Melissa Gilbert is thankful for everything.
One week after enduring her fourth spinal surgery, the former Little House on the Prairie star, 56, pondered everything she had to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Gilbert posted a video of the Nov. 19 treatment with the statement, “Though I am just one week out, it is evident that this operation for me has been a life-changing experience.”
“Despite being separated from my loved ones this Thanksgiving, I am quite grateful. “I am conscious that this is only a temporary separation and that by the following Thanksgiving, not only will we all be back together, but I will also be free of pain and constraints to making food, playing games, and enjoying the holiday,” she added. “Best wishes, and remain safe. Oceans of love are being sent your way.”
Gilbert provided another health update the next day, revealing that she had flown from California, where she had surgery, to New York, where she was being tested for the new coronavirus.
“I flew from California four days ago after receiving a negative test result three days previously. If this test comes back negative, I’ll be able to be in the same room as my husband! ” She gathered her thoughts. “Due to the projected 14-day incubation period, I’m keeping a safe distance. But I’m getting there, and I’m hopeful!”
Gilbert was fortunate in that the outcomes were unfavorable. “Yeeeeeehaw!!! I can get upstate to our place. “We just need to be cautious and watchful for the next ten days, and then we can go home,” she wrote on Saturday. “I can’t wait to embrace my hubby.”
Gilbert recently stated that she became aware that anything was amiss when she began to experience “numbness and tingling in the three middle fingers of my right hand.” Gilbert needed more surgery after a third spinal fusion failed in 2016.
“I always had this sort of steady hum of, I don’t know how else to express it, the sort of low hum of ache,” she observed.
“There was nothing but anguish. My entire neck would occasionally freeze up. I wouldn’t be able to elevate my head or turn to the right or left because it would tighten or flare up.”
Gilbert, on the other hand, indicated that she has been “feeling terrific” following the operation.
“Now that I’m at ease, it’ll be all about not moving and not pushing,” she explained. “I don’t want to cause any problems. As a result, I must proceed with extreme caution.”
Gilbert has a long history of neck and back problems due to injuries received in 2012. She sustained whiplash and a concussion after falling on Dancing with the Stars. A few months later, the balcony of a condominium she was renting in Studio City, California, collapsed over her head.
“I’m prone to mishaps. There is no way around it. But I’ve decided not to live my life in dread.”
When asked what she looks forward to in the future, Gilbert replied she is “quite thrilled” to play with her soon-to-be granddaughter.
She expressed her delight at being allowed to see them freely so she could embrace her precious granddaughter and give them both hugs and kisses. “I recently became a grandmother. I get to wrestle and play. So I want to accomplish it to the best of my skills.”
