Progress

On January 11th, the day of Terry's knee surgery, the temps around here were in the high 50s. The next day they reached 60+ with lots of rain. That changed quickly as the temps dropped with the rain on the night of the 12th. We ended with about 1/4 inch of ice covered by about six inches of snow that fell from Friday night through the day Saturday. Luckily, Terry was home already so there was no need to go rushing up to Corning Hospital for visiting. Instead, I spent three hours Sunday using the snowblower to clear the driveway. The ice stayed. And the temperatures remained below freezing for nearly a week.

During that week, we also had another snowfall broken into two three inch episodes--with a visiting therapists sandwiched in between. Of course, I had to shovel the first three inches to clear the drive for the PT. Three hours done by hand left my hobbling almost as badly as Terry! The next day, I went out and shoveled the second three inches--also by hand. So, all in all, I spent nine hours over four days in single to barely double digit temps shoveling snow that was, thankfully, light and fluffy.

Yesterday, Friday, the sun came out and started to melt some of the snow on the roof and deck. Today, it's also sunny with temps into the mid 40s. The driveway still has a thick layer of ice that even a little salt and a lot of ashes haven't helped melt but the predicted warm temps (more 40s) and rain may eventually make a dent in that ice.

Terry has been hobbling around the house with the help of a walker and is progressing nicely after having had a partial replacement of her left knee. She's taken over the first floor bedroom (our normally "cat free zone") with easy access to her sewing room and the bathroom. Julie cat won't let her go anywhere without her--including the "cat free" bedroom. She (Julie wants to cuddle and cleave to her mommy to the point that she will miss a meal if need be.

Terry has 24 staples along the main incision into her left knee and another four each at holes above and below that; holes that must have been made for the assisting robot to hold her leg in position. All 32 staples will be removed on Tuesday over in Wellsboro. The visiting PT has given her exercises to do and has monitored her activity around the house twice now and she also is impressed with Terry's progress. Still, Terry is complaining that the staples are limiting her motion as they pull when she bends her leg doing exercises.

I'm trying to remember what my own progress was like back in 2013, but our situations aren't very similar. I had both knees totally replaced and then spent four days in the old Corning Hospital before being moved over to St. Joe's in Elmira for rehab and introductory PT. Terry was in on Thursday and sent home on Friday having had only two sessions with a therapist to give her an idea of the exercises she should do at home.

Meanwhile, on top of my snow shoveling duties, I'm doing all the cooking and cleaning with plenty of verbal assistance either from the sewing room, bedroom or directly over my shoulder. (Cooking has been relatively easy. Terry roasted a turkey on Wednesday before her surgery so we had two-three days of left overs before I froze the rest of the bird. Spaghetti, venison steak, salmon fillet, scallops...nothing super fancy and most of it done easily enough in a frying pan on the stove top.)

January 10th. Winter. BAH! Humbug!

*sigh*

Almost a month since my last post. Christmas has come and gone. New Year's, too. We've had one--count it, ONE--snowfall that required shoveling. But we have had many, many days where the high temperature was under 20 degrees F and the low was below 0 degrees.

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I continue to feed three outdoor cats as well as the six indoor kitties. I've built two insulated shelters for the outdoor girls and on the real cold nights at least two of them make use of those shelters. Where the third goes, I have only have a few ideas--under the shed, under the hunting camp 150 yards down hill, or, perhaps, there's a hidden den on the hill somewhere among the branches and grape vines I've piled up.

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I've also been feeding the fireplace during the cold weather. I may actually burn all the firewood I've had stacked behind the garage--some of which has been there for three years. That's a good thing as some of it is starting to get a little punky. Mostly the softer poplar. It's also okay because I've some wood left from the crew that cleaned the powerline right of way to harvest as well as several birch, ash and maple trees I want to fell. As soon as the wind drops and the weather warms a bit.

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We didn't go into New Jersey on Christmas Eve because of weather forecasts of several inches of snow that we would have had to drive through on the way home. (That "storm" turned into a dud producing only an inch of snow at the Aerie.) We DID manage to get into NJ on January 7th for my grandniece's first birthday. NJ, of course, had a heck of a lot more snow than we did having just suffered the snowmagedon of the year.

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Tiadaghton Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count took place on January 1st. While the temperature was hovering between 5 and 6 degrees most of the morning, we did have very little wind and mostly sunny skies. We also got to see quite a few more birds than last year. Las year we may have spotted 15 BIRDS. This year we spotted 15 species and 270 birds. We did our birding from the car and covered 78 miles of back roads in central Tioga County--the southern edge of our club's circle. The club had a total of 52 species and 3670 birds within our circle.

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Terry and I have decided upon--and booked--a cruise of the lower Mississippi for May. We'll be on the Mississippi Queen, a paddlewheeler of the American Cruise Lines. The boat leaves New Orleans on April 28 sailing up the Mississippi to Vicksburg and then returns to New Orleans on May 5th so we'll be on the water for Terry's birthday (May 3rd). We've also decided to drive down and back so as to add a possible side trip to either Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri (to see Doug and Lucille) or to Columbia, SC (to see Jim and Pat). At almost $900 per person round trip for a flight out of Philly to New Orleans, we may actually save money driving!

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Terry will be getting a partial knee replacement tomorrow at the Corning Hospital. She's bone on bone and in significant pain that shots have not helped alleviate. She has the same doctor doing her knee as I had replace both my knees. This time, however, he'll be supervising a robot that will do the surgery. Maybe she'll have less leg bruising than I did. Both my legs were balck and blue after surgery.

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Well, I guess that pretty much sums up the last month or so.

Surgery results.

The results:

"Well, that's the last time I tap Buffy on the shoulder!"

