🌀 Mood: Raw, intense, faithful, relieved

In my last two posts, I shared what led me to Kyphoplasty — the fractures, the back brace, the hope for relief. Today, I want to share what the actual procedure was like.

I had a really difficult time sleeping the night before the kyphoplasty procedure. I didn’t feel especially nervous but sleep just wouldn’t come.

That morning, before we left for the hospital, I said a prayer at home—and my husband prayed again in the car before we walked in. We both knew God was in control of everything, but I also knew this was uncharted territory for me.

When you go in for Kyphoplasty, they walk you into the operating area and lay you down on something that resembles a massage table, face-down into the head cradle. They begin to drape you and then position the x-ray machine that helps guide the neurosurgeon to precisely target the vertebrae that need work. In my case, two fractured vertebrae at T8 and T12—both compressed from the damage this cancer has done to my spine.

At the start, they insert numbing medication using long needles, similar to what you might get before a root canal—sharp at first, then burning as the medicine flows. I had assumed I’d be somewhat sedated. I was wrong. That part never came.

And that’s when things got intense.

It’s hard to describe the feeling of this procedure. Painful is the obvious word. Because you’re awake—and you can feel the instruments entering your bones. You can hear it, too. It sounded like my bones were splitting in half. Terrifying.

Before the procedure, you’re given medications like Valium and Oxycodone to help calm you. But for me, they didn’t kick in until after it was over. The worst moment was when the actual cement was injected into the vertebrae—an extremely painful step. The doctor was excellent, he walked me through every moment, but even he seemed surprised by how much I could feel.

All I could do was pray. In the moment. In the pain. And so, I did.

Once the cement was in place, they rolled me onto a new bed and moved me into recovery. You stay there about 30 minutes to let the bone cement cure. After that, you’re free to go.

My husband told me afterward that the doctor said everything went really well. We’ll meet again in two weeks for post-op.

When I got home, I finally crashed. I slept for three solid hours, which felt like a miracle. Later, I even took a short walk around the neighborhood. I definitely still have pain at the injection sites, but overall — I feel pretty good.