Let the Healing Begin!

Second post of the day.

My spinal fusion is over and after three days in the hospital, I am home and recovering. While the surgery went well, the lead up to it was a nightmare.

The day before my scheduled surgery, I got a call saying that an essential piece of surgical equipment had  broken and asking if I would be willing to go to a different hospital in town the next day for the surgery. I was, and so that call set off a flurry of other calls as my records, insurance pre-approvals, and pre-op tests were transferred. 

Friday morning Craig and I  headed over to the other hospital. I was admitted and then a very long wait began. After an hour of sitting in the surgical waiting room, a nurse came to see me. She apologized for the delay and explained that a trauma victim had come in and my surgeon had been needed to work on him. She said that they'd get me in as soon as possible. 

Three hours later we were headed home. My surgeon had come out to apologize for our long wait and told us that, even though he was done working on the trauma victim, the operating room was still not available yet and wouldn't be for some time. Dr. Jackson asked if I could reschedule for 8 AM the next day. 

As they say, third time's a charm and Saturday the surgery finally happened. 

Me with one of the nurses as I head down to surgery - I got excellent care during my hospital stay.

The surgery went well and to my surprise, I am recovering faster than I ever have from a surgery in the past. I was out of bed, walking and sitting upright just several hours post-op. 

Monday I was released and came home. Both Craig and Pepper were very happy to have me back, and I am relieved to finally have this surgery over.  (The flowers and sugar free candy are from my kids.)

Let the healing begin!

Too, Too, Small

Ever since I started Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile last August, my horse room has become more and more cramped and crowded.

It has gotten to the point where I have so many tubs and things for sewing and embroidering that to access many of my models, I had to rearrange and move things around.

So many of my hobby supplies are in that closet, and to access them I had to move the ironing board and the boxes tucked behind the table (that you can't see), squeeze past the table, and carefully open the doors. Getting to that shelf of horses on the right meant moving the table in addition to everything else.

I'd tucked drawered storage units under my desk

and had baskets of towel blanks that were waiting to be embroidered sitting on the floor - there just was no other place to put them.

Accessing other shelves in the room also required moving things around and then putting them back in place when I was finished.

I even had tubs underneath the sewing table itself - and that meant I could not open the windows or  blinds without working around (and over) the table and tubs.

My back has really been bothering me, especially as I juggle tubs and things in order to sew, embroider, or work on my collection. Today as I was moving some things around, it hit me - after my spinal fusion in a few weeks, I was going to be under a lot of restrictions for bending, lifting, and twisting for quite some time. There was simply no way that I would be able to continue moving things around multiple times a day in my horse room.

Fortunately, I had another option. More tomorrow.

Visiting Abby Pre-Spinal Fusion

This is how I used to have to visit with Abby before I had my spine fused in 2016.

While I still keep the camp chair in my car's trunk, rarely do I need it. I can walk down the lanes, across pastures (unless there's snow and ice), and stand with her as we visit.

It's been almost two years since I had that surgery, and I am truly grateful I did - I got my life back in so many ways!

(To see a video of my first visit with Abby after my fusion, go here.)