CBS46 chief meteorologist Jennifer Valdez had artificial disc replacement surgery on her spine Thursday.
“My disc was so degenerated,” she wrote on her public Facebook page, “I was basically bone on bone... The doctor had to stretch the area significantly to allow the new implant to fit. He said I will be about 1/3 of an inch taller.”
She was able to do some physical therapy Thursday. “I was so impressed I could do that so quickly after surgery,” she wrote.
Not that she felt ready to run a marathon just yet. “My back feels like it was hammered with a baseball bat,” she wrote, “but my incision (vertical incision on my belly) is only giving me minimal discomfort.”
She wrote her Facebook post 10 hours after surgery, noting, “so far, I’m feeling great!”
Valdez joined CBS46 in 2008 and worked mostly mornings there until she was named chief meteorologist last year.
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