Visualizing a Healthy Future

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to write as soon as possible with the good news.  I’m so happy.  I’ve been given permission to move to the Miami J neck brace which feels like I’m “cheating” after wearing the other one for three months.  My next appointment is in 10 weeks some where around January the 11th.  In January the bone growth should be sufficient enough around the titanium rod in my neck to fully support it. 

The other thing is this neck brace allows for some further movement without being able to actually turn my neck.  The movement is good as long as I don’t try to do too much.  I won’t really have any other physical therapy.  I still have these “zips of pain” that shoot up in my head from the cutting of the muscles in the back of my neck.  But this too shall pass.

All it all it was just as we had visualized.  He was happy with what he saw on the x-rays, practically the first words out of his mouth, and then he later said “See right here is bone growth.  It looks very good”.   I love it. 

So it’s going as we had hoped and I thank you all for the prayers.  I’m not out of the weeds completely yet, and I’ll still have pain for the next many months as the muscles heal, but it is not daily any longer and I’m already in better shape than I was when I went in to the hospital on July 23. 

Love you all,

Teresa

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Hello Everyone.  I wanted to update you after Rick and I met with Dr. Menezes on Friday.  In a nut shell, I am already a new and improved T. Hellman just by the looks of the films but I believe as time goes on I’ll even feel more like a new and improved T. Hellman. 

Dr. Menezes was in a talkative mood and so I was able to ask all of my questions and get a good chance to review my films and understand more of what they did in the three operations as well as what to expect in the future.  Man my neck was messed up, it’s no wonder I was in constant pain, I’m mean really. 

I now have a horseshoe shaped titanium rod in my neck that will hold all this together and I’ll find out as time goes along just what my mobility is.  I think it will be what I had before though.  He said it takes at minimum 12 weeks for bone growth to appear around the rod and until he sees the bone I’ll be wearing the Aspen Brace I’m currently in.  He did tell me I could wear the Miami J - the collar brace for the Bat Mitzvah coming up on October 13th and I can remove it completely for photo’s.  I was pretty happy about that.  He also said I could drive, although he wouldn’t not want to meet me on the road.  And that I would be back to my old self eventually and so I asked if that included skiing and he said yes!  My neck looks fabulous both on film and in person.  I’ve looked at it without the brace and I think it looks so much better.  But I know I’m not ready to go without the Aspen even though I’m very tired of it, I would be even more tired and in pain without it.  I’m going to have Rick take a picture of me and post it on the site so everyone can see, it’s pretty uncomfortable but even that should get better as we get in to fall. 

All in all I’m feeling pretty good, I still need a nap daily but I’m getting stronger and feeling more of the nerves in my head returning almost daily.  Please keep me in your prayers, visualize the bone growth happening around the rod and my neck becoming more flexible as the days pass.  Thanks so much.  I love you.

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Hello Everyone

I wanted to give you a quick update on my progress.  I guess it is going as it should.  I have pain in my head but in some ways that is a good thing because it means I have more nerves that have come back.  But I am managing the pain with some pain meds but mostly muscle relaxants, my neck braces hold my neck up and at such an awkward angle it just gets tired.  

I’m feeling stronger though and even walked about 7 blocks or so to meet my daughter after school on Monday.   But even though I’m feeling better, and to most people I look great except for the big ole’ neck brace, I need for you to keep focused on the long-term healing and the vision of a new and improved T. Hellman.  My head and neck and I have been through a lot to say the least and I’m visualizing everything in there working hard to heal me.  I’ve got another appointment in Iowa City on Sept 7th and I want to hear Dr. Menezes say that he is VERY pleased with my progress.  Visualize that for me would you?  Love you all,

Teresa 

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Hello Everyone

I wanted to update all of you myself rather than Rick because I think you are getting only one side of the story.  Yes I was busted weeding but they were right next to me on the front steps and it had just rained so they were calling out to me, really they were mocking me, “ha, na, na, na, and you can’t get us!”  So I did and then Rick came out.

I am recovering nicely but not without the help of the pain medication and muscle relaxants given to me.  I got my stitches out on Friday, the 10th and I realized just how little of my head I could feel.  The stitches ran from close to the top of my head to my shoulders, it’s very Frankenstein like right now but they say the feeling will come back and of course my hair will cover most of the scar from the surgery.  I’ve got a pretty funky hair-don’t right now with a reverse mohawk down the middle of the back of my head.

I’m taking it easy though, sleeping every 4-6 hours, or as needed, I’m not pushing myself to get anything done but I’ve got a couple of projects at the ready for when I am bored, that involve being seated and indoors.

