6 posts tagged “broken back myeloma”

Second and Third Surgeries

My second surgery was done on Friday August 11th. As always I begged them to let me stay in my own bed until they knocked me out. Transfers scare the crap out of me and are painful. A transfer is when you go from your bed to anywhere else. At this stage, I couldn't and wasn't allowed to do this myself.

Transfers

To transfer you needa sheet, a transfer board, and usually four people if they were available. Sometimes you only had two which might work if everything was positioned right and the people were fairly strong. As a patient, you stiffen up and try to remain straight with your head up as the people pull on the sheet onto the transfer board. Then the board is grabbed and pulled onto the other bed. I was always frightened by this cause I was not in control. It is quite the process. My back would start spasmming if I got pulled and my back touched the bed. Since that was difficult to avoid, I usually got spasms practically every time I was moved. I usually had an xray everyday or an MRI. The MRI people were so good to me. The Xray folks it depended on who was around. By the end of my stay transfers got easier and I wasn't so afraid of them.

Third Surgery

I was put in the holding area for the surgery in my bed on Monday August 13th. As usually the anesthesiologist came over asked some questions and began to tell me what they wanted to do. I got tense and nervous. They put some vercet in my IV to try to relax me. I didn't feel it. I finally got taken back to the room, where bad eighties music reigned. They told me to count.

I woke up in intensive care. I don't remember anything about this IC session. I do remember being put back into a regular room and then being prepped for my third surgeries. I think lost about three days here. This is where they took out parts of my spine from L2-T11. That's fourteen vertebrae. I was scared when I heard that.

Spine
The spine is made up of 24 bones called vertebrae. The first seven bones are called cervical, the next twelve are mid-back, they are the thoracic bones, and finally there are the six lumbar bones, and I think they are some s bones that are located in the sacrum which connects the spine to the pelvis,

The whole thing scares me because the spine controls nerves and provides the body with directions including bladder control, breathing, small motor movements, large muscle movement etc.

ICU Blues

The ICU after the third surgery sucked. My nurse couldn't understand why my pain wasn't under control. They kept my breathing tube in for a very long time. The breathing tube is not really made for conscious people. It hurts with every breath and you feel like you are choking most of the time. I couldn't breath, I kept calling the nurse. The nurse kept trying to do something with the pain. Nothing worked. The nurse was not comforting. Then I had another nurse who screamed at me. She told me I wasn't trying hard enough to breathe on my own. I wanted to hit her. I worked to slow my breathing and make it work so I could get the tube out but it wasn't working. Finally someone took my tube out. I could breath finally! My pulse and blood pressure were finally normal.

Most of the time I had very low blood pressure and pulse counts in ICU. This always caused problems with the people taking care of me. They needed to get my pulse and blood pressures into an acceptable range to release me back to my room on the ward.

I couldn't speak to my sister or anyone else. Usually after surgery as soon as you are able you can see or talk to a relative or friends. This time it wasn't like that. They wouldn't give me the phone. I did finally talk to my sister for about a minute as they were going to wheel me back to my room. I didn't feel all that well so I kept it to a sentence.

I felt horrible after that third surgery. I think it was because they made me try dialudad instead of morphine for pain. Since the morphine did little or nothing for me,. I hallucinated terribly. I was scared most of the time. It was bizarre. I wasn't cooperating with the nurses. I begged to have morphine instead of the dilauded. Even though the morphine depressed all of my vital signs it was better to be hardly breathing than be breathing normally with all of these strange thoughts which started to be translated into strange behavior.

I was scared and alone. I was in pain. I felt utterly tired and wanted to get out my bed and leave. I also kept thinking I could choke on some water or something and go back to sleep. It was one of the lowest points I can remember having.

They gave me a pop that I managed to spill on a monitor. My bed felt hard. I tried turning every which way to get comfortable. I felt a large incision in my spine. My first and second surgeries had involved an eight inch incision on my left side. This last surgery involved an eighteen inch incision down the middle of my back. The staples were uncomfortable. Everyone told me they looked great. I don't remember much from this time.

I got back in my room eventually and then was transferred to a room with another roommate who was very nice. She had been married for 59 years. She and her husband were just darling. She had back surgery to reinforce her spine which was weakened by age. She felt very little pain and was interested in eating. Meanwhile, I was in pain that was relieved by Toradal a drug they had to give me sparingly cause it causes holes in your stomach with continued use. I also hated the hospital food. Pain relief was the PCA pump which really didn't work well with me. The PCA pump is a patient controlled pain device. Didn't work very well. I couldn't wait to go to just regular pills. Slower to get in the system but they worked. I actually felt better after taking them. The pump distracted me from the pain but didn't work on the source of the pain. It was frustrating.

