PRAYER REQUEST.......

Hello my friends!

It has been at least two weeks since I was last online. The past two weeks have been rough and have included yet another hospitalization for a bowel obstruction! While in the hospital I found out that I will be having surgery this Thursday, January 19th to complete my 360 degree fusion. This surgery will be the PLIF - Posterior portion.

In the past 7 weeks I have spent 19 days in the hospital. The first 7 were after my Anterior fusion. The second 6 were from the Seroma/Hematoma complication admission and now this last one, for a bowel obstruction, rectal prolapse and fecal impaction! In less than 4 days I will be back in the hospital to complete this journey!

I am really feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and anxious. This last hospitalization really took a lot out of me and prior to that I was battling depression, thus my absence here from GLP. The past few weeks prior to that though, I was having a decrease in my activity here just prior to the last two weeks because of the increasing depression and anxiety.

GLP has a wonderfully amazing community of loving people here and I have many friends that i've missed. Right now I could really use all the encouragement, love, support and prayers GLP can offer me and my family.

For those who have and haven't been following my YT channel here is my latest update...

Thank you for your prayers and support...

Oh, my, so sorry. I am praying, for sure. I just visited one of my closest friends, known her since high school, who had all vertebrae in her neck except the one that attaches to her skull fused, and she's really having a bad time. She has EDS, which makes all of her body's tissues weak and pliable, and causes many serious problems. They told her if she didn't take the chance for surgery, she was so bad that she'd soon end up in the condition Christopher Reeve was in after his accident. She can no longer drive, and is trying to get off of the Fentanyl patch, which is worse than getting off of heroin. She was feeling so down and all of the same things you are describing. Her name is Teri, if anyone would like to add her on to the prayer chain, she can use it, too. Her son who is 16 also has it, but more severe, and he had a fall that took him from semi-mobile to totally immobile, in a few seconds, a couple months ago. He has also had his whole spine fused, and she is very distraught about his setbacks. She denied herself care to try to keep him alive (his spine problems also cause severe breathing problems) and all to have him end up so disabled again. I prayed with her and lifted her spirits as best as I could.

It is good that you are reaching out for support because you sound like you could really use it, and people are here to give it. I hope that you feel it coming your way, because I know it is. God give you strength and healing and a smooth trip back to full recovery.

For the affects of the meds on the gut (I have an extensive health history of problems and severe reactions to narcotic pain meds), try taking magnesium capsules, like magnesium oxide. They seem to help me a lot. Make sure you get warm water/soap enema from the nurses or whoever can help you to keep it working, if possible. When you get out of the hospital, start using Activia yogurt every day, if you can. It has really helped me with my tummy problems, a lot. And the dessert flavored ones are pretty good, too.

Hang on, things keep changing, and they will change for the better. I can feel it.

Oh, and one more thing, Aloe Vera is great for the gut issues, and here is my favorite one, tastes really nice, too:

[link to www.vitacost.com]

And read this helpful info on how it can help you:

[link to www.buzzle.com]

A lot of love for you my dear...

best wishes

Me,too,Girlfriend.

I just got around to watching your you tube post honey, and I must say I cried for you, I did. You will be ok.

praying a pink cloud of love around you - get off the morphine as soon as possible after surgery - start forgiving everyone who has hurt you - real and imagined - and you have hurt - this will start healing for you - onward! - grandma

my friend-my name is james-i am your brother and your friend-you do not know me-i keep you warm at night because i share-my love is free and managed by god and angels-i sacrifice to provide love and hope for all of gods creation-especially those on the edge of human death--my friend--god is real and god loves you and has all resources available to all of creation---i pray for you special tonight and ask the angels to deliver my strength to you and adsorb that what ails you my friend--as we stand on the edge of forever---my friend--we realize that what we are and accept our relations---my friend---it may be your time to exit the moment and receive the gift of forever-gods gift to humanity---my friend---i gift you love and spirit in your journey---i love you.............james

Little Emerson wants to put a smile on your face:



[link to www.youtube.com]

I will be praying for you Trix!...

Ole my, so much to grow through. No wonder your feeling depressed, anyone would. Of course I will pray for you. In the next few days you need to surround yourself in positive influence, try mediating. Your recovery is greatly improved if you stay in a positive state of mind. I will pray that not only will you be healed but also that God lifts your burdens so that you are better able to handle your upcoming surgery. Peace.

Prayers for you for a safe, successful surgery and speedy recovery!

May the grace of the Lord be upon you.

Prayers will be with you.

I wish I could just come sit on the bed and talk to you and give you a big hug.

Will be praying BIG prayers for you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't despair.

I never find it much consolation to know "I'm not alone," but if it makes any difference, there are a lot of us out here just as freakin' depressed sometimes and dealing with different problems. So I'll make a deal with ya', if you hang in there, I'll hang in there! ;)

Wow is right! It is a small world! Haha! Well, thank you for following me on YT and now here too :) Love it! <3

In answer to your question, no one can tell you when the time is right for you. It's a really personal decision. For me, it was the fact that I couldn't work. I was off work and am still off on WC 14 months post injury! I was having trouble walking, pain that affected every part of my life and couldn't run and play with my kids anymore. My 3 year old put it best by telling her teacher, "Mommy is having surgery so she can run and play with me again!" My decision to opt for surgery was because all conservative therapies had failed and my quality of life was compromised significantly which compromised that of my children! That was the point when I knew (after a LOT of prayer) that I would opt for surgery.

My doctors knew surgery was necessary at about 3-4 months post injury. I suffered a fracture that can only be repaired surgically in most cases and it resulted in the slipping of my disc and compression of my cord and nerve roots. They really wanted to stay away from surgery but when conservative therapy fails like it did for me, there aren't many other options. i did it all! Chiro, Physio, physical therapy, accupuncture, rest, meds, etc. They didn't help, in fact in my case, the delay resulted in more surgery being needed. At 3-5 months I only needed a single level fusion, by the time WC was done fighting the surgery the progression of the injury was so bad i now have a double fusion which dramatically reduces the success rate!

Your specific surgery would likely be much different than mine, probably a microdiscectomy. I would ask to see a new neurosurgeon, especially if your quality of life is suffering which it sounds like it is! They wanted to put me on the Fentanyl patch and while waiting for WC to fill that script, I weaned myself off the dilaudid so when I finally got the script I couldn't use it because i'd OD if I did!

Living a life of pain is something few understand unless they have walked that road before you. I am sorry to hear you are suffering! Living a life on pain meds sucks too. Thus the depression i've been in, the meds have played a huge part in it! Fentanyl is about 100 x stronger than morphine and dilaudid is about 10x stronger than morphine! The stuff plays with your body, mind and spirit! They are all the same drug when broken down, just different consistencies/strengths. I know that the dilaudid has a LOT to do with this funk i'm in! Earlier today I got super shaky and had to take one, you can't come off cold turkey, it's just not safe. I'm down to one mid day and then sometimes one in the middle of the night, so about 1 every 12 hours or so, on Friday just prior to D/C i was still taking the dilaudid every 4 hours for pain so i've come a long way in a few short days! I think that it has caused me a lot of emotional distress though!

Pain sucks and i'm SO incredibly sorry you are going through this right now! If I can help you through this let me know! There is a great web forum called Spine Health that I go to and suggest you check out if you haven't already.

Hugs and prayers to you my friend...

Hey Trix,

Your thread just tonight helped love grow.
Yes, we all wish and pray for your human well-being,

But your thread tonight made love grow,
There is more love on earth tonight because of you.