Getting Ready for Thursday

The neurosurgeon told me that the disc between my L5 and S1 is herniated, and that's what pinching the nerve.  So I guess they make a small incision and go in with a camera and cut out the part of the disc that's causing the trouble.  Or something like that.

I went to my pre-op appointment Friday and got this beautiful thing to wear until surgery...

And they told me I had to stop taking the one medication that actually helped with the pain.  I stopped taking my wonderful ibuprofen yesterday, and the past day and a half has been full of non-stop ridiculous pain.  This is going to be a long week.  I've got some straight oxy, but it barely does anything.  Grr...

Anyways, I go back to the doctor Wednesday to get "marked".  I guess they make a little mark with a permanent marker for where to cut the next day.  And if for some reason that mark isn't there on the grand day, surgery is totally cancelled.  Oh my.  So, yeah...  I'll get a call that Wednesday afternoon to tell me when to show up at the hospital the following day.

Apparently, barring any complications, I'll be up and walking around the same afternoon, but I'll be staying there over night and get to go home the next morning.  From there I'll be back to work in a couple of weeks with a weight restriction of what I can pick up for three months.  Fun.

I'm not at all looking forward to it, but weirdly enough I am so excited for it.  I just want to feel better.  This pain which hasn't allowed me to do much of anything for the past few weeks has just gotta get gone.  It's really been wearing me down.