Post Surgery Update

I had my back surgery on Nov 16th and everything went well.  I can't believe I was home 6 hours after they started the surgery!  Last time they had me stay overnight but I guess they (the insurance companies) changed the rules.  But it was great actually, much better than a sleepless night in the hospital.  The pain wasn't too bad (with the appropriate drugs) and I didn't need the drugs any more after the first few days.  The only problem is I still have some lower back pain and sciatic pain in my leg.  I am hopeful it is just from irritation/swelling from the surgery and will subside, but it makes me nervous.  The doctor has said that if the same disc herniates a 3rd time they will do spinal fusion the next time, which is a much more serious surgery with a much longer recovery time from what I understand.   The lingering pain was at its worst about a week after surgery, and has improved some since then.  Today marks 2 weeks since surgery, and I don't even go back to the doctor for followup until Dec 12, so I am hoping it will continue to improve and be better by then.  After that I am sure I will be returning to work as I can't really see any reason I wouldn't be able to.  Too bad, I kind of like being home.

After the first week I have been able to sew/craft as all my work tables are at standing height and it isn't very physical, so it has been nice having something I can do while I am recovering.  Wish I had some way to do this full time and still get paid, but that is not how it works.

Loving my new facebook fan page, it provides me a way to reach more people that are interested in my sewing who may not be my friends on facebook, and avoids boring my friends who are not interested in sewing.  I don't have a ton of fans yet, but enough for now.

I am working on a fun xmas countdown calendar I made with my Cricut for Hayley, I need to finish it today since tomorrow is the first of December.  Pictures hopefully after today.

Here is a cute little turkey box I made her for Thanksgiving.  Love using my Cricut!

I was also able to complete a couple of Big Gives.  I love both of these!

And a Christmas stocking for my beautiful new grandson Tyler:

Speaking of my new Grandson, the kids came over for Thanksgiving and we had a nice quiet evening at home.  Tyler wore the bib I made for him, and Hayley wore the Turkey tee I made.  They are both so darned cute!

That's all for now, maybe I will be able to add the countdown calendar photos later today!

Just a note to let everyone know that I have started a facebook fan page to show items I have made.  This way I won't be sharing all my sewing on my personal page since not everyone is interested, and I can connect with others who are interested in my work who I may not be friends with.

I am hoping to continue to gain interest in my work, but unfortunately due to the fact that I will be having back surgery on Nov 16th, I won't be taking any custom orders for now until after my recovery.  Hopefully I will be feeling well enough to sew within a few weeks at most.  Working full time also gets in the way of my sewing, but I hope to be able to do a few custom orders each month, along with t-shirt orders as they come in.

Here is a direct link to my new page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/ELB-Boutique/290282744329257

As far as my back, I have a herniated disk which causes me all kinds of trouble when I lay down.  It is not too bad when standing, walking, or sitting on a hard surface with back support, but it quite painful when I lay down, sit on a soft surface or without back support, and when I do any bending/lifting.  I had surgery for the same disk in 2009, and the recovery wasn't too bad for the most part, so I am hopeful that this will go well and I will be feeling better quickly.

Everything else is going well, we have a new grandson, Tyler James Bennett, born Oct 12th, and all are doing well.  We plan to host a fairly quiet thanksgiving at home with Greg doing most of the cooking, with direction from me, and I'm sure some help from Jamie (our daughter in law) too.