[AmyM]

Hi all,

Not sure if I should post my updates somewhere else, but since I already have this thread going, I will post it here.

12 days post-op and I have been home in sunny 77 degree San Diego for 4 days. It is so good to be home & back with my kids & my dog & sleeping in my own bed. We flew BCN-London after my one week post-op with Dr Clavel, and spent the night near the airport. I am glad we broke the trip up like this as it's a long haul home. The next morning (8 days post-op), we flew from Heathrow-LAX. It was my husband's birthday, so with that plus my surgery, we splurged & went first class on Virgin Atlantic. London was hit with a major snowstorm the day we flew out & my husband nearly had a heart attack getting me safely across the ice/snow to the airport. Hundreds of flights were cancelled but ours left (two hour delay, but it wasn't cancelled!). Since we were able to hang out in the Virgin Lounge, it was not exactly a bad situation (free massages, drinks & food!). The flight home was about what you'd expect a 10+ hour flight to be, but it got us safely home where a car met us & drove us the 1.5 hour ride back home to Carlsbad.

So to backtrack - the last time I posted I was just given Fortecortin, which is a steroid that reduced the inflammation in my nerves. That was on Monday (my surgery was on Thursday) and Monday was a really good day, pain-wise. However, Tuesday was not good and Wed. am I was back in touch with Yolanda/Dr. Clavel asking for help. My shoulder and right side of my neck were back up to a 7. Dr. Clavel prescribed Lyrica. This RX has a ton of side effects, including weight gain (grrrr) but I was desperate. The ibuprofen and the accord (paracetomol) did nothing, and even the metamizol was not touching the pain. The Lyrica helps a bit, but it makes me feel like I've had a few too many glasses of wine....which may sound good, but it's not at 10 am. Since it's not quite been a week, I'll continue with it for a while longer, but it doesn't seem to do much other than make me feel loopy.

Dr. Clavel wants me to continue with the ibuprofen for a month for ossification reasons, so I am doing that, but otherwise I don't have any medicinal pain relief.

I am varying between a 4-7 pain-wise. I can deal with pain less than a 5, but when it gets higher than that, it is tough. Last night was really bad, with the right side of my neck & my shoulder just burning with pain, and pain shooting down just below my elbow. I had a long walk on the beach yesterday, and my pain was about a 5 during the day, but it was 7.5 last night. I ended up taking a oxycontin that was prescribed to me when I was in my car accident in April 2011. I never took the pain killers then, so it's ironic that I took one now that I have had surgery to correct the problem.

At my post-op appt a week after my surgery, Dr Clavel said the pain is normal and it's just my nerves finding their way back down a now not-compressed path. He said it should subside in about 2 months.

Besides the pain, my right arm feels weak. I am trying not to use it much, since that makes it hurt more, so maybe that's the problem. Typing/texting and other small movements bring immediate pain to my arm/shoulder & right side of my neck. I am doing my exercises that Laia gave me (how I miss her and her healing hands!).

I am still not driving since I am very careful with my neck and the Lyrica makes me loopy.

Has anyone else had pain like this? Honestly, it's worse than before the surgery. It is maybe slightly better than a week ago, but not much. What do you all use for pain control? I do not like having to take medicine and rarely use it, so the fact I am seeking pharmaceutical help is indicative of the pain I am feeling. Do you think I should follow up with Dr Clavel or my doctor here in the US? The "good" thing is, although I get occasional flare-ups during the day, it's really only a 7 at night. Strangely, nights are worse than mornings (it was the other way around in Barcelona).

On the plus side, my incision is healing nicely, I am sleeping much better and my body temperature seems to be back to normal (that was a weird side effect!). Other than the pain, my neck is great - rotation, etc.

I'd love to hear from others who have been through this and hear what you did for pain control.

I'm going to try to upload a picture of my new bionic neck (my two M-6s are so pretty!), and one of Dr Clavel, Yolanda & me. The two of them - along with Laia, the physical therapist - are an amazing team!