Melissa Gilbert is getting ready to undergo her fourth spinal fusion surgery.
On Monday, the former “Little House on the Prairie” star posted a picture of New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Instagram alongside a lengthy caption explaining her medical woes.
The 56-year-old actress revealed that she had her first neck fusion surgery in 2001 and her third in 2016.
“I found out late last year that the fusion had failed,” she wrote. “that the hardware was boring a hole in my C7 vertebra and I would need another surgery.”
Gilbert shared that in April her doctor recommended an artificial disc instead of fusion but it would have to be done within six months, but the COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible.
“I’ve now reached the point where the pain is nearly constant and the fingers on my right hand are beginning to tingle,” she confessed. “So we scheduled my surgery for this Thursday.”
The doctor is in California so Gilbert, who has been spending lockdown with husband Timothy Busfield in their upstate New York home, flew cross-country.
“So here I am, mask, glasses, gloves, shield, Clorox wiping every surface, ready to fly,” she wrote, adding that, “My only job now is to stay free of this horrible virus so I can have my surgery.”
“I’m channeling my inner Halfpint for this one,” Gilbert concluded. “The one who believes anything is possible. The one with courage and moxie to spare!! Everyone stay safe, stay healthy, stay strong. And if you have an extra prayer or two, please send them my way.”