Monday, June 26, 2006

early evening

Two Month Surgery Anniversary

Two months (and three hours) ago I’d just gotten home from my outpatient microdiscectomy.  I had a large herniated disc at L4-5 that wasn’t responding to conservative treatment.  So, I popped in to my local hospital for a 45 minute surgery.  When I woke up in recovery, all I could think about was how sore my throat was from the breathing tube.  Ick, they should warn you that that’s going to happen.  Then, the nurse got me a cookie and something to drink.  As a chaser, I got two Percocet.  After that, she walked me to the bathroom (omigawd, I think I’d blocked this part out), helped me take off the anti-embolism stockings while yelling at me, “Don’t bend at the waist!  Don’t bend like that!  Ack, how many times do I have to tell you?”.  Then, she helped me to the toilet to pee.  I had so forgotten that part.  Anyway, she was a fabulous nurse (thank you, Susan, at Valley Hospital—and Tracey, who was with me before surgery) and for some reason (could it have been the drugs????) I wasn’t at all embarrassed.  We got that taken care of, so she got me into a wheelchair and took me downstairs to my parents’ car.  I was a bit surprised that I only felt uncomfortable getting into the car, there wasn’t any pain.  I guess when you’ve just gotten out of anesthesia and just taken two Percocets, you’re feelin’ no pain.

When I got home, I did what everyone does after surgery.  I ate Jell-O.  I think we had whipped cream for it (my general preference), but I couldn’t be bothered.  I managed the stairs okay right from the start though.  I was slow, but pretty steady.  We settled in for a bit of tv watching.  I posted a bit to let people know I was alive.  And then, I was exhausted.  Here’s where I give advice - if you have a raised bed, like we do, make sure you have a regular bed for about a week after surgery.  My first night was horrible because I had to pee constantly, but mostly wasn’t able to because the drugs gave me urinary retention.  I must’ve gotten in and out of bed at least a dozen times during the night.  By morning, the muscles in my thighs and hips were KILLING me.  My legs hurt way more than my back.  I loaded up on pain pills, but nothing would make it go away completely.  So, regular height bed, people.

My first week was a haze of pain pills and hockey.  I couldn’t sit for long periods of time (nor was I supposed to) because it hurt.  It hurt to sit and watch tv.  It hurt to sit at my computer.  I could only lay down on my side, with a pillow between my legs.  My legs were super sore the whole week.  But, if you had the easy in-n-out bed, you probably wouldn’t end up feeling that badly.

Our serious pool algae (our filter got blocked, underneath the solar cover) started at that time.  We were fully stocked with groceries because we had a bunch delivered, but they can’t deliver pool chemicals.  I finally felt brave and drove a block the grocery store.  I took a pillow to cushion the incision, but I didn’t feel horrible.  I shuffled through the store carefully, worried that people rushing around would run into me.  I started to feel a little faint when we were waiting to check out, but part of that was because it was warm in store.  I sat down while Leigh-Ann checked out, then we walked over to Starbucks.  Hey, it had been a week!

The first several weeks were very disappointing for me because everything I’d read about successful herniated disc surgeries said that patients felt immediate relief from leg pain.  I didn’t.  Not for a few weeks at least.  Last month though, my surgeon told me that the nerve was, “red, angry, and twisted”, so he expected it would take some time for it to heal.  He did a few tests and said I was 70% better.  At the time, I didn’t really believe him.  Now, I do.

I’ve gone from having pain going down both upper thighs, and down my left calf, to very very rare pain in my right leg and a lot of improvement in my left leg.  My symptoms seem to be reversing, in order.  I no longer have any left calf pain at all, even if I do a lot of walking.  The left thigh pain comes and goes, but mostly it’s pretty good.  One thing I do have is the occasional sciatica that is a stabbing pain in my butt.  Literally.  My bladder seems to be getting better, but not in a predictable fashion.  Still, it’s going in the right direction and some days I’m perfectly normal.  The incision healed well, although it still looks like railroad tracks.  So, even though I’m mad about wasting money on the injections, I’m happy I had the surgery.  I’m doing a lot better.  I have a follow-up with the surgeon on Thursday and hopefully he can get them to get moving on the physical therapy.  They were supposed to have called me a while ago after they’d set it up.  I think that’s the final thing I’ll need to feel close to 100%.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

late at night

Idiot of the Day - Damien Cox

Finally, examine the trade the Maple Leafs made yesterday, peddling last year’s first-round pick, Finnish goalie Tuukka Rask, to the Boston Bruins for 26-year-old netminder Andrew Raycroft.

