Hello everyone, It's been a long time since I posted on my blog. There are several things I need to update you on.
November 2016- Surgery
I had an anterior disectomy spinal fusion C6 to C7. I fell on the ice in 2012 while ice skating. I landed on my right shoulder. I was sore the next day as expected but then gradually over four years, a pain in the form of a muscle spasm under my shoulder blade began to disable me. I lost the use of my right hand and had began to suffer nerve damage. It took the right doctors and an MRI to reveal two bulging discs that was almost bone to bone, sawing into a nerve. I have no natural curve in my neck do to physical therapy's recommendation of neck traction for several years. I have spinal stenosis with bone spurs in my entire C level discs in my neck. I had MRI on a Monday, Doctors spoke to me about it on Tuesday and by that Thursday I was in surgery.
I woke up immediately and felt better. I had ran the risk of severing a nerve.
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| * Waiting on Dr Wade |
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| * After recovery room and still on morphine |
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| * Believe it or not, they cut through the throat for this surgery |
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| * Going home, same day! Had a great chauffeur |
Thankfully, my cadaver disc and a titanium plate with four screws are holding me together. It takes about six months for the cadaver bone to grow full and other than knowing the spinal opening of the vertebra will get smaller over time, I am doing well. It took a bit longer to get full use of my hand , the nerve had to wake up. Boy it felt awkward.
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| *12/21/16 post operation xray |
Before this surgery, that October, I had photographed what would be my final wedding as I can not put that kind of pressure around my neck by hanging my camera around it. I had resolved to be only a studio photographer.
I took some time off to regroup and re brand as a High End Fashion studio photographer. This took longer that what you would think. In order not to stress myself out, I took another year off, but managed to get a set of photos published. When I had this established, I did a few photography sessions but realized I needed to recuperate after each session more than I did before. All that hardware moving leaves you sore and exhausted. Eventually I didn't need to wait so long between appointments.
During that year, my Mother In Law was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma in May and I had decided not to take any appointments so I could help her when needed.
*Jimmie Ann Layman
It was a good thing I did because by July my Labrador suffered a collapse disc and is bone to bone in his back. He couldn't walk for over a week and I had to give him home physical therapy. He is doing well but he was too old for surgery that would require him to put zero pressure on his spine for at least a year. Rest and medication was our only option.
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| * He had to lay like this for three days doped on medication |
He's doing well and on bad weather days needs pain medications. He's now 10 yrs old and still my entire heart.This was him at this years Christmas Eve Party!
At this point my heart is in an extreme ache for things were spinning fast out of control. Early that September my Father died and we laid my Mother In Law to rest by October 11th. A Week after, I was back at the funeral home saying bye to another family member, an Uncle. At this point my head was mush. By November my Mother suffers a heart attack needing a triple bypass but her stint gets septic and she goes back to the hospital, never to recover. She passed away December 21st, 2017.
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| * Mom & Dad |
While she was in CICU, I was gathering things to go see her in the hospital, where I suffered my own heart issue of SVT. Having a heart beat of 258 bpm, I had to have my heart stopped twice in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I land in the ER of the hospital where my Mother is suffering and I'm so weak and on beta blockers with an appointment for a cardiologist, I am forced to go home and rest instead of visit with her that day.
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| * Reading from the Paramedics |
January 2018- My Cardiologist Appt.
My Doctor is amazing. We discussed options of forever being on beta blockers, or I could have an ablation. I chose the ablation. Let me explain.
An ablation is where they put a camera catheter through groin area to reach the main artery and they go inside the heart, while you are awake and strapped down to the table. They force your heart into fast rhythms and they burn the area. SVT is Supra Ventricular Tachyardia which is a blanket term before they determine what kind your heart actually has. I had the better form AVNRT, AtrioVentricular Nodal Reentrant Tachyardia. Its the circuit in the heart's natural pace maker. They found 5 places to burn and I had to stay over night. Burning causes scar tissue and will not allow the hearts natural current to take off to the races. I am feeling better each day. Some days I'm very tired. I have main triggers that effect my heart, stress , anxiety being my #1 triggers along with lack of sleep. So if I control that , I feel less stress in my chest.
* Waiting on Dr Coleman, Yes that's 2 IV's!!
by March I had a biopsy that required me to have a partial vulvectomy to remove pre skin cancer on my whoohoo, yes, down there. Pathology said they got everything and that it was at a stage they called severe displasia. Vulvar Cancer is extremely rare with .6% of women getting it.
* My boy taking care of me after my Vulvectomy, I'm not able to move far from the sofa. Walking , sitting and standing was extremely difficult.
I had not had time to grieve anyone's death and was pushed into two major surgeries with only a month in between them.
I also had to deal with my parent's affairs and was then stuck in the Probate game for 7 months, trying to heal, make sense of everything and not suffer major depression, while making sure the state of Alabama had everything they needed to close my parent's estate.
Getting through the holidays again, sets me back , there is a lot to reflect on and now I feel I can grieve my parent's death and it comes when it comes. You have no control over it. I am still taking it easy. But,I dont think I have grieved properly.
So, My next photography venture is to get more stock photography and Urbex my way around a few states, while couch surfing at friend's houses. I need that time with my camera attached to my face, being in my favorite zone, the photography zone and dealing with my emotions.
I hope this explains my long hiatus in posting. Thank you to all who have stayed with me, given me support, kept inviting me to things even knowing I was depressed and didn't want to go. Its hard to fake smile while your heart is still breaking.
May this new year bring us all something bright to cling to and help us keep our faith in people and our heads high when we are let down by life and love.
