Tune-In-Tuesday (but on a Monday): June 19, 2023 - Post Surgery Appointment Update

Hi all! Here's an update on what's been going on with me since my last post on June 8.

Don't laugh (or do, it is kind of funny!) but I created a charging station at home for my DBS system. It cracks me up that I literally have to be "charged up" at least once a week, if not more. This rechargeable battery came with a lot more components then my non-rechargeable remote.

Old remote and packaging

New remote packaging

Charging Station

I checked my battery strength one week out from surgery (on June 14) and it was still at 100%. 

To check the battery strength, I use two devices:

One of the devices is a Samsung smart phone (on the right in the above picture) and the other device is a remote (on the left) that I hold up to my battery. 

After the phone communicates with the device, then it tells me what the battery strength is. I actually just checked it (so that I could take the pictures) and it's down to 75%, so I'll be recharging myself once I've posted this update. :) 75% is OK, but 100% is better! I carry both of these devices in my purse just in case I need them. It's kind of bulky, but oh well!

The first time I recharged myself was on June 16. I was working and my fingers started to twitch. That was odd (because my hands/fingers are rarely the problem), but it reminded me that I should probably check the battery. Like now, the battery had only drained 15%, so that it was at 75% but I want it to be 100% (because I'm neurotic like that!), so before I went out to celebrate my brother's birthday, I recharged myself. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, but I think it'll get easier each time I do it. 

To recharge, I drape this around my neck. The one side has a weight (it's blue), and the other side is the DBS system: 

Like I said, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be the first time. It took a while for me to find the exact spot where the battery connects with the charger and once I found it, I was afraid of losing it. I actually did lose it several times, so I had to readjust and try again. Once I found it, I was nervous to stop holding the device as I thought it would slip again, but eventually things evened out and the recharge began. It took 45 minutes to recharge just 15%. BUT I think it will be faster next time because as I was recharging myself, I was also reading through the manual, and it said that the communicator battery should be charged to 100% and it was not. It was only at 84%. That was my fault because I had plugged the recharging station into an outlet that only works when the lights are on in the room, therefore it wasn't charging 24/7. In the picture below, "My Battery" is the battery that's implanted in me. The "Communicator Battery" is the battery that I'm holding up to my implanted battery in the pictures below. The "Handset Battery" is the battery that I carry in my purse (the one in the above picture).

The status of all the batteries :)

Me, afraid to take my hand off the battery charging device.

I finally took my hand off and it stayed in place!

The pictures below are of the incision. I don't think they're too gross (I just show the bandages), but if you don't like things like that, this is your warning to skip over them (I'm talking to you, Kristen!). 

Incision site on the day of surgery

Incision site as of today. That "lump" is the actual battery :)

Before I get into how today's post op appointment went, I have to tell you what happened on the way there. I left my house with 30 minutes until my appointment. My appointment was at 11:15am. When I left the house, it was pouring buckets of rain. It was raining so hard that it made me think we need to be very specific in our prayers to God. We need the rain, but maybe not all in one day. :) So, it was raining hard. There were no accidents on the highway, but traffic was horrific. I started to panic that I was going to be late. I prayed and said "Lord, the only way I'll be able to get there on time today is if you perform a miracle. Please perform a miracle and let me not be late!" I entered the parking garage at 11:10 (or around there). There was a handicap space available right away, but it was on the "wrong side" of the parking garage - meaning I would have to walk a lot further to get to the surgeon's office - so I took a chance and bypassed it. Then I got behind the slowest person in the parking garage -ha! I again saw a handicap parking spot but it looked like it was reserved for a different part of the building then I was going to, so I bypassed it. I was still behind the slowest person ever in the parking garage. He stopped in front of me, waiting for this person to pull out. When the person didn't pull out within a minute or two, the slowest guy in the parking garage went on and then I looked behind me and there was no one there, so I stopped for the same person. I couldn't tell if he had just gotten there or was leaving, but I waited a minute. He pulled out!! So, I pulled in. :) I got my walker out and looked at my phone. It was 11:14am. I went straight to the elevator and thought I'd be a couple of minutes late depending on how far I had to walk to the office. To my surprise, I got off the elevator and the office was right there in front of me (You might be wondering why I didn't know this before. That's because when my dad came with me for the pre-op appointment, we did park on the wrong side of the parking garage and went in different doors and elevators and had to walk a bit.)!  I checked in with the front desk and when I sat down in the waiting room, I looked at the time and it was 11:16am. I had checked in by 11:15am!! God performed a miracle! All I could do was smile and say, "thank you". God listens to us no matter how small or trivial our requests are - thank you, Jesus!

