Sarah says: Just back from a waffle feast prepared by my mother-in-law! YUMMY!!!! I think I ate about 6 or 7 with bull butter(stierenboter)! It's my new waffle diet!! I am sure to lose a whole lot of weight this way! Who needs miserable weight shakes and meal bars when there are real Belgian waffles to be had!!! All you non-Belgians out there have to try my mother-in-law's homemade Belgian waffles one day! You'll be hooked!
So I went to my back surgeon, Dr. Marc Deruytter, today at H-Hartziekenhuis in Roeselare for my after-operation check-up. All is well. I am still feeling great. I mention the doctor's name here this time just in case anyone googles his name looking for information about degenerative disc disease L5-S1 and "Lumbale Prothese". The thing is, this procedure has only been around for about 5 years max. In America much less. There aren't a lot of studies on this procedure. There's obviously no concrete information about how long it lasts and stays in good place and what sort of things can really knock it out of place, etcetera... You can search and search on the Internet of course and come to a lot of things all about this condition and this surgery but you know how that goes. It can make you dizzy after a while. Anyway, I just want to throw some more information out there to dizzy other people as they search for their answers! No - that's not true, I found a lot of stuff I came across on the net very helpful but I also found tons of scary stuff that stopped me in my tracks. So far, the results of my operation have been fantastic. Far better than I ever thought possible. For that reason, at least for now, I put my experience out there for some scared person (in the place/mind-set that I was in pre-operation / post-diagnosis) to possibly find in their moment of need! Sounds dramatic, I know but you never know, do you?! Here's a link to info about the exact type (Maverick) of artificial disc that was placed in my L-5-S-1 vertebrae. In googling just now, I just found this detailed video showing exactly how they place the Maverick artificial disc into the spine. If you are interested in seeing it, click here! It's quite amazing actually. I didn't even know any of that until just now. The video doesn't show an actual operation so no blood or anything! It took a minute or two to upload.
Speaking of googling, I am very proud of myself (IAVPOM) for having put something on the net that at least from google on my computer only comes up with results from me! Check this link out! It's kind of like my own private Googlewhack, though not really because there are three results and not one. Obviously I have way too much time on my hands!!!
Now back to my back... So, I am okay and everything is going as it should be. I can begin doing physical therapy now. I'll have to go three times a week for a total of 7 weeks. I must also keep walking a lot and probably walk even more. I should swim. I should bike ride and I should use steps a lot. I can only do everything is careful moderation for the next few months. Slowly but surely basically. All my new aches and pains are related to my newly exposed or altered nerves being teased so-to-speak due to the prostheses lifting up the part of my spine it was placed in. These sometimes painful and often annoying impulses should eventually just go away like that severe pain in my leg went away. Right now, as I write this, I have pain in my groin area and in my middle back. The doctor said that is normal for the above reasons. He also said that the heavy lower back pain I have had for all these years could have masked more minor pains. Now, he said, I could start felling stuff that was there all along but not as "there" as the lower back pain. Time will tell what is what.
As for other activities, I have to wait a couple of months to sit all day long at a computer, to sweep and mop, to lift, to bend a lot and to go on a roller coaster. But within 6 months I will be ale to go on a roller coaster again and that, my friends, is great great news as I love speed and being jolted around a bit. I never thought I could do those sorts of things again but I can!!! I'll always have to be careful. Hopefully I'll never have a high-impact accident because that and almost only that can pop the prostheses out! I also should NEVER jump again and certainly never arch my back backwards as the prostheses can't take that.
Obviously I do not have an infection from the lumbar artificial disc, but the chance remains that one could develop. The chance is always there but is very low and my doctor says he's never had a case of infection yet so that's good news. The doctor also mentioned the future, saying
if the disc is still in my spine by the time I go through menopause, I might have to take hormone pills to keep my spine as strong as possible as spines tend to degenerate during and after menopause. The joints under the vertebrae where the disc is have to stay strong enough to support the disc. But time will tell and by then there will be many new and even less invasive procedures! The best thing about the artificial disc operation in place of the more frequently practiced Fusion surgery is that it buys me time. Maybe one day I'll need a fusion. It is a definite possibility. But maybe not! This should last me at least until some new a better thing comes along!
And last but not least, I can move back up to my attic bedroom finally! Now that's the best news I have heard all day!
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