Hello! This is the beginning of My Journal, through my journey, to have a spinal fusion surgery that will take place on December 11, 2024 at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
This is my quick intro and I will add to it as the days go by.
In December 2023 after a 31 year career of firefighting and a lifetime of riding horses, I finally went to my doctor and told her that I could not handle my back pain anymore and that I need to figure out what was going on with it!!!
After x-rays, an MRI, and a CT scan, I was diagnosed with a 40 degree scoliosis curvature of my spine.
Looking at the images, made it very clear to me where my pain originated. I consulted with a surgeon at UC Davis in California and was scheduled for a T10 to L4 fusion surgery on October 1, 2024.
I research and pray about everything. This brought me to the Mayo Clinic. I reached out to the Phoenix clinic and sent them my imagery and medical files and they called me the following week and said that a surgeon had accepted me as his patient.
Their soonest evaluation appointment was a month after my scheduled surgery at UC Davis so I canceled that surgery and then met with the surgeon at the Mayo Clinic.
The surgeon was kind and attentive and very articulate as to my situation and what he thought would be best as far as correcting my curve and relieving my pain.
I left his office excited and hopeful at a future with less pain, with a surgery date scheduled for December 11, 2024 for a minimally invasive spinal fusion that would be, at the most, a T11 to L4 fusion. The minimally invasive surgery would take much longer than the open surgery, but would not do as much damage to my body and would most likely not require a blood transfusion and would quite possibly create less pain and a quicker healing time.
I am a single mom with a young daughter. We live on 5 acres with three horses, three dogs, four cats, ten chickens and two fish.
I have a list that I am working on every single day to get things in order for my surgery. My parents live on my property with us. My mom will take care of my daughter throughout my healing. One of my sisters is flying with me to Arizona, and I am prepared for us to stay in the hospital for a few days and then in a hotel for a few days to heal enough to fly home.
I am now almost 3 weeks away from surgery. I am planning to take a carry-on and a personal item. I have front button up and snap up shirts, lightweight clothing and everything else that I can think to pack to get me through the first week of surgery.
I have a room reserved at the Sleep Inn that is 4 miles away from the Phoenix Mayo Clinic. I also have a reservation at the Help in Healing Home that is on the 8 acre Phoenix, Mayo Clinic property. There are pros and cons to each facility. The sleep in provides a free shuttle on every half hour, but does not have a recliner in the room. The help and healing home, which is only $50 a night, is walking distance from the hospital but requires you to have a rental car and you share the kitchen, living room, pantry, and library with five other rooms.
The Sleep Inn has nice amenities and was the most affordable hotel that I found. After weighing out the pros and cons of having Uber, drop us off the airport versus being in pain and having to deal with returning around car, I am choosing to stay at the Sleep Inn.
This is my first entry on my journey and I am going to call it a night. I would love to hear anyone’s feedback, ideas, tips to help me and others navigate through this process. It’s scary and yet I am so hopeful. Thank you so much!