Hospital Food
Practically all of the food stuffs at Mercy were covered with butterscotch. It was disgusting. I think the only thing I liked eating at Mercy was the baked chicken when I could get it. Also Blue Bunny ice cream cups. Day after day they took my tray away and told me I had eaten 10% or less of my food. I ate graham crackers and hoped for the best. I would also do some jello here and there but it didn't really appeal to me because I wasn't really hungry. Yes, I do know that jello isn't very vegetarian but it seemed like something I could eat without consequences. Consequences being various things having to do with personal stuff like bowl movements which I will not discuss here. Just know everyone asks you constantly about the state of your digestive system at the hospital. There are rewards for those who comply. The rest of us get stool softener and other evil items like prune juice to further screw up your system while you are recovering. It's just gross but a necessary part of recovery.

While I was in rehab I thought it was funny and sad that most of the folks were in the hospital for type 2 diabetes problems and at the end of our hallway was a pop and candy machine.

Rehab at Mercy
I got promoted to the rehab floor on Friday August 17th. They took me down late because the nurses on the floor had quite the backup of work. The night before a really nice nurse had washed my hair on the flat board while I was in bed.

Rehab was okay. At least the room set up was better. Instead of being inches from the other person's bed there was a whole bathroom between myself and the other person's part of the room. I didn't have a roommate for this part of my stay so that was nice. . The rehab floor is located in the old part of the hospital. It was spooky and badly decorated. Blue walls with scary border paper featuring scenes of the harvest. The views were also not so good. On the neuro/ortho floor I had panoramic views of Sioux City. Here I had a view of the Greek Church and the air conditioning units.

Rehab was the land of misfit broken people. I had to accept that I was one of them. Most of the patients had cognitive injuries or major health issues from diabetes. Many of them were recovering from injuries that were the result of their age.

The only ones I could sort of relate to or talk with were a 71 year old man who was recovering being thrown from a horse and a 65 year old woman who had her aorta pierced with a guide wire during a test. I was lonely.

The first thing they did in rehab on Saturday morning was give me a speech test. It took about an hour. It was more of an IQ/intelligence test. I told the social worker administering the test what I did for a living after the test. He told me I would be fine because I was intelligent and I would just have to patient.

Occupational Therapy was next. I got to take a shower and wash my own hair. OT helps people learn to do regular daily activities like laundry, hair washing, grocery shopping, and general life skills.

Physical Therapy was just walking. The therapist was happy I could walk so far without help. I told her that I hated using the wheelchair for anything when I was perfectly capable of using my walker.

The rest of the day I watched Animal Planet and rested. It was Saturday after all and not much is organized for that day at the hospital because everyone has visitors.

My visitors.
During my first operation and recovery at Mercy, people like Catherine Rudin, the Elfers, and Bob Zahnheiser came to see me. Also Travis Moore and Tim Black. I was happy to wish Travis well in his travels despite being totally high on some pain killers at the time. Tim was trying to be helpful by offering to bring me things from home. It meant so much to me that someone thought to drop by and just say hello. I also was so happy my sister had come to be with me for that first operation. She was there to help me drink with a straw, put a washcloth on head when I was hot, and stand up for me with the nurses. It is so helpful to have that if you are zonked out on painkillers.

I know Linn Brummels came to see me when I was in the ICU as well as Tom and Cindy Schmitz. I don't remember much of those times but I do remember hearing their voices encouraging me to get well.

I had many visitors when I was in Providence. It was great to see everyone. I felt very loved and cared for by so many people. Bonnie Anderson tried to help me be accepting of my illness by calling or dropping by and talking to me. Kruse was always there despite his lack of phone. He tried to cheer me up the best he could.

In rehab back at Mercy, I had alot of visitors including Bob and Edith Zahnheiser, Charlene and Russ Rasmussen, Janet Schmitz, Janet Gilligan, Nikki Simon, Liz and Casey Daenke, Cody Gill. Not all on the same day but scattered throughout the week. Visitors are great because they remind you of when you were well and could get around by yourself. They made me so happy. We would talk about dumb things because I was usually on pain meds but I got more like myself by the end of the week.

Kel visited as much as he could but I think he was scared. Bryan also visited and tried to help out with the dog and everything else he could.

