Melissa Gilbert is grateful for everything.
The former Little House on the Prairie star, 56, reflected on everything she had to be thankful for this Thanksgiving one week after undergoing her fourth spinal surgery.
Gilbert captioned a video of the Nov. 19 procedure, “Though I am just one week out, it is evident that this procedure for me has been a life-changing experience.”
“Despite being separated from my loved ones this Thanksgiving, I am overjoyed. “I am conscious that this is only a temporary separation and that by the following Thanksgiving, not only will we all be reunited, but I will also be free of pain and constraints to making food, playing games, and enjoying the holiday,” she added. “Best wishes, and please be careful. “I’m sending you oceans of love.”
The next day, Gilbert provided another health update, 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 out of California four days ago after receiving a negative test result three days previously. If this test is negative, I’ll be able to be in the same room as my husband! ” She gathered herself. “Due of the projected 14-day incubation period, I’m keeping a safe distance. But I’m getting there, and I’m optimistic!”
Gilbert was lucky in that the results were negative. “Yeeeeeehaw!!! I can get to our place upstate. “All we have to do for the next ten days is be cautious and careful, and then we can go home,” she wrote on Saturday. “I can’t wait to hug my hubby.”
Gilbert recently stated that she realized something was amiss when she began to feel “numbness and tingling in the three middle fingers of my right hand.” Gilbert needed more surgery in 2016 when a third spinal fusion failed.
“I’ve always had this sort of steady hum of, I don’t know how else to put it, the sort of low hum of ache,” she observed.
“All I could feel was pain. My entire neck would sometimes freeze up. Because it would tighten or flare up, I couldn’t elevate my head or turn to the right or left.”
On the other hand, Gilbert said she’s been “feeling terrific” after the surgery.
“It’ll be all about not moving and not pushing now that I’m at ease,” she explained. “I don’t want to complicate things. As a result, I’ll have to tread carefully.”
Gilbert has a long history of neck and back problems due to 2012 injuries. After falling on Dancing with the Stars, she suffered whiplash and a concussion. A few months later, the balcony of a property she was renting in Studio City, California, collapsed over her head.
“I am prone to mishaps. There is no getting around that. But I’ve made a deliberate decision not to live my life in dread.”
Gilbert said she is “quite thrilled” to play with her soon-to-be granddaughter when asked what she is most looking forward to in the future.
She expressed her delight at seeing them freely, allowing her to hold and kiss her precious grandchild. “I just became a grandmother. I get to wrestle and have fun. As a result, I want to be able to perform to the best of my skills.”