 The hard part for me is that I can not drive and I don’t think I will be driving until I visit Dr Menezes again on Sept. 7th in Iowa City.  They will take another set of films and then hopefully tell me I can wear just the neck brace instead of the one I’m in any time I want to sit up.  It’s called a Minerva and it covers the neck and the spine.  Neither are comfortable, but they remind me that I am not to turn my neck suddenly.

According to Dr Menezes, I should have no pain after my full recovery, not even the pain that I have had since childhood.  I may travel with a neck brace for extra support but that is a small price to pay.

Thank you all for your words of encouragment both before and after the surgery.  Rick would read to me the blog each time their was an update and it gave me a lot of comfort to know so many people were praying for me.  But please continue to pray for my full recovery, remember we are going for a new and improved T. Hellman.   With Much Love, Teresa

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Why, just this morning I busted Teresa out kneeling on the front porch, pulling crabgrass out of the flower bed! I made her come inside, of course, but she’s more and more her old self each day. She naps a couple of times during the day, and is back to nothing more than Tylenol for pain most of the time. She is to have the stitches removed by her primary care doc, Dr. Snavely, next week, and then she can shower. Thanks again to everyone for their cards, food and good wishes.

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Teresa arrived home from the hospital Wednesday evening, Aug. 1, and has laid down to spend her first night back in her own bed as I post this note. She said she felt fine on the drive back from Iowa City, and, of course, is thrilled to be back home. She’ll be taking it easy around the house for the next several days (weeks?), and people will be coming by to stay with her during the day, when I am at work. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and offers of help during this challenging time.

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Rick has asked us to start with meals for the family on Sunday, August 5 (at which point Teresa will be home from Iowa City and Sarah will be home from camp). In order to keep things from getting overwhelming, it would be best for people bringing food to bring it on Sundays, Wednesday, and Fridays (since there were already volunteers for the first week, the schedule will be a little different for that week). Right now, lets plan on providing meals for them through Friday, August 24th.

In terms of likes and dislikes, Rick and Teresa eat pretty much everything. The girls are pickier. They like pasta, mac & cheese, simply prepared chicken or beef (they’re not a big fan of things like sauces and mushrooms), and just about anything that includes melted cheese. They are big fans of bread and dessert.

Here’s a list - we’ll fill it in as volunteers enter comments. I’ve picked up on comments from the original post about bringing food to get the ball rolling. Thanks again to all of the wonderful friends and family that continue to be so generous and supportive:

August 6 - Eva Steiner (Italian Chicken breasts, pasta and carrots)
August 7 - Marcia Rittmaster (taco bar?)
August 10 - Lenna, Rob, Denny & Mya Levitch (food from Succotash)

August 12 - Lori Oellien and family (beer can chicken, fries and salad)
August 15 - Vicki Herman and family (Spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread and chocolate cake)
August 17 - Barb Bayer and family (Chicken & rice, salad and brownies)

August 19 - Christy Drake (Chinese)
August 22 - Lisa Ephraim & Kids (Chicken burritos, rice and salad)
August 24 - Christine Pennel-Jones & Lisa Sicola (Meatloaf, salad, cheesy potato casserole, Lisa’s “Hello Dollys” for dessert)

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It’s 10:45 a.m. Sunday, and physical therapy came for the second time this morning. Teresa walked around the unit, unaided but with them standing at her side for safety, for the second day in a row. Today they also had her do some balancing exercises, and then she walked up and down a flight of stairs. Thus, they say she has already passed most of the “discharge” tests. Dr. Menezes saw her this morning and said she she can expect to be discharged on Wednesday.

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As I write this post at 5:50 p.m. Friday, Teresa is sitting up in a chair by her bed, drinking a milkshake. Just before noon, they took her from ICU back to the sixth-floor neurological wing. Two guys from the prosthetic-orthotic department fitted her with an “Aspen” brace — it holds up her head and goes down her chest and back to near the waist, keeping the spine straight and supported. Apparently, she’ll wear that for some weeks, before going to the smaller neck brace for a period of months.  Once she was in the brace, they said she could sit up and stand whenever she felt up to it. They say she will probably be allowed to go home in a week or so. Hooray!

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It’s 2:40 p.m. Thursday, and Dr. Menezes just came in to tell us that Teresa’s operation was a complete success! Hooray and whoopee! He removed the bone spurs that were causing her shoulder pain. He also removed a bit of her first vertabra that had fused to her skull and was also impinging on the brain stem (He didn’t realize that was the case till he got in there, he said). And finally he fused the skull to the spine to stabilize it. He shaved off a bit of her skull bone to make the fusion. That avoided making a second incision to get some rib bone. We’re going to meet her in recovery now, and she is expected to stay in the hospital for another 7 to 10 days before returning home.

The halo from traction is gone, and she will be fitted with a neck brace in the coming days.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers, and please keep Teresa in your thoughts as her recovery continues.

– Rick

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