When everyone left I usually felt very alone but cheerful that I would be able to see these folks when I got out of the hospital.

Rehab and Release
When I got into Mercy Rehab I asked the doctor to let me out within a week. He actually decided to let me go home two days early on Wed August 22nd. I was so happy but I had to find a ride. Kyle Christensen who was coming to see me later in the day anyways told me he could drive me home. First, I had to get my brace adjusted at Hanger Prosthetics. They ended up cutting much of the brace off because I had lost weight with the two surgeries and everything else. My spine felt more supported after the adjustment.

We got into Kyle's car 'Paula the Impala" and drove to Wayne. I was so happy to be going home!!!!!!!!

I will write about home soon because it's strange to not work, it feels weird to have cancer, and my back hurts.

Thanks for reading.....

Providence Rehab and a strange pain.

Before we got to Wayne I had been having horrible pain in my groin area. I was told it was from the nerves in my spine being irritated by the surgery. The pain affected my ability to get out of bed in my brace on my own. When I pulled up it felt like someone was burning me near the femoral vein in my left thigh and in the crevice between my left leg and trunk. The pain was intense and I tensed up every time I had a transfer. Whether it was from the bed to a wheelchair, or when I stood to use my walker, or when I sat down. It was annoying. I felt good except for this.

My stay at Providence was great. People sent beautiful flowers. They had a Coke machine. The cable channels were the same as at home. The nurses were kind to me. I even had a nurse that I sort of knew taking care of me. Amber did a wonderful job as well as the other nurses. The dietary people did try to make things I would eat. I was in pain because of my groin but I was happy that I knew people so it sort of made up for it.

 I was disappointed the hospital had no wireless internet but I used the computer in the lounge. It was very difficult to sit at a chair for that computer but I did it to check my email but not much else.

I was able to sit, and walk. I could even take a shower. I was so happy to be in Wayne. Everyone took wonderful care of me.  People visited me, my cell phone worked, everything seemed to be going well.
 The Physical therapy folks in Wayne thought I should try a home visit to see if I could get along at home. I thought that was a great idea. August 8th was the day. I thought it was be fantastic because I could see my dog and finally sleep in my own bed.

Janet Gilligan a friend and former WSC professor brought me home. We were followed by a home health care nurse  to make sure that home was safe for me. My son and dog were also waiting for me at home. It was raining. I sent Janet for all of the drugs that the doctor ordered me from the hospital. About a half an hour into the home health care interview we got a call from CNOS which is the practice that Dr. Reeder my neuro/ortho surgeon is from. I was home less than two hours when this call happened.

Bad News Mercy Visit Part 2

Dr. Reeder's nurse Diane told me not to panic but to get to either Providence or to Sioux City as quick as I could because the mesh of the appliance in my back wasn't aligned with the screws. I was sobbing and hysterical. The home healthcare nurse didn't know what to do. My heart was broken and I was scared. When Janet got back luckily she could take me back to Mercy. I had Kel pack everything back in my bag and we took off. I took the maximum amount of pain meds and other things I had to calm down.

The trip wasn't bad. I wasn't in pain and the road didn't seem as bumpy as it was in the wheelchair van. Janet and I talked about a variety of things while I worried inside about what the doctors would do with a misaligned back appliance.

The check in at the hospital was simple but I felt some pain in my groin. The first thing they did was put me in the private room behind the nurses station so I knew something was up. I somehow lost my reacher tool and tongs that I used for other reasons.

The Xray folks came and tortured me for a while. Dr. Christensen who was in for Dr. Reeder told me they were going in immediately to repair the appliance but that I would have to have another operation to completely fix it.

I was shocked and disappointed to find out I would need two surgeries. 

First Surgery-ICU

My first surgery wasn't very scary. I told them if they could wait to transfer me out of my own bed onto the table and do my central line after I was anesthetized that I would fine. If not I would be a nervous wreck prior to my surgery. I also told them I was thirsty.

My other problem was I had a medication that I took everyday that I hadn't taken in about 48 hours. The nurse told me they would be sure to put me back on it after my surgery.

Surgery was okay. I woke up in great pain in the ICU. My nurse was named Lance. My sister was there getting me ice chips. I was out of my mind with pain. They kept telling me to squeeze the pain pump but that didn't really kill the pain. I got some shots of another med called Torodal. That med worked on my actual pain so it was successful.

Lance was nice and gentle. I remember Linn coming to see me for a few moments. Other than that ICU is a blur.

