4 days post op and doing well!
Hi everyone!
I am 4 days out from surgery and I am feeling pretty well!. Thanks to everyone who sent me messages and moved over on the LOOOOSERS bench for me 
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The first night was kind of rough because as Tammy said, my roomate- an elderly woman with a broken vertabrae in her neck and hip replacement was in a lot of pain and was moaning and talking in her sleep a lot. 
And then every time I would start to fall asleep, my fluids bag would go off or I needed pain medication or I needed my vitals done...so the first night was pretty tough. 
I didn't have much pain at all from the surgery though, the pain I had was from the darn hospital beds! I ended up sleeping on one of the lounger chairs because I could not get comfortable. And even then, my back still hurt really bad and the morphine did nothing for it either! 
The first day afte surgery I was kind of breathless and when people would call I would get tired of talking so quickly it was like "Hello, I'm ok, I'm going to rest now, thanks for calling bye!" And that was about all I could handle. By the next day though I was doing trips around the nursing station and meeting other patients. 
The third day I started phase 1 and then phase 2 diet and then got discharged at around 3 pm. I was so happy to go home! Not that the staff there weren't great, but I don't know why this is so, but it is really really hard to truly get any rest in a hopspital. I am now on stage 3 of the diet today, and I feel really good, not 100% yet, but almost like a normal person. Stage 3 is just liquids and protein drinks and medications etc. , But I am doing really well with it and am not nauseaus or hungry at all. I stay on this diet until I see Dr. Valin in 10 days. I gained 7 lbs during the surgery aftermath-from all of the fluids they give you- but now I am down 3 lbs from pre surgery!
Well I am going to go rest now. Thanks again for all of the well wishing posts! I felt all of your prayers and thoughts! And hats off to the nursing and tech staff at St. Raphael's! 
They were so attentive and patient and kind with me.
And also of course to Dr. Valin and his staff for taking me through this process so far with such great care! 
Sincerely,
Erica... a.k.a. Elle Roberts 
.
The first night was kind of rough because as Tammy said, my roomate- an elderly woman with a broken vertabrae in her neck and hip replacement was in a lot of pain and was moaning and talking in her sleep a lot.
And then every time I would start to fall asleep, my fluids bag would go off or I needed pain medication or I needed my vitals done...so the first night was pretty tough.
I didn't have much pain at all from the surgery though, the pain I had was from the darn hospital beds! I ended up sleeping on one of the lounger chairs because I could not get comfortable. And even then, my back still hurt really bad and the morphine did nothing for it either!
The first day afte surgery I was kind of breathless and when people would call I would get tired of talking so quickly it was like "Hello, I'm ok, I'm going to rest now, thanks for calling bye!" And that was about all I could handle. By the next day though I was doing trips around the nursing station and meeting other patients.
The third day I started phase 1 and then phase 2 diet and then got discharged at around 3 pm. I was so happy to go home! Not that the staff there weren't great, but I don't know why this is so, but it is really really hard to truly get any rest in a hopspital. I am now on stage 3 of the diet today, and I feel really good, not 100% yet, but almost like a normal person. Stage 3 is just liquids and protein drinks and medications etc. , But I am doing really well with it and am not nauseaus or hungry at all. I stay on this diet until I see Dr. Valin in 10 days. I gained 7 lbs during the surgery aftermath-from all of the fluids they give you- but now I am down 3 lbs from pre surgery!
Well I am going to go rest now. Thanks again for all of the well wishing posts! I felt all of your prayers and thoughts! And hats off to the nursing and tech staff at St. Raphael's! They were so attentive and patient and kind with me.
And also of course to Dr. Valin and his staff for taking me through this process so far with such great care!
Sincerely,
Erica... a.k.a. Elle Roberts 
Welcome home Erica and Congratulations. Sounds like you are right on track and doing well.
I can sympathize with you about the rest issue. The staff at St. Raphs is great, but it is very, very hard to get rest there. You will start feeling much better in a few days after you have gotten some good rest at home.
Dr. Valin, his staff and the staff at St. Raphs are wonderful. I could never thank Dr. Valin enough for all he has done for me.
Good luck as you continue to recover. Please keep us posted as to how you are doing.
Maggie 
Hi Erica, 
Glad to hear you're home and doing well. Welcome to "The Bench"!
Sounds like we had a similar hospital experience. I wonder if the beds at St. Raph's just suck or what. They hurt so bad.. I slept in the cardiac chair the whole time. People kept asking if I was ok there.. trust me, the floor would have been better than those beds.
Now you're home and should be on your way to recovering and enjoying your new life.
Keep us updated.
Take care,
Michelle
Glad to hear you're home and doing well. Welcome to "The Bench"!
Sounds like we had a similar hospital experience. I wonder if the beds at St. Raph's just suck or what. They hurt so bad.. I slept in the cardiac chair the whole time. People kept asking if I was ok there.. trust me, the floor would have been better than those beds.
Now you're home and should be on your way to recovering and enjoying your new life.
Keep us updated.
Take care,
Michelle 
Welcome home Erica!
You sound like you are on the right track to feeling great! I tell you, the one thing you beg for is SLEEP - and that stinks that you were so uncomfortable in the hospital.
Congratulations on a successful surgery and I hope your recovery is swift.
We could never appropriately thank our surgeons for all they have done for us. Course, I have dreams of being Mrs. Dr. Tran. hahaha shhh, don't tell him I said that! (Kathy F knows what I am talkin' about though!!)
Tara
Tara 
Hi Elle,
Congrats on being home! You will feel better and better each day. I have to tell you, no matter what hospital you stay in, you will not get any rest! The beds in every hospital that I've been in are $4000 beds and $30 mattresses. There is nothing like your own bed to get rest in. I too found myself dozing in the chair most of the time.
But you are home now, so get some rest!
Pam
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