[June 12th] - Night before the surgery
Today is the day I was admitted to the hospital for my scoliosis surgery. My family and I realized surgery was necessary in October 2011 when we got a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon at this very hospital. I was diagnosed with a case of mild scoliosis when I was 8 1/2 years old by my pediatrician. Now, I'm patiently awaiting my surgery in the hospital room I will be staying in for the next week... but it doesn't even begin until tomorrow morning.
[June 13th] - Day of surgery
I got up around 5:30 in the morning, showered with a special antibiotic solution, and waited for another few hours until a hospital bed on wheels rolled by my door to take me to the surgery room. I drank a horrible purple liquid called versed which made me fall asleep almost instantly. Before I knew it, I was in the recovery room attached to a machine via multiple IVs taped to my hands. I was so out of it that I didn't mind much. I relaxed for the rest of the day, met my new nurses, and pressed my trusty morphine pump whenever needed.
[June 14th] - 1st day after surgery
Today was surprisingly not as bad as I expected, but still pretty painful. My nurse came in to teach me some lung strengthening techniques and I got to walk from my bed to the door with physical therapy, which made me feel a bit better. It was also the day I realized I had grown two inches, from about 5'6" to 5'8"! I could hardly believe it!
[June 15th] - 2nd day after surgery
Today was pretty tough... I was nauseous all day and could barely eat or move. My IVs began to make my hands swell and the doctor began prescribing me nausea medicine and calming medicine. The pains from swelling began to envelop my whole body and, as everything began to escalate, I knew that the worst was yet to come.
[June 16th] - 3rd day after surgery
I was sleeping on-and-off throughout the night. I woke up to the sound of the nurse coming in to check my vital signs and prick my finger, both of which have become uniform for me. Today they took the IVs out and I had to take pills instead. After, I got up with physical therapy and took a shower, which made me feel loads better. But because I could no longer press the morphine pump to get relief, my back pains grew even worse. My family came to visit for a little bit but I was in so much pain that I could barely speak to them. I slept most of the day away and woke up periodically, my back stinging.
[June 17th] - 4th day after surgery
Today I woke up to the doctor telling me to roll over onto my side, because he had to remove the dressing on my back and the staples.That caused me agony, but I was used to that by now. I was wheeled down to the x-ray room a few hours later and got that over with. My grandma and grandpa came to visit and told me how confident and aligned I looked as opposed to how I looked prior to the surgery.
[June 18th] - 5th day after surgery... day I go home!
My surgeon came in that morning and said I had the all-clear to go home. My dad and sister came to pick us up and I sat in a reclined passenger seat with a pillow behind me. I had just taken my pain medicine, which made me feel better. This surgery caused me the most pain I have ever had to experience, but I knew it was necessary. On the ride home, I became aware of the fact that I was finally on the road to recovery. :)
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