After Surgery
When they let me back in my own room I didn't have a roommate for a day or two which was nice. When I did get a roommate it was an older woman who had many things wrong with her. Her daughters argued over her all the time. They also argued with the doctor all the time. It was not a very peaceful situation.

Since I had been around awhile I got the window position in the room so I got to see nice sunsets and sunrises. I kept hearing the helicopter but didn't see it. The window overlooked the helicopter pad for life flight

I had Physical Therapy twice a day so they walked me around. I also had Occupational Therapy teaching me things like how to sit and get up.

There was also the brace. The doctor prescribed a TLOS brace for me to support my back. TLOS stand for Thoracic Lumbar Sacral Orthosis. It describes the parts of the spine that it can brace. It's a cumbersome, awkward thing. People who have scoliosis wear them and folks with a broken back.

I hate the brace already. It's hard to get on correctly and I will have to wear if for at least 90 days. No skipping for a quick to pee in the middle of the night or for a quick shower. The TLOS must stay on at all times to help keep my spine straight. Compliance with the appliance. I have to keep it on to get better.

Providence Medical Center
A week after my surgery the social worker asked me if I wanted to rehab at the Wayne Hospital. I told him yes, yes, yes.
Most of my nurses and aides on the 8th floor had been wonderful but there had been one nurse that had forced some stool softener down my throat.I had to sit in the results of that stuff for 30 minutes while they were in a meeting or something. This was the lowest point of my hospital experience. I couldn't clean myself up or do anything but sit till someone came to help me. 
I knew that wouldn't happen at Providence. I knew my family doctor could provide care for me with the supervision of the orth/neuro people.
They loaded me up in a van with a recent knee replacement patient and off we went down the long bumpy road to Wayne. It was a bright sunshiny day but we went on 35. The road was bumpy. I kept thinking that we would be there soon and I would be able to have some pain medication. They didn't dose me before the trip so I was achey and hurting to the point where my speech was slurred.
When we arrived I got them to skip the stretcher and they just wheeled me to my quiet little room.

I am finally home. Here are some FAQs. FAQs stands for Frequently Asked Questions.

How much time did you spend in the hospital?

I spent 36 days minus 8 hours.
July 18-27 Mercy in Sioux City Neurosurgery/Orthopedic
July 28-August 8th Providence Medical Center Rehab
August 8th- August 22nd Neurosurgery/Orthopedic and Rehab

August 8th I got to try to be at home for a few hours.

How did you get hurt?
I stepped off a camera platform that was between 3-4 feet at about 10AM. I have done this fairly often. I felt like someone had stuck a sharp stick up my back. I landed on my feet, felt pain, nausea, and people felt I was fooling around. I was working with people that didn't know me very well.
We were working in front of the Federal Courthouse in Sioux City.
Someone who was a police officer on their way to work called 911 and got an ambulance. They said I was going into shock.

Why and where were you working?
I was doing my Faculty Development Internship for the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE). The internship allows faculty members to work with a television station during the summer for awhile and get their expenses paid. I was working for KTIV with the production and programming area.

Ambulance Ride
I talked too much in the ambulance. The EMT told me to be quiet. He also misread my age either on purpose or to make me laugh. They had me on a backboard, no pain meds, and every bump on the three block ride to Mercy killed me. Dave Washburn the Creative Services person from KTIV rode with me.

Emergency Room
When I got in the only asked for my name and if I had been there before. I think Dave got my insurance card out. I expected some pain meds and being told to go home. I kept thinking, how the heck will I drive home to Wayne with this pain. Dr. Bonzoni came in. In the late 90's he had taken a needle out of my toe, and treated me for road rash after a roller blade accident. He also had treated Kel when he was a toddler. I felt good about Bonzoni treating me.
Bonzoni told me that he was going to take an Xray, MRI, and some blood work. He also said the pain meds were coming after the tests.

I told Dave to leave. Dave told me they could do the parade without me. I told him I knew that but I wanted him to go because his phone kept ringing. I told him I would be fine. He kept asking if I had called my sister or anyone to come be with me. Then the nurse did.

I was taken to xray. They hit two door frames on the way. I was in agony. When I was put on the table with a transfer board I screamed because my back spasmed. The xray woman told me to simmer down now cause I was scaring people. Then I was roughly turned over with a sheet. I groaned loudly. I was told again to be quiet and to concentrate.
Finally I was transfered back onto the stretcher and then back to the emergency room. I was told to shut up because I was scaring people.

