their respective benefits.  Figure out what your essential ones are and take just those for the first week or two after surgery.

10.  Ask your dr. BEFORE your surgery if he/she will be prescribing any meds for your post-op period that you aren't currently on, then check with him/her and/or your pharmacist to  make sure that there are no contraindications for your herbs and supplements and the new Rx(s).

11.  Make sure that if you can, you pay any bills in advance that will come due the day of your procedure or within those first 2-3 weeks.  I promise you, you won't feel like handling such matters. 

If you don't have the money to pay in advance, then at least write your checks out and have them ready to mail so someone can help you with no additional effort from you.  It's times like this that auto-pay comes in real handy!

12.  Mail/Newspapers - Many criminals look for things like mail building up in a mailbox or newspapers piling up in front of a home to break into.  The last thing you need is that! 

Thus, if you can't collect both daily, and have no one else who can do it for you, please put both on hold or see if your delivery people will work with you to drop in a place that you designate that is out of sight to anyone walking by.

13.  Rx's - make sure that you get all of your Rx's filled BEFORE you go to the hospital!  As proactive as I was in trying to avoid unnecessary stress after my surgery, there was a screw up with my Rx's and the day I got released, turned into a freaking nightmare.  It's the last thing you need! 

14.  If you have a CD player, keep it and a stack of peaceful relaxing CD's next to your bed. 

If you don't already meditate, please click my link below to learn how and enjoy 2 minutes of pure bliss in FREE guided meditation with music by London's most masterful music composer, Niall!

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