It’s already the beginning of March and quite a bit has already happened since January 1st.

BACK SURGERY UPDATE: I had back surgery (laminectomy) to remove the nerve sheath tumor (called a schwannoma) from my L2-L3 area of my spine on January 13th. Surgery went well. The tumor was not cancerous as was expected. They did have to severe a nerve while dissecting the area to remove the tumor. Severing the nerve, unfortunately, means that the thigh numbness I’ve been having since December of 2023 (when I first noticed the issue but not the cause) is not going away. Also, the area that is numb now covers more surface area of my left thigh. It’s now from my groin to the top of my knee and side to side. Basically, ALL of the front of my left thigh. The numbness is more prominent now as well because of the severed nerve. Unfortunately, the numbness will likely NOT go away.

Oh yes, I also I now have phantom pains randomly, out of nowhere. It is a super weird feeling of a zap of electricity with no notice whether I’m sitting, laying or walking. If I’m lucky, it only feels like a flutter of electricity.

My husband and I were out to dinner maybe a week and a half after my surgery and as we started to walk away from our seats to leave when I got an intense zap of phantom pain. When the zap happened, I grimaced (luckily I didn’t scream in the packed restaurant), grabbed my thigh, looked down as if my husband had stabbed my leg. I thought for sure there was going to be blood pouring out. haha. That’s how intense it was. A little dramatic you say? Of course! Haha. This was my first time out in public while having a bad phantom pain.

There were staff carrying plates to a table on our way to the door. I had to dodge them and not fall over while understanding that NOT A SINGLE person knew what just happened. It was all in my head, so to speak. My husband was apologizing for me stopping dead in my tracks in front of the staff. When we got outside, I explained what happened to him. It was funny and not funny at the same time. We sure laughed though. Those phantom pains should become less and less over time, or at least that’s the hope.

I saw my neurosurgeon last Thursday for my 6 week checkup. My restrictions were lightened a bit. I am able to bend and twist now, although I’m nervous to do a good full twist. For instance, I want to twist to crack my back but I don’t want to hurt myself. Haha. I am now allowed to lift up to 2-25 pounds! Game changer! I was able to do laundry from start to finish for the first time since surgery the other day. As silly as it sounds, I’m so happy to be able to do house chores again! I am not a fan of sitting and not being able to do anything while others do everything. I actually really like cleaning and organizing. I also love being able to take anything and everything I can off my husband’s plate to make his busy schedule easier. We are a great team that way.

I will have another lower lumbar MRI on August 21st to make sure there is no remnants of the tumor. I will then see my surgeon again a week later for results. My restrictions will all be lifted at the 3 month mark, April 7th.

LUNG UPDATE: I did my prep op IVs for 5 days before surgery and finished them the 10 days following surgery. I then got sick and started another 14 days of IV antibiotics on February 18th. Unfortunately, I got hit by a virus with only 3 days left of IVs. Extending IVs would have done nothing so I finished the 14 days and was done. It’s been 7 days since I was hit with the virus and I’m still not feeling well. I’m very achy/sore, feverish (no fever), all over blah feeling. Unfortunately, with a virus you just have to wait it out. Obviously, my body isn’t the strongest right now for the simple fact that I’m recovering from back surgery.

Oh yeah…I also pulled an intercostal chest muscle while coughing a week into being on IVs. Dealing with a pulled chest muscles hurts so bad. I can’t take a break from breathing or coughing therefore the chest muscle NEVER gets a break to heal. It can take up to 8 weeks or more for a healthy person to heal a pulled chest muscle and obviously I’m not a healthy person. haha. It is much better today, 2 weeks after the fact but still a way to go.

I think that about sums up the first few months of 2025.

Until next time…