Very quickly, Bonzoni came in and told me I was going to be staying with them for awhile. He came in with another doctor. He said the good news is you broke your back, the bad news is you have a tumor, we think it's a myelemo plasmacytoma. Here's a neurosurgeon who is going to help you...Dr. Reeder.
Reeder showed me my xray of my crushed spine. I had fractured the L2 vertabrea. He then showed me the shadow of the tumor. Reeder told me he would try to operate as soon as he could within 24 hours. Meanwhile I was to have pain meds and to stay still.

Neurosurgery/Orthopedics 8th Floor of Mercy Hospital
A very funny nurse named Terri admitted me, kept asking me for numbers to call for people. She kept saying I shouldn't be alone. I told her it was fine. Terri said I think you will need help. I told her I wanted to give my sister another quiet night.

I was put in a small room with an older roommate who seemed to think the hospital was a spa. She kept asking for back rubs, fruits, and people to straighten her pillows. Terri kept asking me for someone to call. Finally I got my cell phone out and called my sister who sighed and began making reservations.

They put a cath in me so I wouldn't pee everywhere. It didn't really hurt. I started to worried that maybe I was going to be paralyzed.

I felt crappy. Morphine distracted me but the pain was there. I was also worried and thirsty. They let me have small sips of water and ice chips. It was a long night.

The shifts changed, my roommate was demanding, at some point in the night I threw up something but was too worn out to ring my call light for the nurse.

The first thing in the morning a cheery, no nonsense, young woman named Nikki came to the side of my bed.... she looked at me, and said, "Well, what happened here?" She then started scrubbing my face with a wash cloth and told me she would be gentle as possible and clean me up. She told me I needed to call when I did that. She gave me a drink of water. She was funny and told me they would figure out how to wash my hair before surgery because there wouldn't be time afterwards. Nikki told me not to be scared. My nurse that day was Jan. She tried her best to get me comfortable. Several Doctors came in....I couldn't tell you who they were....there was a pulmonary guy, the anesthesiologist guy, the neuro guy.

I didn't really get a nap. Finally towards the end of the day as I chewed on more ice chips my sister appeared. I couldn't believe it. It made me feel better. I was sort of alarmed cause I had talked to her about coming after the operation when I would need her help at home. It was unbelievable to me that she was there less than 24 hours after my accident. It helped distract me from the pain. It made me feel hope for my situation.

I realized that I was in serious condition and I was having major surgery the next day.

I write this note to my students while I was on the rehab unit at Mercy.

Hi

How are you? Does anyone remember me? I'm sorry I can't be with you. All of you should have fun with Danni Feennstra from Channel 9 as your teacher for awhile. Learn from her, show her things you know, ask questions, utilize her. We were lucky to get her on such short notice.

Here's the deal. I broke my back on July 16th. On August 8, I was leaving the hospital and they found that I needed some additional repairs. If you want the gory details feel free to ask later. This was when I knew I had to take medical leave. There was no way I could back to the classroom in time.

I hope everyone had a great summer. I miss all of you. I want to see lots of pictures while I recover.

Maureen

I am going to post all of my notes/observations from my recovery here. I am doing this so people will know what's happening There also may be people out there that have a broken back or mylenoma who might want to read about my experiences.

First composed on August 2nd, 2007

I can't sit up for very long but here's the story.

I setting up a platform for the Rivercade Fest Liveshots for KTIV on July 18th I was working at KTIV though the NATPE Organization. NATPE is the National Association of Television Programming Executives.

I jumped down from a platform that was less than four feet high, landed on my feet, and I felt my spine crush down on itself. I told everyone not to move me because I hurt so much. This all happened in front of the Federal Court House in Sioux CIty Iowa. I asked someone to get my purse and then I passed out for a bit. Someone who passed by called an ambulance.

The pain was excruciating. Every bump or crack in the road was agony. We got to the the ER and they gave me a pain shot immediately which didn't work. They took me to x-ray where I had to lay flat on a table. I cried it hurt so "much. On the way out the tech banged the stretched into the door.

Back in the ER my doc told me " Well kiddo, There's good news and there's bad news.

Good news is you broke you back at the L2 level. Bad news is you have a tumor that is surrounding that bone. It looks cancerous but we will biopsy it during surgery."

So I have.....

Multiple myeloma (also known as MM, myeloma, plasma cell myeloma, or as Kahler's disease after Otto Kahler) is a type of cancer of plasma cells which are immune system cells in bone marrow that produce antibodies.

So we'll have to see what the future holds. Think some good thoughts and I'll see you at some point at the beginning of the semester.