A mild wave of astonishment rippled through the arena when the deal was announced just over two hours into yesterday’s entry draft proceedings. It carried with it the sentiment that the Leafs had, for the zillionth time, sacrificed a prime prospect to acquire a veteran player of middling quality.” - Damien Cox, Toronto Star 6/25

A veteran?  He’s 26 years old!  Yeah, he’s played five seasons, but in his first three seasons he played a combined 17 games.  What kind of “veteran” is that?  I’m beyond sick of Damien Cox’s Leafs bashing.  I think JFJ is a twit, but trading a kid who’s never played a single NHL game for a guy who was Rookie of the Year two seasons ago can hardly be considered a “sacrifice”.  Oh, and his mancrush on Tie Domi (or Voldemort) is annoying too.  He could be writing an article about, say, the Leafs defense, but he’ll find some reason to bash Tie Domi (or Voldemort).  His obsession is kind of gross.  I wish he’d just carve their initials into a tree and be done with it.

Friday, June 23, 2006

late evening

R.I.P, Aaron Spelling

My childhood was extra happy thanks to “Starsky and Hutch”, “Charlie’s Angels” (I’m sure that show made me gay), “The Love Boat”, “Fantasy Island”, “Hotel”; and later on, “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place”.  Super great awesome cheesy tv.  Junk the whole family could enjoy together.

lunch time

Selective Nerve Root Block Bills

Okay, this is getting ridiculous.  I thought it was stunningly ridiculous when I found out the doctor charged $7000 for each injection, which took five minutes of his time.  So, three of them ends up being $21,000.  But the ridiculous turns into just speechless when the surgery center is billing me too.  I think I’m at $42,000 for these injections...and my insurance isn’t paying most of it, it appears.  Except for the first injection, which helped a bit, for a brief period of time, the injections were worthless to me.  So, I’m being charged the equivalent of a really nice mid-sized SUV for 15 minutes of the doctor’s time (he did at least six other people while I was there too!), 15 minutes of time for several techs, 15 minutes of the nurse who started my IVs, and maybe 30 minutes of nurses watching me afterwards to make sure I didn’t fall down when I walked.  My whole surgery, on the other hand, was about $19,000.

I’m just so baffled by these fees that I’m speechless.  How do I write a letter to these people telling them there’s no way I’d ever be able to afford these ridiculous fees?  That I can’t believe I’m being billed $14,000 for walking into a surgery center, filling out some paperwork, having an IV started, sitting around watching the Travel Channel for 20 - 45 minutes while I wait for other people to get their injections, walking into the surgery room, climbing up on the table, getting a dose of Versed, having the doctor zip in and inject me (five minutes total) with steroids & stuff, get wheeled out, given Pepsi or apple juice, put on my clothes, make sure I can walk, then get wheeled down to the car.  That’s it, no meal of lobster & champagne, no limo, no actual work for the nurses in recovery, except taking out my IV and fetching me something to drink.  I figure that while I was there, at least seven of us had the same thing done.  They’re billing almost ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS AN HOUR!

My advice to people thinking about the injections - find out if your insurance will pay...and how much.  Don’t bother getting more injections if the first one didn’t help.  There’s nothing I regret more than those three stupid worthless injections.  As you can imagine, I no longer enjoy getting mail.  It’s also made me not feel much like updating my blog either.  While I know it’s here for ranting, sometimes it seems as though the crappy stuff moves even beyond complaint.

Monday, June 19, 2006

late morning

Time For A New Career

The up & down world of online affiliate marketing has just become too much for my stress level.  I still want to work at home, so I’m looking into becoming a loan officer.  I have lots of support from family and friends who are either loan officers, brokers or realtors, so I really think I can do this.  I want to be the loan officer that people seek out because I’m not working in a stuffy bank atmosphere.  If any of you out there are experienced and want to offer advice, I’m more than willing to absorb as much advice from around the country (and world) as I can get.

I found what looks like a really great loan officer boot camp, but it’s six weeks, in Atlanta, and appears to cost about $15,000.  So, while it sounds great, even if I could afford it, living in Atlanta for six weeks probably isn’t an option.  But hey, if I did, at least I know Helly & Alan and Nancy there, so I wouldn’t be totally isolated with a bunch of future loan officers.