Surgery Went Well

September 2, 2023: Hello. My early afternoon back surgery today went well, except that now my left leg is numb from my hip to my ankle. A physician examined me this evening. He told me that because I have feeling in my left foot and that I can lift my left leg, all should be well. I also have some numbness in my right leg, but not near as severe as in my left leg. I have had peripheral neuropathy (numbness) in both of my feet for many years.

Obviously, I have some pain in my lower back from the one-inch-long incision. The pain seems to be getting worse as the general anesthesia continues to dissipate. I just took oral pain medication, and a nurse affixed an analgesic patch onto my lower back.

I required surgery to remove (clean out) an infection (an abscess) in one of my spinal disks and in the surrounding bone (osteomyelitis) in my lower back. (I haven't been able to even stand up without severe pain for the past two months.)

I am already in the midst of a six-week-long regimen of daily intravenous antibiotic for a blood infection and possible osteomyelitis (bone infection) in a fracture of my right Tibia. I fractured my right Tibia and my right Fibula (both ankle bones) during two falls in April 2023.