Spinal Surgery Coming Up

Get well soon and better don't hurry the add-ons after the surgery, you are off for eight weeks for a good reason.
 
Best wishes, and mind how you go.

G.
 
Good luck, and have a good recovery. Strangely enough, being sick/recovering from a procedure can be a very enjoyable time.
 
good luck, and remember Monty Python's message:
"Always look on the bright side of life"

now you get 8 weeks off to chillax!

take it easy bro (had to add to the wide variety of similar statements :P) and well see you back once youre fixed ;)
 
Godspeed Saturn V! And good luck from a fellow 'fifty-something'.;)
 
Heartfelt thanks to everyone for the good wishes.

Stay out of trouble till I get back...oh yeah, I also want full (500 word minimum and spelling & punctuation count) reports on any of your flights that I miss while I'm gone. Repeating the same phrase over & over (I WILL land at Brighton Beach/ I WILL land at Brighton Beach, etc) does not count...:LOL!:


See y'all after "splashdown."
 
Hey Don, just want to wish you the best and a speedy recovery! Take care my friend, we will still be here when you get this done and get to feeling better. :tiphat:
 
Mental attitude makes all the difference. You will do fine. All the best and speedy recovery. The Orbiter Forum are good people and they never would wish ill on another.

I know, since my wife got cancer all have been totally supportive.:)
 
Just got home (kept me 24 hours because what was supposed to be a 1 hour surgery turned into 3). Apparently I'm one of those rarities that has two nerves branching off the spinal cord on each side, with one passing over the herniation and one trapped under it. Surgeon said it surprised the Hell out of him when he went in because it wasn't visible on the MRI, and in 26 years, this is only the fourth time he's seen this condition. But it does explain why it seemed my pre-op pain was disproportionate to the herniation.

Fairly sore at the incision site, but bearable. The ache in the hip & leg are still there, but the doc says that's due to inflamation at the surgical site, not because the surgery didn't work. Here's hoping he's right...

Think I need to lay down for now (the painkillers are pretty good stuff!:cheers: ), but wanted to check in & say thanks again for all the good wishes.

See y'all in a few days...

Don
 
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Hey saturn V,
Good to hear everything went well.
As a Physical Therapist that specializes in spinal disorders for the last 20 years I'd be more than happy to help you in any way I can ( advice, exercise down the road etc) So feel free to call on me if you have any questions,concerns etc.; I deal with these post-op things daily.:cheers:
 
Good to hear you are keeping well, mind how you go, G.
 
Well, this sucks. Saw the nuerosurgeon again yesterday. He says I shouldn't still be in this much pain.

Also said a new MRI won't show anything definitive because it would be clouded with blood & fluid still pooled around the disc from the surgery.

If there's no improvement within the next 10 - 14 days, he'll have to reopen the incision to see what's wrong (he say's there's a 5% chance that the disc re-herniated after surgery, but it'd be the first he's ever seen that did). There is still pretty significant swelling (though it's lower along the spine than it was and the pain now emanates from the right hip) which he believes is because of the manipulation involved in untangling the mess he found in there. That's why he's not in a rush to open my back again. But the pain should be getting better by this point and it doesn't seem to be.

I'm just so freaking tired of the pain...painkillers that don't work (Hell, I'm just tired of the painkillers - PERIOD). Tired of yelping like an old dog somebody kicked everytime I move...

And now I have to consider job security on top of everything else. I'm out of leave, sick & FMLA time, so my job will likely be on the line if I can't go back on 11/15.

I am NOT a happy guy.
pissed.gif
 
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