Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert has updated fans that she has officially had a successful fourth spinal surgery. She posted pics on Instagram from her California hospital as well as posted a thorough update.
"Surgery was wildly successful! Dr Bray was able to remove all the old hardware, shave off bone spurs causing numbness in my right hand and, and, and, he was able to give me the artificial disc!!! So now I focus on recovery and remaining Covid free. Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. I send so much love back to you all. Happy Thanksgiving indeed!!! Love and love and love...MG"
The Dancing With The Stars alum opened up about how her third spinal surgery in 2016 was deemed a failure. In April of this year, her doctor told her that she would definitely need another surgery in order to get an artificial disc and mend a hole in her C7 vertebra. Since the coronavirus pandemic makes everything more complicated, the actress waited as long as she could before finally scheduling her surgery.
"So I waited as long as possible," the actress wrote last week as she posted a photo from the airport in New York City ready to fly out to Los Angeles.
"I've now reached the point where the pain is nearly constant and the fingers on my right hand are beginning to tingle. So we scheduled my surgery for this Thursday. Yet another catch, Dr Bray is in California so this morning I am flying there and yet another catch, COVID-19 is worse than ever. So here I am, mask, glasses, gloves, shield, Clorox wiping every surface, ready to fly."
Gilbert wrote that she was channeling her inner Laura Ingalls Wilder going into the spinal fusion surgery, her character from the classic NBC series which she starred in opposite Michael Landon and Karen Grassle.
"I'm channeling my inner Halfpint for this one. The one who believes anything is possible. The one with courage and moxie to spare!!"
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The actress has been open about all of her previous issues related to her neck and back pain. When competing on Dancing With The Stars she had a concussion from a difficult fall and she suffered neck injuries when she was still living out in Hollywood after her house collapsed...with her in it.
"I was standing under the back balcony talking to my kids and it detached from the house and it collapsed on my head," she told People at the time. "I ended up with a concussion and stitches in my head and it compressed two healthy discs in my neck."
The beloved celeb had been living with husband Timothy Busfield in Michigan until the couple recently relocated to NYC a few years ago. Hopefully, life in New York with her hubby gets even better since the unwelcome pain has been eliminated with this surgery.
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