MURRAY'S MADHOUSE: Surgery

Rich just kept getting worse and worse and it was apparent no matter how bad I wanted him to hold off on surgery that we had to get it done sooner rather than later. I was in the shower one day and a not so still small voice yelled at me in my head to schedule his surgery. So that is what we did. The doctor explained it was getting harder and harder to get this type of surgery approved and the waiting list to get it approved took 3 weeks where it used to take 3 days. Got to love insurance companies. Dr. Allen sent him for a MRI and x-rays and then submitted everything to the insurance company. The wait was on. In the man time Rich was missing more and more work and in more and more pain. It was clear something needed to be done soon. About 2.5 weeks later Dr. Allen called and let us know surgery was scheduled for Aug. 25th. We also were required to go in for a pre op. The pre op was about 2 weeks before surgery and he told us then we were lucky to get scheduled because he was filling up fast and was now booking through the end of October. He explained to us he saved us one of the last remaining spots he had left. There is one of those tender mercies again. I cant even imagine waiting another 2-3 months for surgery.

Both Rich and I have felt nothing but comfort with Dr. Allen since we met him. We knew he was an excellent Dr. The night before surgery we had Jaron and Chris D. come give Rich a blessing and we both felt very comforted. Sure we were a little nervous but knew it was time and Rich was in great hands. Rich was pretty nervous the morning of surgery and I was some what but I also felt a strong sense of peace. I was counselled in a blessing I received to take my scriptures with me and read while he was in surgery.

Dr. Allen owns a little surgery center here and that is where the surgery was to take place. About 11:00 A.M. they came and took Rich back to the operating room. I was informed the surgery would take about 2-3 hours. As soon as they opened him the nurse came in to let me know he was under and the surgery was started. I quietly read talks and my scriptures and watched tv. The room Rich was assigned was huge with a recliner, tv and couch. They also offered me free snacks and let me know the fridge was at my disposal for anything I may want at any time.

About 2 hours later Dr. Allen came out and informed me everything went well. He also told me the Vertebra was in pretty rough shape something he would expect to see in a car crash. He told me there was a lot of trauma and the disk was compressed about 70% he informed me he really stretched Rich a lot and the spacer or cage they put in to fuse the disk was usually a size 10 but he bumped it up to a 12. He said in the long run the 12 would be so much better and give Rich another 15-20 years before he needed surgery again.

Unfortunately because he did stretch him so much Rich had a ton of pain. I left while Rich was in recovery and took the girls something to eat and also got myself some lunch. When i got back he was in his room and in so much pain. None of the medicine they were giving him was working and he also had a pain pump. He was really freaking out and his oxygen was dropping quite a bit so they gave him some oxygen. We had to talk him through some panic attacks and honestly it was pretty bad seeing him in that much pain. I could see the nurses were concerned as well. Once Dr. Allen came out of his last surgery he agreed to up the pain pump and also allowed for some different medicine.

That night I had planned on going home but knew there was absolutely no way I could or would leave Rich. I called my dad and he agreed to bring my mom and stay the night with the girls.

What a rough night we had. I kind of thought he would sleep a lot after surgery and his pain would be controlled until the next day. Nope. Once he was out of surgery he didn't go back to sleep until 2 am and slept until 3 then we were up again he was able to sleep from 4-5:30 as well.

I did not sleep much the night before so by the time I had left the hospital at 6 am to get the kids off to school I had been awake for about 26 hours with maybe 1 hour of sleep in there.

I had to get the girls off then clean because we were having a Realtor tour Tues morning. After the kids left and my parents left I laid down and cried for about 20 min I was so beyond exhausted it wasn't even funny. After I cleaned the house (thank goodness there wasn't much to do) I showered and headed back to the hospital. About 9 am I got there and Dr. Allen had already been in. Our day nurse knew how miserable Rich was and was able to convince the Dr. to remove the pain pump. Something they normally do not do until day 3. It was clear for whatever reason the pump was doing nothing for Rich. They were able to give him some different medicine and a shot of Demerol to relax him. Finally he was getting relief and some much needed sleep. I stayed with him until about noon and all he was doing was sleeping. The nurses were beyond excellent so I was happy to leave and go home and catch a nap. By the time I got back around 3 he was still in pain but doing better. Physical therapy and the nurses were extremely impressed with how strong Rich was and how well he did walking.

Overall he was in the hospital Mon-Thurs and i was able to bring him home Thurs about noon.