tomorrow is the day!

Got my hair cut recently, so I'll be looking good while I'm on the operating table! LOL
Calvin's Hair Studio in Middletown.

Obviously I haven't followed through on posting here more! I started this post several weeks ago, so I've updated it and here it is.

Tomorrow is the day:  anterior (from the front) L4-L5 fusion. I have to be at the hospital by 6 am.  No solid food after midnight, clear liquids up until 4:30 am, and nothing at all--not even water--after 4:30 am. I can handle the food part, but I'm really sad that I won't be able to have my daily iced mocha latter, which I have every morning while I read my favorite advice columns. Also no hair gel, which means I'll look absolutely fabulous when I show up at the hospital tomorrow. Yes, of course I don't need to look good for surgery, but I feel so frumpy without my hair done. I can handle going without makeup, but the hair HAS to be done. But such is life. Hair products are flammable and I really don't want the OR to burn down.

These guys don't realize this is MY seat, not theirs.
Come tomorrow, they're being evicted!

I've been thinking a lot about life after surgery. I know the next six months or so will be hard, but if I want to (hopefully) be pain-free in the coming years, I need to do it. I'll get through it--the post-op pain, physical limitations, and emotional struggle are only temporary. Time will inevitably pass whether I have surgery or not. I can either spend it in pain, living on narcotic pain meds and trying to put off surgery longer, or I can suck it up and get it over with, deal with the post-op pain, and then move on with my life. I'm opting to suck it up and just do it.

I've been thinking about the things I'm looking forward to after all is said and done:

• No longer saying, "My back hurts." 
• No longer saying, "I can't lift this." Or going ahead and lifting it anyway and paying for it later.
• No longer having to go to a meeting or event and looking for the chair that seems as though it will torture me the least.
• No longer being the person with the bad back.
• No longer dreading long meetings due to having to sit for so long. Instead, I'll be able to dread them for the simple fact that I could be doing something better than sitting in a meeting.
• No longer dreading sitting down to watch TV in my own home.
• No longer needing narcotic pain medication. While it's great pain relief, I've built some tolerance and it usually gives me a headache; I feel like I've constantly had a headache for the last eight months.
• Being able to once again sleep through the night. At the moment, I'm waking up around 1 am due to back pain. At that point, the pain meds are starting to wear off. I then spend hours tossing and turning, and sleeping fitfully. 
• No longer feeling like a train wreck in the morning. Part of this is the pain medication and part of it is back pain ans stiffness.

So, I'm looking forward to NOT doing, feeling, or saying a lot of things.  And tomorrow is the day it all changes for the better.

(As you can see, I got my hair cut. I finally found someone who is very close by so I don't have to drive an hour anymore. If you're in mid-state CT, try Calvin's Hair Studio in Middletown. Very reasonable prices, very friendly, and he does a great job.)