Wednesday, December 7, 2011

YOU'RE SUCH A TOOL

Thought you'd like to see how well the scars are healing. I am so thankful the swelling has reduced so quickly this year. One of the most painful parts of this surgery is doing the log roll in and out of bed and the pressure that occurs on the areas that are swelled up. Your bed is not as soft as you would like to think and those swollen pressure points are the worst part of trying to get comfortable in bed. The surface bruising appears to be gone. I do feel a lot of deep tissue pain at times. There area at the L5-S1 fusion level is very sore at times...deep down sore. It did not hurt at all until a couple of days ago. I will guess this will pass too.

You will have to make a lot of adjustments to your lifestyle after this type of surgery. It is inevitable. You just have to accept that. Ladies, even with adding a routine of flexible stretches I will contend you will not ever shave your legs the same way again. Luckily my dear husband is a machinist and man of many design talents. I described what I needed in order to shave my legs and in about an hour or so he made this holder for me out of aluminum tubing. The one end is slightly crimped in order to accept a rubber handled disposable razor. It's a friction fit that works just great. He painted it with rough textured black paint and put grooves in the end for a better grip with wet hands. I intend to use it the rest of my life, as I want to put as little stress on my low back as possible in all areas of activity. I've used this several times and it works just great.

A tool that you should have around your home regardless if anyone has had back surgery is something like this Grip 'n Grab. I bought this last year before my previous surgery. They are about $25.00 and are available at Lowe's and other stores of that nature. The ones advertised on television are twice as expensive as this one and they both do the same thing. I use it for everything! When I go back to working in the yard I will pick up sticks with it...again. I can lift the food bowls for refilling for the cats, the towels off the floor, position my shoes for putting on...everything. The rubber tips help to keep the heaviest (about 5 pounds) objects from slipping from your grip. Please get one of these before your procedure. You will use it. Why not make your life easier while you are recovering.

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