Melissa Gilbert Has Already Undergone 4th Spinal Surgery

A week after her fourth spine surgery, the 56-year-old Little House on the Prairie star thought of everything she needed to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

“Although only one week has passed, it is clear that this operation has changed my whole life for me,” Gilbert wrote along with a video of the procedure, which was performed on November 19.

“On this Thanksgiving Day, although I am isolated from all my loved ones, I am so grateful. I know that this isolation is temporary and that next Thanksgiving we will not only be together again, I will be able to cook, play and enjoy this holiday without pain or limitation,”she added. “Be healthy and protect yourself and your loved ones. I send you all oceans of love. "

In another health update the next day, Gilbert shared that she was being tested for coronavirus after flying to New York from California, where she had surgery.

“I flew from California four days ago, three days before that I had a negative test. If the test result is negative, I can really be in the room with my husband!”She wrote. “Still keeping our distance due to a possible 14 day incubation period. But I am one step closer and full of hope!"

Fortunately for Gilbert, the results were negative. "Yeah! I can go to our suburb. Now we just need to be careful and attentive for ten days, and then we will be home!”- she wrote on Saturday. "Can't wait to hug my husband!"

Gilbert, who had to undergo another surgery after learning that her third fusion (type of surgery) had failed in 2016, recently revealed that she first realized something was wrong when she began to experience “numbness and a tingling sensation in three fingers of the right hand."

“I've always had such a constant hum, I can't describe it other than a quiet hum of pain,” she explained. “There was just pain. From time to time, my whole neck just squeezed. She tensed or flushed, and I could not turn my head to the right or left or lift my head up.

However, after surgery, Gilbert said she "feels great."

“Now it's all about staying inactive and not pushing because I feel so good,” she added. “I don’t want to spoil anything. So I have to be very, very careful."

Gilbert has a long history of neck and spine problems due to injuries sustained in 2012. First, she suffered an injury and concussion after falling during Dancing with the Stars, and a few months later the balcony of a house she was filming at Studio City, California collapsed over her head.

“I am prone to accidents. There are no two options,”said the actress. "But I made a conscious decision not to endure and not live with fear."

As for something she's looking forward to in the future, Gilbert said she is "very excited" to be able to play with her grandson in the future without pain.

“I am very glad that I can travel freely and just hug my little granddaughter, as well as hug and kiss my family,” she said. “I am a young grandmother. I fight and play. So, I would like to be able to do it to the fullest."