Day 6 Report

Yesterday (Friday) I woke up sore and had the chills in the morning but once I was up and about I felt pretty good until late evening; I started to ache some. Karen and I took a couple of walks down the block but mostly I watched TV and rested. I did not wear the brace Thursday night to bed but I wore the brace most all day Friday, and word it to bed Friday night. I did not wake up in the middle of the night and have to take pain meds like I had the previous couple nights. In fact I did not take them until close to 10:00 Saturday morning.

Friday I called TBI with a couple questions and my concern about the chills/fever. They answered most of the questions I had but said they would call me back concerning the chills. They did not call back however. It is not a big concern since the symptoms have dramatically been reduced.

I would guess the average pain level for Friday was 2-3. A little higher as the meds wore off. I mostly felt fatigued.

Saturday I woke up, again a little sore but once up and about I felt pretty good. So much so that I decreased the dosage of the pain meds. I have warn the brace most all day and have not had the chills/fever feeling today. a few hot flashes if anything. Again, I am more fatigued than sore. We took a walk this morning and went to "The Ranch" after lunch. I mostly napped and watched TV while the rest of the gang played golf or billiards.

Today the average pain level has been 2-3. Even the pain spikes, when sneezing or moving incorrectly, have been lower, probably a 6 out of 10.

I am on Short Term Disability leave from Nortel probably for 2 weeks. But I feel confident that by Monday afternoon I will be able to cut back on the meds and be able to concentrate enough to do a little catch-up at work. At least go throught the e-mails etc. There are some on-line training classes I am signed up for that I have not been able to start the past several weeks due to back pain/meds. Hopefully I can get started on those courses next week.

I have noticed a "popping" sound / feeling coming from my back the past couple of days. It probably is normal joint popping that I usually instigate but since I have the brace on and I am limiting my back movement they occur autonomously and therefore are more noticeable. I sincerely doubt it is coming from the implant.

The biggest problem I am having is in my biologic "throughput." My output has ceased since last Sunday morning. The nurses of course, were concerned and did not want to discharge me without some signs of improved activity. But I was released anyway. I have been taking appropriate medications to get things moving but so far there has been little signs of change. I suspect that some of the other symptoms I am experiencing are related to or being exacerbated by this work stoppage. TBD I guess.

This is probably getting boring for most of you. My apologies, I will try and post non-back related blogs as well since I am feeling better. I just want to chronicle the recovery process for my own future reference.