Dana...
Good to hear you are understanding exactly what is being done. Like I said, its the best thing I ever did. I am a little over 5 months post-op and getting back in to a lot of physical activity.
On the morning of surgery, you get all the norms plus I had these electo tester cables attached to my feet and calves. They were there to check spinal impulses before, during, and after the fusion to ensure all nervers were working well. Go pee BEFORE they put these on!! It was hell to walk to the bathroom with all those cables!! Post-op was good. My surgery was less than three hours, but was in recovers for 4. They want to ensure you are OK.
At the hospital, getting in and out was tricky at first, but use the bed as your friend. Get up and walking as soon as you can. That was the best thing I did. I was up walking the next morning at 5am.
I slept great with the morphine button I had. If you can request morph, get it. I used it right after walking and before bed. It just helps you rest, which is what you need. Sleep as much as you think you want to. After 2 days, I got rid of the morph. I spent 4 days in the hosp. Actually three and a wake-up.
Incision was only using steri-strips. No staples or stiches. It healed nicely. Its big, but not as big as I thought. Less than 6 inches. No spasms anywhere. The abdomen was the worst part of it all. Getting up and bending was hard, but as long as you push yourself, you will do great.
I didnt have a grabber. I do have two labs at home, but they were never in the same room if I was up for the first two weeks. Your abdomen will be sore for a long time. Also, your bowls will be screwed up for about a week or so. Ensure you get that drink to make you go before surgery. That helped ALOT.
Get out and walk, walk, walk after surgery. Be careful with things hitting your stomache after surgery. Its sore and you will cry if something hits it. I did!!
let me know what else you want to know!!
