As I sit in my bed, two days out of surgery, I have stopped to think about how thankful I am for everything that happened over the past week. Back in 2012, I found out that I had a herniated disc in the lumbar region of my back, L4-L5 to be exact. Since then, I was able to maintain this sports induced/genetically passed on injury, but on July 9, my body finally gave up. But now, the torture is over, and I am now on the road to complete recovery.

When I woke up on July 9, I had normal sciatica pain that I had become so accustomed to. As the day progressed on, I realized that something was not right. After attempting to get into the car, my pain became unbearable. I could barely walk, as found that the minimal comfort that I had was in laying down. My week from hell had begun.

Backs are a funny thing. At first, I began icing and taking Advil, simply thinking that I had thrown it out. I was hopeful that the next day I would wake up and the pain would have subsided, but I was wrong. On Sunday, I woke up in even more pain than the day before, and panic had set in. I was crawling to the bathroom, and needed constant assistance. Getting out of bed had become a rare occurrence, and one in which I dreaded because I knew that it would only result in pain and tears.

At this point, I was stuck in bed, waiting for the weekend to end so that I could get to some doctors. The plan on Monday was to get to the chiropractor to see if he could assess anything. This helped, but only to an extent. It was not going to solve the issue of the reality that I was facing, which I slowly began to realize was something that needed to be fixed immediately.

My pain from here on out was consistently awful. I cried whenever I had to pee, I was anxious, and I had to rely on my parents to help me do anything. Luckily, I was able to get to Dr. Schoeb, an orthopedic spine surgeon, who was my doctor when I originally herniated my disc in 2012. When we arrived at the office, I knew that I would not be able to sit in the waiting room strictly because of pain, so I stayed reclined in the front seat of my car until they were ready for me. My anxiety was high. Meeting with the nurse at first, I explained my discomfort and everything that I had been experienced over the past few days. They took my in for X-rays, but I knew that this was not enough to determine the problem.

When Dr. Schoeb finally came into the room, he immediately noticed that I was not doing well based on the fact that I could not even sit up without being in pain. The good news here was that I was able to pass all of his strength tests. After a quick discussion, he concluded that an MRI needed to be done as soon as possible in order to go forward, and this was something that I was ready for. To ease the pain in the meantime, he prescribed me painkillers, which ended up minimally alleviating the agony I was going through.

My mom was able to schedule my MRI for Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. The pain that I experienced from going in the car was once again, awful. When we arrived at the ACC unit of a nearby hospital for my MRI, the waiting room was full, and I was confused because we were one of the last appointments of the day. The woman at the front desk explained that the MRI machines at the hospital had broken today, so everyone was sent to the ACC. I was in so much pain, and I had to hold back tears. Eventually, the nurses worked with us and got me into a reclining chair in the back so that I could wait for my MRI with slightly less discomfort. After waiting for over an hour, I went into that closed tube, shut my eyes, and prayed that everything was going to be ok.

Another sleepless night rolled around due to pain, but somehow I knew that Thursday would be the light at the end of the tunnel. I returned to Dr. Schoeb at 10:00 a.m. for a follow-up appointment. They saw me immediately this time since they knew how bad my pain was. He pulled up the MRI results, and even I knew it was bad. There was a huge black circle where it was not supposed to be. He told us my disc appeared to have ruptured. He asked if I wanted to try a stronger painkiller and wait through the weekend, and I told him no. I wanted surgery as soon as possible.

The ball got moving fairly quickly from this point. I was scheduled for surgery on Thursday at 4 pm. After we left Dr. Schoeb's office, I went home, showered and we went to the hospital. From here, everything was one big blur.

I arrived at the hospital with my parents, where we waited to be called in for the pre-operation ritual. Luckily, when I was called in, my mom was allowed to come. I do not do well with needles, and I knew that I was only going to get through it if she held my hand along the way.

I was blessed with a wonderful nurse in the pre-op room. Although she struggled to find veins to give blood and set me up with an IV (I have very small veins), she was able to keep me comfortable. When the hard part was over, it was 3:45, and I was ready to get going, but as always, there was a problem. A massive storm had come through the town I was in, and knocked on the power. The hospital was running on generators, and there was no way they were starting surgery unless the power was back on.

I was devastated, but I did not want to give up. I watched as patient after patient was sent home around me. I did not want that to be me, just based on the fact that I could not go back home and be in pain again. Dr. Schoeb came to see me a few times, saying that he will hold on for me as long as he can. They were giving me a new painkiller through my IV, which instantly eased my pain, but it wasn't going to last forever.

Around 8:45, I looked over at my mom with teary eyes and told her that we need a plan B. At that point, I hadn't had food or water for about 12 hours, and I knew that I was not strong enough for surgery. At that, I did not want anyone operating on me that late in the evening either.

My mom grabbed the nurse and explained what we were thinking. She got on the phone with the doctor, and before I knew it, I was approved to spend the night with a one-day delay of my surgery. I was so relieved, and so thankful for the wonderful nurse that fought for me to stay. Thank you Aurelia, I will never forget what you did.

Throughout the night, I was woken up every three hours to get more painkillers. I remember waking up at 4 a.m. and asking my nurse if the power had come back on, and she said yes. I was so relieved.

I woke up on Friday morning with the relief that I would finally be taken out of misery. I was fed right before 7 a.m., my last meal of the day. I was ready to finally have my problem fixed.

As Friday progressed on, my anxiety returned because I did not know the exact time I was having surgery. Since I was not in the original schedule, they were coming to get me at some point, but with no warning. 24 hours after the power went out, at 3:45, I was abruptly woken up by a nurse who was telling me that they were coming to get me. I frantically texted my parents, who had gone downstairs so that I could sleep in peace. They rushed upstairs to help me get from point A to point B.

The time had finally come to have my surgery. I was nervous, starving and exhausted, but as I said goodbye to my parents, I knew that it was all going to be ok. I don't even remember falling asleep.

Four hours later, I woke up frantically gasping for air. The nurse gave me oxygen, told me that I did great, and then my panic was over. When I was awake enough, my parents came in. I was so excited that everything was over, and that all that needed to be done was recover.

I returned to my original room, and decided to stay one more night in the hospital. They switched me to another painkiller, which worked wonderfully. The first time I got up to use the bathroom on my own, I almost cried. I was ok, and my nightmare was over.

At 6 p.m. on Saturday, I left the hospital and returned home. I was relieved to be back in the comfort of my own bed. Saturday night was the first night in over a week that I slept for more than four hours at a time, and my goodness, did it feel great.

Now, I am dealing with soreness, which is nothing compared to the pain that I was in. I rest a lot during the day, but I also get up a walk around, which is an essential part of my recovery. I am so happy that I can go back to being myself.

I would not have been able to get through this past week if it was not for my amazing parents. They helped me through the pain. Thank you Dad for helping me walk. Thank you Mom for being the best nurse and comforting source. Along with my parents, I would not be out of pain if it was not for Dr. Schoeb and the wonderful nurses that I encountered at the hospital. Having an emergency surgery is not easy, but my doctor was more than willing to work with me, and I will forever be grateful for that.

As I sit in my bed, two days out of surgery, I am good. I have not felt such relief in a long time. This past week, and I had to be brave, and I am so happy that I was, because now, I can focus on a full and easy recovery.