CF Happens

I’m officially half way through my 6 weeks of initial restrictions! No BLT (bending, lifting, twisting) has been hard just for the simple fact that I really dislike being needy. I have gotten really good at squatting to get things done, depending on how low I have to go that is. I was restricted from driving for 2 weeks. My neurosurgeon’s nurse said if I felt comfortable driving sooner (after a week and a half or so) and I was off of pain meds I could drive before the 2 weeks. With that said, I drove for the first time 11 days after surgery and it was glorious! Driving has always been the first thing I look forward to doing after being in the hospital for any amount of time.

Now…how am I feeling/doing? I am much better than I was right after surgery. I’m not really in pain anymore, generally speaking. My back is just very tight and stiff which is a given with just having surgery and being limited on my movement. I do get uncomfortable when I sit, stand or lay in one position for an extended amount of time. This means I have to do a lot of shifting and repositioning which I’m supposed to do often anyway so I don’t get more stiff. If I am up doing a lot (within my restrictions that is) my back starts to ache and really bother me. I have to be good at listening to my body and sit my butt down to let my back rest. Oh and I can’t lift more than a gallon of milk. This restriction is annoying. That means I can’t lift Otis, our 11 pound shih tzu. He’s a very needy boy. His preferred places are in a lap or in his big fluffy bed. He’s getting used to me not being able to lift him and the fact that he can’t be on my lap, with the thigh numbness being worse at the moment. We put his fluffy bed on the couch next to me so he would lay in it and not try to climb on me.

The surgeon had to sever a nerve during surgery which means I get phantom pains in my thigh right now. These phantom pains feel like I’m being electrocuted but just in my thigh. They are either really sudden and strong (which is very annoying) or they feel like flutters of electricity. Over time, the phantom pains should go away as my thigh gets used to the fact that the nerve is no longer connected.

My thigh is much more numb than it was before surgery and covers more surface of my thigh. For instance, if I have something in my left front pocket, I can’t feel that there is anything in my pocket. When I lean against anything with my left thigh, I can’t tell how hard I’m pressing against whatever it is because I can’t feel it. It’s a very weird feeling. I hope that I will gain some feeling back but I’m not sure that will happen. Time will tell.

I see my surgeon on February 24th which will be 6 weeks since surgery. I’m restricted from bending, lifting and twisting until I see my surgeon. I can’t lift more than a gallon of milk until that appointment as well. They said they really want me to take it easy and rest. If I do too much I will set my healing back. Tick tock! My surgeon typically doesn’t have his patients do PT (physical therapy) after surgery. It’s a case by case basis.

I think that sums up the last 3 weeks, give or take. I’m hanging in there as best as I can. I’m taking the good times and soaking them up. With the good times come some not so good times. I’m taking the not so good times to rest.

Until next time…