Recovery

I have been home for 3 weeks now. I have discarded my walker which is a good thing. Walking comes in pretty handy now and then. My biggest complaint now is my stomach and the stinging pains that occur when I overstep my bounds.

My stomach is still swolen and really numb. I have no feeling near the incision. It is really hard to sleep still and get comfortable. I hope these feelings go away before I goto work again.

I got a call today that the doctor wants more x rays before my office visit on Aug 18. So, Cindi will take me down to St. Joseph on Monday the 14th.

I am walking about 1 mile each day because other people tell me that walking is the key to getting better. So far, I don't see it.

Another day

I am getting stronger day by day. I am still having trouble walking. I over did it yesterday and paid the price.

Cindi counted 16 staples in my incision. I accidentally rolled over onto my stomach last night while I was sleeping and instantly remembered. Bending over is out of the question right now, so I have a gripper arm "claw" that can pick up a piece of paper off of the floor.

Cindi is a good nurse. I am thankful for her everyday.

It's time for my pain killers,... I can tell.

Back home

I am back home from the hospital. I am trying to learn how to walk again. Standing up is the worst experience. But, if I sit too long I have to move or else.

Here is a picture taken by my doc of the surgery.






I think it went well, but I am glad it is over. Everyday, I get a little bit stronger. I hope so because up until 2 days ago, I was eating ice chips for all my meals.
I got real sick from the morphine and threw up several times. The convulsions were painful because of the incision. It's comparable to a c-section. I have a cut from the belly button to the belt line.
I will post more as I remember it.

Today is the day

I will have to be at Shawnee Mission at 6:45 a.m. for the surgery.
I have completed the pre-surgery tests that they called me about on Friday. I had to go Monday to have an EKG and chest xray along with some blood work.

I will try to post again when I return. No guarantees.
Bye for now.

Surgery is Scheduled

Well, I decided to schedule the surgery. I will go under the knife on July 12th at 7:00 a.m. It will be at Shawnee Mission Medical Center.

I expect to be in the hospital 3~5 days. The doctor will do an anterior fusion. We asked about the disc replacement and the doctor said that he refuses to do that procedure. Already in Florida, there are billboards saying to sign up for a class action if you have had this implant. So, no replacement for me.

He predicts that it will greatly reduce my pain. My discogram showed a pretty severe pain on only one level of my spine. This makes me a good candidate for the fusion.

I will post more when I get the phone calls from Shawnee Mission for more detail on my surgery.

Discogram is Over!

The Discogram is over. They gave me some Vercet (spelling?) to block my memory and relax me. So, I don't remember much. I do remember the doctor triggering my back pain by the injection though.

I'm not feeling the best tonight. It feels like he did a tap dance on my back. They did give me some Vicodin for the pain. I got some good narcotics after the procedure because it hurt like a booger.

Anyway, I'm done with the test and now he mentioned some new options. Since the other disks are healthy, he mentioned a disk replacement instead of a fusion. We will go to Kansas City again on June 23rd to his office to discuss.

I have 3 options:

• Live with it
• Disc replacement
• Disc fusion

Thanks to everybody for their prayers and I appreciate your support.

Aflac came through after all

I checked with AFLAC to see if there could be some kind of extension granted (AFLAC says that you have to have your surgery within 1 year of the injury). They said that they would have to check and "get back with me". Well, they said that I need a letter from my doctor saying that they have tried all conservative treatments.... and that the surgery is for the same injury that occured.

I don't even have to submit this letter until after the surgery. So, at least I won't get hosed on that.

Thursday approaches....