On Monday, April 3, an appointment with Dr. De Castro’s ANP provided us with details regarding the impending laminectomy and recovery, including do’s and don’ts (mostly don’ts).  We followed that appointment with further preregistration for tomorrow’s surgery.

Tuesday morning early, 6:30 AM, found us at CHI Outpatient Services in Hot Springs. After an extended wait, I was ushered into the pre-op for another extended wait. 

Finally, about 10:15 AM anesthesia was applied, and I woke up about 11:45 AM thirsty and a little sore.  They sent us home a couple hours later—modern medicine—from what a few years ago would have been a week’s hospital stay. I managed to walk just shy of 2 miles that afternoon after arriving home.

I continued walking on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, feeling more pain each day.  Succumbing to the pain, I took Tylenol 4 with codeine, but it did not do much for easing the pain.  Restoration of bodily functions was a huge issue and the lack thereof contributed greatly to the pain.  Finally, on Monday, a week after surgery, I began to feel better, and have continued to progress—though it’s two steps forward and one step back.  Nerves in the coccyx area are awakening, and sometimes quite intense; a heating pad resolves the pain almost immediately.  I have continued walking every day, from 2 to 4 miles, and the sciatica is gone for the most part.  Some soreness remains in the calves, but possibly because they are being used extensively since no stoops or bends!

After two weeks, I got to drive (at least from the doctor’s perspective), and that helped with the boredom.  
It seemed like I was never getting “well”, but everyday, I would feel a bit better than the day before—this is going to take a lot longer than anticipated!

On May 1, Dr. De Castro released me to do anything I wanted, except lift heavy objects.  I had walked a total of 75 miles in the four weeks since surgery!  

Meanwhile, Kay continued to excel at golf, winning all of her last 3 events.

We used the next few days finishing packing for our biennial major trip, a cruise to the northern capitals on the Baltic.