[jchebert1979]

5/28/08

Hey everyone, I had my surgery today and am out of recovery and into my room. Surgery was scheduled for 10am but didn't get started until 12:45pm, I think I was in recovery until about 4:30pm.

The doctor said that when he removed the disc that there was a lot of scar tissue that he had to remove and a lot of inflammation. I have never heard of having scar tissue behind a disc especially since I haven't had surgery there before, but then again I am not quite thinking so straight right now.

Now for post-op pain. Keep in mind that it is too early to tell how much pain relief is from the surgery or the medication right now, but I will still describe what I feel like.

The pain in the back of my head is almost gone. I had some pretty significant pain in my left arm in recovery that did not respond to pain medication, but that is diminishing now. The pain in my upper back between my shoulder blades is still there, but reduced. I am pretty dizzy, but I have been able to get up and walk around a bit. As far as the throat pain, I have to say that it is not nearly as bad as I was expecting. My Chiari surgery throat pain was much worse and I have had sore throats much more painful than this.

Now for the bad news. My heart rate is still pretty high and it is not because of the pain. It is running between 100-115 and jumps to 130 or so when I move. I also have this pain in my throat/chest about 3 inches below my collar bone that shoots straight through to my back. At this area I feel every heart beat and when I swallow, my heart rate increases to 130-135. It is a really horrible feeling that I can do nothing to relieve. The doctors are not concerned about it but I would rather be in pain than have this feeling.

So anyway, I am going to try and get some rest now. I will keep everyone updated on my progress.