One week and one day since surgery; yesterday only took two half- doses of pain med/ muscle relaxer. Spent one extra day in hospital because they couldn't get a pain med to work that I could swallow. Came home on two meds, taken exactly as prescribed- they wore off about an hour before the next dose was due! The doctor found more trouble than he could even see on the scan- I had multiple bone spurs that were actually in contact with my spinal cord- very good that I didn't put it off! He also said there was more damage to the areas above and below where he worked than he thought ( I knew that possible 10-15 years down the line I may need those done). I will find out next week how often he will see me to keep an eye on those areas- I have made a new doctor friend for life it seems. I am now at the pain level that I was before the surgery. So now as I move forward it will be a question of still healing from the surgery? or is this my fibromyalgia? As my activity level has been restricted to "rest" I can't say weather I have seen any improvement in my symptoms at this point- he just moved and stretched everything in the area that was the problem- I may have even gained back an inch I lost!- so all the muscles that hurt because of the pressure now hurt because of the new position they have to accommodate. I will find out when I can start therapy to re- build my strength in these areas when he evaluates me next week. I am looking at a long slow process of PT- I didn't go from in good shape to so bad in one week, so I have to rebuild things slowly so I don't injure what was repaired. My son saw me- neck brace and all and was ok with it (he is 7). He even thought my incision was cool ( ugly, ropey, red, blue and puckered was my description).

As much as I HATE to "rest" I know it is the only way to let my body heal- at least something has been fixed to heal rather than before when a doctor would say rest and instead my muscles would atropy! Due to REALLY bad screw-ups on our internet/tv/phone service my husband managed to get them to give us a premium movie channel for free for three months- so at least being in bed isn't so bad when I can order all the movies I want "on-demand". The nurses at the hospital have to be commended- they were there for me, helped me, and made sure that I was fully ready for what was to come. The rehabilitation staff made sure that I could do all that I would need to once I got home and gave me devices to make it happen ( A plastic thing to help put my socks on- I needed one of those for years!) While I can't braid my hair (no putting both arms above my head), at least while in the hospital the nurses did that for me. Although I came home in more pain than I had expected I did feel ready to be home. I will update on my progress- it may be months before I can determine what is fibro pain and what is expected rehab pain.