A Big Birthday and Neck Surgery

May was definitely a big month for us.  It started with Dave turning 35!!!  We had an awesome weekend celebrating together.  We kicked it off with a romantic dinner at Kenny's Woodfire grill, one of our favorite little spots.  The next morning Dave went to play golf with our friend Brandon (I teach first grade with his wife Emily).  That afternoon we all went to have lunch and then headed to the Kenny Chesney concert.  When it started pouring down raining, we all decided to head across the street to go bowling and had a super duper time.  Dave had 5 strikes in row, which of course absolutely made his night.  The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing.  And because the concert was cancelled, Kenny Chesney came back to Dallas a few weeks later and gave an amazing 3 1/2 hour makeup concert.  It was spectacular!

That following week I started having bad pain in my neck while I was painting.  The next day I woke up unable to move my neck.  The pain was absolutely horrible, radiating into my shoulder and down into my left arm.  So I went to see my doctor at Texas Back Institute and he ordered an MRI.  The results revealed what I had already suspected was happening:  the disc between my 5th and 6th cervical vertebrae is bulging out again and compressing my nerves.  We went through all of this last summer and I worked hard to rehabilitate it.  However, bit by bit, is has been bothering me more and more.   I am even beginning to have numbness and tingling in my arm now.  So Dr. Zigler said he would like for me to try a couple of steroid injections in my neck to see if that would help my pain and mobility.

Well it defintely did help the mobility and has taken the edge off of the pain.  For the first injection, they sent me to a pain management clinic, where the doctor (thankfully not the one that will be doing my surgery) messed up and "accidentally hit some nerve bundles".   Once the anesthesia and numbing medication wore off, I was BY FAR in the worst pain of my life.  It was quite an experience, but after a few days on some HEAVY medication, it got better.  For the second injection, we opted to go to the hospital.  It was a much better experience!

Well despite all of the injections, the pain and swelling have continued.   If I try to do anything strenous at all, even going for a walk or holding a friend's baby, I end up in great pain and on ice again.  So we went back to see the doctor this week, who told us that at this point he absolutely recommends surgery.  Because this is not a decision that we take lightly, we spent almost an hour with him, asking him every question in the book.   He told us that because of the condition of the wall, my disc is going to continue to bulge until we fix it.  Even if I try to rehab it again, it will just bulge back out.

Because I was still having a hard time committing to the surgery, we wanted a second opinion.   So the following day we spoke with our friend Carolyne's dad, who is a spinal surgeon.  We greatly value his opinion and knew that he would be upfront with us.  After reviewing my history and speaking with us for about 30 minutes, he said "I think you should have this surgery and get on with your life.  You're too young to be in this much pain and to have it preventing you from getting out there and doing the things you love."

So that is what I am doing.  This Thursday (the 11th) I will be having an anterior cervical fusion.  They will go in through the front of my neck and remove my cervical disc, putting a bone graft into the area.  Then he will use two screws to hold it all together so that the fusion can complete over time.  I will be in the hospital for 1-2 nights, and then in bed at home for another couple of weeks.  After that, I will have to continue to wear my neck brace for up to 6 weeks.  That should be fun in the hot Texas sun.  We ask that you will please keep us in your prayers.   Please pray for the surgery to go well and the recovery to be speedy.

I do want to brag about my awesome husband for a minute.  He has been such an incredible blesssing in my life.  The last 6 months we have had some real challenges in our lives.  Even so, I am amazed at his constant strength and positive attitude.  He is really an inspiration to me.  Plus he has been a real champ about doing most of the housework and taking care of me through all of this.

In other news, I have just finished up my 1st year of teaching in Plano ISD (my 7th year of teaching all together).   I have really enjoyed the transition to my new school this year and feel like it is the perfect fit for me.  The whole year was suprisingly smooth and has absolutley flown by.   I am so blessed to have such an awesome team and to have developed some great new friendships!  I am looking forward to teaching first grade again with all of them next year.

Dave has been working really hard on the house and especially in the yard.  I can't wait to post the pictures of all that he has done.  That's one thing we have learned:  that we both really enjoy working out in that yard!  I can't wait to be able to get back out there with him again.  One of Dave's friends is in landscaping and will be helping us with the finishing touches.  In a couple of weeks we will be getting our new grass and doubling the size of the backyard.

We are both looking forward to going to South Dakota in mid July to celebrate Grandpa Wendell turning 80. We haven't seen the family since December, so we miss everyone so much and we're pumped about having some quality time with them!!!   Speaking of, I would like to send a shout out to Uncle Matt, who requested that I update this blog when he sent Dave his birthday card on May 3rd. Sorry Matt!  It took a month...but I did it!