Today's post op appointment went well. I saw my neurosurgeon's nurse, Sarah. She looked at the incision and said it looked great. I commented that those steri-strips are strong, and she agreed but said when it's time for them to come off, they will fall off. There's 10 of them. I can't remember from my last surgery how long it took them all to fall off, but it'll be two weeks this coming Wednesday since my surgery and these strips don't look like they will be falling off anytime soon. I still can't exercise/move my hands above my head for an extended period of time (I mean, I physically can, but I'm not supposed to!)/ lift anything above 10lbs/ do any excessive movements/ swim or get the site emerged in water for 6 weeks, but other than that all is good. As I was walking out, (this neurosurgeon practice has literally the longest hallway I've ever seen for a doctor's office!) I ran into (not literally) my surgeon, Dr. G. He asked how I was and when I said "good" he said he thought I must be, because Sarah didn't run to get him. :) It was good to see him. When I said "good" as to how I was, I was specifically talking about the recovery from surgery. As for my walking, it's not where I want it to be. It does usually take about 2 weeks for me to see any major improvement and it technically has not been two weeks, but I think if I'm still where I'm at today in two days, I may bump the electricity up some as I'm still having lots of problems walking. It was nice to hear though from someone at church who said I looked a lot steadier on my feet then I did before the surgery. In that respect, I am much better. I do feel steadier on my feet when I'm standing still. Walking is a whole different issue! :) 

Another sweet friend reminded me that we just have to be who we are (disabilities and all), and we can't worry about what other people think of us. I've been told this over and over again and still need to hear it to believe it. I like to "hide" my disability as much as possible because I'm afraid people won't like me because of it. But, at times I have to use a walker. Other times I have to use a cane. Those things are hard to hide. I need to use what I need to use to get around safely and not be ashamed of that. I've grown A LOT since I was first diagnosed. Most of the time, I don't care what people may or may not think, but every once in a while, I get shy/embarrassed/worried what people think of me/how they view me. But then I remember that most people don't care - ha! They are worried about themselves far more then whether I can walk with a walker or not. :) God made us all unique and beautiful. Because we live in a sin-filled world we are also broken and battered. We have battle scars. But the brokenness and the battle scars make us stronger, wiser and in some respects even more beautiful than we can imagine. So, we carry on and we have compassion for those who, like us, are most likely broken and battered too, although maybe not in the same way we are.

Thank you for reading and always, always remember...."God's Got This!"

