it won't be long

Apparently this whole surgery thing doesn't really lend itself to a lot of regular updates. At least, not for now. Nothing has really changed in the past few weeks, but I have learned a little more about what I can expect and hope. Much of that has to do with my awesome mom having the gusto to call up my doctor with a long list of questions prepared to ask him, since I'm either too lazy or too in denial to do it myself. I think when my doctor initially told me I needed the surgery I was too shocked and worried about dealing with it emotionally to think of any practical questions about the procedure, so it's a good thing we're starting to find some of those things outs. So you want to know what she learned? Lovely.

For one thing, the doctor will be using a posterior approach on me. That means he'll use a long vertical cut along my spine through the back. There are three ways scoliosis surgery is typically done, either through the front, the side, or the back. I'm glad he's going through the back because to me it seems like the most direct and obvious way to get to a spine. I'm all for doing the obvious. Obvious = logical.

Dr. Bacon still isn't sure whether they're going to try to correct both my curves or just the top one. The top one is the one that poses more of a threat to my overall health, so if they can correct it significantly enough, they might not do anything to the bottom one. The good thing about this would be that I wouldn't experience the limitation to my mobility that I would if they put rods in for both curves. The bad thing about this would be that it leaves the possibility open for having to have another surgery later in life to correct the bottom one. I'm undecided about which option sounds more appealing. Please feel free to cast your vote in the comments section.

One awesome thing my mom found out was about my activity post-surgery. When Dr. Bacon told me I'd be in the hospital for a week or two and out of work for two months, I took that to mean that I'd be completely bedridden for quite a while and that I'd be using a big portion of that time slowly trying to get myself up and walking. That is sort of true; it is going to be slow and painful. But apparently the very day after surgery I will be up and walking at least a few minutes a day and will have to try to walk more and more each day. The goal is to be able to walk two miles two weeks after my surgery. I'm very relieved about this, especially because being able to take a few steps from my hospital bed to the bathroom the day after my surgery and all ensuing days sounds much better than what the alternative would be.

As far as what degree of correction we can expect, we still don't really know a specific number to hope for. Obviously they can't make it perfectly straight, but they do expect to get it straight enough that my shoulders will be even with each other and my internal organs will be free from excessive strain. We also found out they plan to fully correct the twisting of my spine, which means I won't have my Quasimodo right shoulder blade protrusion that I hate so much. Yay for that. I forgot to mention earlier that this straightening will result in my being an inch or two taller. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, it makes my chances of becoming a runway supermodel a lot higher; on the other, it eliminates two inches' worth of the male population from my possible dating pool. Hmmm.

Obviously there will be a lot to work on physically once I have my surgery as far as trying to recuperate and get myself able to do active things again. Right now, though, I'm finding myself much more concerned about how it's going to affect other things going on in my life. Being out of work for two months is certainly not going to be the best thing for my financial situation, and probably won't be too enjoyable for my office either. The contract for the apartment I live in right now runs out at the end of August, so in addition to trying to recover from surgery I'll have to somehow get moved to a new place. I'd been hoping to move to Salt Lake in August but with this in the picture now it's looking like I might have to postpone those plans. I also had planned to try to go on a trip somewhere this summer (specifically, this weekend) since I haven't had a vacation since I went home for Christmas, but now my vacation will have to be a thrilling trip to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. I've grown really used to living alone and doing everything for myself and being pretty independent, and I think it's going to be hard to go back to needing others so much for basic things.

All that being said, I realize that I am extremely fortunate in that I have such incredible family and friends who are, without hesitation, willing to help me get through all the unpleasantries of moving and being broke and being generally helpless for a month or two. I know that all those things I just complained about are going to turn out fine, and that I will be well taken care of and will not have to really worry myself about much besides getting better. I'm really, really grateful for that. This whole thing would be exponentially worse if I didn't have such wonderful help getting through it. So, thanks guys. And by "guys" I mostly mean "Mom," but there are a lot more of you who I know are going to do more than a fair share of niceties for me as well. Thank you in advance for that. Really.

Also, I hope everyone knows that the runway supermodel thing was a joke. Sadly, the dating pool thing wasn't.