Growing up, Little House On The Prairie was my #1 favorite TV show. It was a wholesome, good-quality television show that the whole family could enjoy, and one that you had to actually catch live on TV! No DVR, no Netflix, just good, old-fashioned run-to-get-home-to-catch-it-TV!
Melissa Gilbert’s character, Laura Ingalls Wilder, was the free-spirited tomboy we all wanted to be best friends with. Watching Melissa go from a child to a young woman in front of our eyes means we naturally have a vested interest in her personal life!
*Little House on the Prairie* is the quintessential example of classic American television. It’s a show that warms your heart and sticks to your ribs — it’s like oatmeal for your TV!
Watching the series for 9 seasons, the Ingalls became like our own family.
I wanted to live on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota! I wanted to wear bonnets and travel via horse and carriage.
Anyone who watched the show knows that Melissa Gilbert was truly the heartbeat of the series. Watching Laura grow up in front of our eyes made her feel like she was a real friend!
Now, the *Little House on the Prairie* star is giving fans an update on her recent neck surgery.
As fans may know, the 56-year-old has been dealing with her spinal issues for a decade, including a broken back in 2010.
However, we don’t exactly know how the injury was sustained, only that it happened.
She was 46 when she went through her major back surgery, and it was while she was starring in *Little House on the Prairie* the musical that she got her broken back.
She had been playing the character of Ma.
Unfortunately, she didn’t get an appointment with a neurosurgeon to check her back until the show had wrapped. Talk about dedication to the craft!
“He came in and said, ‘Your back is broken, and it has been for months,'” Gilbert told *People*.
“I sort of was in shock for a while. … I thought doing a musical at 46, playing a woman in her late 20s, early 30s was amazing enough. But doing it with a broken back buys me a little more street cred.”
She had to replace a disc in her back with a plastic implant, and also had to fuse a vertebra in her spine.
Honestly, her power and strength are just out of this world.
Not many people can come out of something like this still smiling and hopeful, but she showed fans just how resilient she is.
“One of the things that is great is that I’ve lost about a half inch in my height and I will get that back,” she also said to *People*. “That’s really cool.”
The recovery process for that particular surgery was to take six months, but Gilbert was already making plans.
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Even before she had her surgery, she had already signed on for a movie that she would film later that same year.
“I won’t be jumping around doing a musical for a while,” she said. “The recovery is intense, but my husband [Bruce Boxleitner], my kids and my friends, the casserole brigade, they’re ready.”
Since then, her issues have not gotten any easier. She has been very public about her problems, and that includes yet another operation.
This past weekend, the actress underwent her fourth operation, a neck surgery, that involved removing old implants, repairing a failed fusion, installing a new disc, and more.
“Nothing too gross or gory here but I wanted to share with all of you,” Melissa wrote alongside the clip from DISC Sports & Spine Center. “Especially if anyone out there is dealing with spine issues.”
“Though I am only one week out it is clear that this surgery for me has been a life altering experience. On this Thanksgiving day though I am isolated from all of my loved ones, I am so filled with gratitude,” she continued.
“I know that this isolation is only temporary and that next Thanksgiving, not only will we all be together again, I will be able to cook, play and enjoy this holiday free from pain and limits. Be well and safe everyone. I send you all oceans of love,” she concluded.
This video and update comes a week after Melissa posted a photo of herself in the hospital on the operation day.
“Surgery was wildly successful! Dr Bray was able to remove all the old hardware, shave off bone spurs causing numbness in my right hand and, and, and, he was able to give me the artificial disc!!!” she told her followers.
“Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. I send so much love back to you all,” she concluded.
We’re so happy Melissa is doing better and will be able to have an improved quality of life!