Tune-In-Tuesday (but on a Thursday): June 8, 2023 - Surgery Update

Yesterday I had my battery replacement surgery. It was set for 1pm and I had to be at the hospital at 11am. My dad came and picked me up around 10:15am. The parking garage at the hospital was so packed that we had to park on the very top level. I had done pre-op testing two weeks prior and had paid my out-of-pocket deductible the day before so all I had to do in registration was get my arm band and paperwork and head up to the out-patient surgery waiting room where Dad and I waited for an hour and half. :) It was fine. We ended up meeting this father and son. The father (and mother who was the one having surgery) are from Turkey. My dad overheard the father talking on the phone in a different language and asked what language it was. Dad had fun quizzing me on the pictures of celebrities he showed me. He couldn't believe I knew most of their names. Leave it to me to know the really important things in life - ha! Around noon, I began to think that the hospital had forgotten about me. It seemed like everyone else had been called back. Dad and I decided to wait until 12:30 before speaking up and around 12:20/12:25pm my name was called. Doesn't it always go like that?! We were led back to pre-op where I got dressed in a lovely hospital gown and socks. My surgeon's PA came in and went over what to expect with the surgery and after the surgery. After he left, a nurse, Renee, came in. She was super sweet, and we found out that we're the same age (well, she's a little older as her birthday was in March). In the computer system, my mom was still listed as my next of kin contact for surgery (although on the paperwork I had done two weeks prior, I changed it to Dad), which led to us explaining that she had passed away. Renee said, "Oh she was young, like early 70's?"  And that's when I found out we were the same age because she said that she thought my parents had to be around the same age as her parents. Mom was only 68. I think I've mentioned this before, but if not, I'm saying it now - LIDOCAINE, people. Lidocaine is the way to go before putting an IV in (especially if said IV is in your hand). Lidocaine is your best friend. A little shot of that to numb the area, makes for a very happy patient. I couldn't believe Renee had gotten my IV in when she said she had because I didn't feel it all. She said that she could tell I was super nervous getting the IV because I tensed up but after the Lidocaine, all was well. :) She said that it is now hospital protocol to give it before giving an IV. I like that protocol!! One protocol I don't like: urine samples for all women between the ages of 12-55 to make sure we're not pregnant. OK, it's not that I don't like the protocol, it's just that I wasn't prepared for it. During pre-testing two weeks ago, they asked if I'd like a pregnancy test before surgery. I said no, because there's no way I'm pregnant and I knew I wouldn't have had any fluids since the night before. Well, it turns out it's protocol to have it done. I had peed like 4 or 5 times before I left for the hospital that morning (just because I was nervous) but it took me forever to give them a sample at the hospital. (OK maybe not forever, but 2 different tries - maybe 10 minutes altogether). There was no way I was pregnant. Dad even offered to give it for me - haha! The anesthesiologist said he didn't care if I didn't take the test, but my surgeon insisted I have it. I did eventually pee and guess what the pregnancy test said?! I'm NOT pregnant. Glad we got that cleared up. :)  In between all of that I met with the anesthesiologist. Then the Medtronic rep came in and gave a demo on how my new battery would work. I got a rechargeable one this time and wow - there is a lot more to it then the non-rechargeable one, but I think I understood it all. Then a neuro-OR nurse came in and went over some things and then an anesthesia tech came in and got me ready to go back to the OR. I love that they can give you something to calm you down on the ride to the OR. My surgeon, Dr. G. told Dad that everything went great with the surgery. Today I was trying to remember, and I don't think I ever even saw Dr. G. yesterday. I could be wrong, but I don't think I did. :) After the surgery in post op, I ate some saltines and drank ginger ale while I listened to the patient on my right snoring loudly and the patient to my left crying out in pain - thankful that I was neither one of them. My nurse, Sonja, came back to my curtain area and apologized for the noise that the patient who was crying out in pain was making, but it didn't matter to me. I was still basically in anesthesia-induced bliss, and I had finally gotten to eat and drink something and had heated blankets. I was told that I was back in post op for an hour and half, but it seemed like only a few minutes. Then I was moved to step-down and Dad was allowed back with me. I could finally see as he had my glasses (and I'm legally blind without glasses or contacts). My nurse in step-down was Crystal. She is a travelling nurse (her home is in FL) and Dad and I had a good time talking with her. Finally, I was discharged. We left the hospital around 4:50pm. 

I spent the night at my dad's house. He was very sweet and attentive. To make me smile, he had gone ahead and wrapped all my birthday gifts (my birthday isn't until June 12) and set them up beside the bed that I would be sleeping in that night. As soon as I got to Dad's, I said I had to pee really bad. He was like, "Oh, now you have to pee! You couldn't have done that earlier?!?" :) We had hotdogs and chips and cherries for dinner and watched a documentary on Elizabeth Holmes and one on Hillsong, both watched on the MAX app that I have been working on in my professional life for the past 6 months or so. Funny story: as we were waiting in the waiting room before surgery, Dad finally found out exactly what I do at work - haha! He said that when I explained it to him before he didn't know what a "thumbnail" was, but when I showed him on the MAX app, the images I had created, he understood!

So far, I've been able to manage the pain with over-the-counter pain meds. In fact, what hurts the most is not the incision site (although there is pain there), but rather my tongue. I noticed that pain right after I woke up from anesthesia. I learned from a friend that sometimes the anesthesiologist will put a clamp on your tongue to get it out of the way (or something like that...I don't think this was ever in an episode of ER, so I'm not sure it's true - haha!). Anyway, I have a really bad sore on my tongue now and it's causing my worst discomfort. But that 3rd day after surgery is usually the worst for pain (at least for me), so here's to hoping that I can make it through the workday tomorrow! (I'll be fine!)

I have to give my dad huge props for helping me through this surgery. That was (mainly) always a Mom thing, but Dad did wonderfully. It's the first surgery that I've had since Mom's been gone. It wasn't a major surgery (from a surgeon's standpoint), but it was big to me, and Dad did a great job seeing me through it. Thank you, Dad! 

As always, I'll close by saying, God's Got This!