Showers, Shorts, and other things I've missed

Hi! I got out of the hospital on Saturday and am happy to report that I am walking! I was only supposed to be in the hospital for 4 days, but I don't do things how I'm supposed to. I ended up staying in PICU for 7 days and on the general floor for 2. Fun times - not. The good thing is the nurses in PICU are amazing! They all care so much and that makes a huge difference in my care. Surgically I did great, no spinal fluid leaks, noticed the difference of my strength/feeling in my legs pretty much immediately as expected, and my scar is healing up nicely! Sadly my gastroparesis (slowing down of the GI tract - you digest your food in 20min, I digest mine in 160min) decided to be difficult. I was dry heaving and couldn't keep food down, it got to the point they thought about possibly doing PPN (peripheral parenteral nutrition) it's nutrients but through an IV. I had been poked 10xs for IVs by this point (on my mom's blog you can see the pics of my bruised arms) and they would have had to start a separate line for the PPN since no other meds can go through the same tube. I had two IVs in so that would've the third. Lucky for me my mom suffers from a severe case of JMS (Jewish Mother Syndrome) it's incurable, but at this point it's proved useful that she has it, the symptoms of this syndrome include - major overprotectiveness, the need to make sure everyone is well fed 24/7, the desire to put loved ones in bubble wrap/helmets/any other kind of protective gear, and displaying signs of major germaphobia in airports/malls/any other place a loved one could possibly get ill - at this point there is no treatment, but I'm okay with that. If it were for my mom being the way she is I probably would've ended up on PPN, taking all the wrong meds that made me sicker, and could still possibly be stuck in the hospital. Which would be horrible because, as all of you who were following my mom's blog know, my hair would probably be in dread locks by now.

While in the hospital it's the little things that you miss; the ability to wear actual clothing, having privacy, taking a decent shower (heck you're lucky if you get a shower at all in the hospital!), and washing your hair! I hadn't used shampoo in 9 days while I was in the hospital! My hair was a rat's nest so we kept using a bottle of conditioner and lots of detangler every time we tried to brush it out. We would purposely leave in some of the conditioner so needless to say my hair was gross. As soon as I found out I was getting out my parents asked me what I wanted to do first. Most people say eat a decent meal, that wasn't appealing to me as I was just starting to be able to keep food down at that point, but I said - get my hair done and take an actual shower with actual soap! The hotel we were staying at had a salon in the basement so I got my hair washed and blow dried there and have been enjoying shower's minus the fact of being careful of my back. I have follow ups with my amazing neurosurgeon Dr. Tye on Friday as well as a follow up with a neurologist who was consulting on my case. Overall things are starting to look up especially since I can now wear pants and shorts again! *Hallelujah Music* I fly home on the 20th and I can't wait! By the time we get back Mom and I will have been gone for 5 weeks! Crazy right? I'll keep posting updates on everything going on here, hopefully nothing too eventful will happen.
All my Love ~ The Sic(k) Chick