"It was pistols at 30 paces. The other guy? Let's just say I'll need to use the backhoe tomorrow."

More Medical Meddling

Spent most of the day up in Corning at the Guthrie Center Way where I had to skin cancers removed. One near my left temple was a squamous cell cancer that they had to test to insure they got it all otherwise there would be more cutting. The other, on the middle of my chest, was of a different variety and simply had to be cut out. Both were early stages and they seem to have been completely removed.

Aside from all the waiting for the lab results to come back, it wasn't that bad an experience. There were lots of jokes about scars and super heroes and random, free flowing repartee and comments from the three of us in the room.

There was a little bit of "ouch!" when he injected pain killers in to the sites, but the actual gouging out of the skin and flesh (about 3/16 to a 1/4 inch deep and 1-1/2 inch long and 1/2 wide in both cases) was surprisingly painless. The doctor had to lengthen both oval areas a bit to stitch things together so the scars are likely to be around 2 inches in length.

Anyway, I got a half of my face lifted a bit so I'm not sneering at you nor am I Elvis or The Joker. And I'll have two lovely white bandages for a couple of weeks and then some scars I can tell lies about. No hard physical activity for three days or so. (I can live with that!)

Week Eleven...

...of my recovery and it's been an interesting one. Things have happened. Luckily those things have little to do with my recovery which is going pretty well, actually.

Last Thursday when I was coming back from birding a truck heading the other way on Route 6 kicked up a stone of which I became aware when it smacked into my windshield--right on the edge of the windshield, right over the passenger's seat. Unlike the stone that hit the windshield back in 2010 and left a nickel-sized bullseye about two inches in from the left edge, this one left three straight line cracks which, if I remember correctly would have just continued to spread as the temperatures warmed up.

I called the insurance company and then made an appointment with Safelite to get the windshield replaced. Problem solved. They did the work on Tuesday afternoon. It took them a little over an hour.

Tuesday. PT in the morning and then over to Wellsboro to have the windshield replaced while Terry and I went to Timeless Destinations for lunch--which was delicious, by the way, despite the sudden onset of something that had me shivering uncontrollably even after a couple of cups of hot tea and a bowl of soup. And I ached all over. When I got home, I went right to bed and threw a second cover over myself. I eventually stopped shaking and started to sweat. I stayed in bed all afternoon and all night and by Wednesday morning I felt better. Still ached in muscle and joint, but it was better. By noon I had finished my rehab exercises and the aches had faded to the background.I've no idea what hit me, but I'm very happy it didn't last long.

Thursday I have PT again. Then I have to take the Tundra in to have its engine checked. It told me it needed this service on Tuesday morning when that damn dashboard light did not go off after starting turning the key.

Oh, and we got word that we owe about 9K in taxes--almost all of it federal, which didn't surprise me. I'd rather have to pay than have to try and get MY money back.

Nine Weeks

Hmmpff! Didn't get nearly as warm today as they forecast it would last Monday. Back then they were saying mid to upper 50s. Today it only got to 35. A windy, chilly, damp 35 at that. You see, the clouds rolled in from the south and brought some rain along with them. Apparently the front associated with that rain slid just a wee bit to our south east and we got the cold side.

Hopefully they are just as wrong about tomorrow's forecast (heavy rain and snow? Seriously?).

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I had my first session of physical therapy (henceforth known as PT for "pain and torture") on Monday afternoon. Spent half the time being evaluated by the head torturer before I was given two stretching exercises to do at home and a third to do while I was still on the slab. Needless to say I felt the stretch afterwards. Sorta like being on the rack but it only affected the buttocks and the hamstrings. They were tight!

I added those two stretching exercises to the repertoire the visiting therapist gave me a couple of weeks ago and have been doing them twice a day as ordered. Only good thing about those two new exercises is that I can do them laying down.

Bright and early tomorrow morning I go back to Elite for my second session of PT. Wonder what they'll have me doing next?

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I supplemented my at home PT with a little yard work the past two days. Did a little walking across the yard to and from the burn barrel on Tuesday when the winds were calm. Our garbage mail, boxes and miscellaneous paper had been building up for a good long time and had to go. I figured the extra CO2 wouldn't hurt either since we here at the Aerie are in the cold zone of the globe. Hell, we've been colder than Anchorage all winter.

Today, I tried to make amends to Terry for throwing so many stones into her flower beds next to the driveway. Holy mother Mary! Were there a lot of stones! It's surprising that I "only" broke two shear pins on the snow thrower way back when. I cleared about four square feet and could have filled a 5-gallon bucket. Then my fingers got cold and my back and knees cried, "Uncle!"

While clearing stones I had to be careful not to step on the small, green spears of the day lilies that were just poking their noses above ground. There was some green showing on a few other plants as well even as snow remained heaped on the edge of the driveway a mere foot away.

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Yesterday and today, every time I went outside for more than five minutes I was sure to hear the honking of geese or swans high over head. Yesterday I could watch them head north at a leisurely pace. Today, with the winds out of the south at 20-30 mph with a few gusts higher, they went sailing along like a 20-meter vessel in the America's Cup. If I blinked, they were out of sight.

The feeder birds are still with us. I thought the redpolls had caught on and headed north, but they seem to like my sunflower seeds. The siskins are still here, too. Then there's the usual crew (chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmice, mourning dove, downy woodpecker, red-bellied
woodpecker, dark-eyed junco, and a host (horde?) of goldfinches.

I can hear redwings down the hill near the farm ponds and reeds but they haven't come to the feeders. The robins are also busy establishing dominance and territory although few have visited the lawn. Not that I blame them. The lawn is pretty much still frozen and any earthworm would need tunneling drills to emerge.

Still hear the occasional owl on the hill after dark, but I'm still waiting for my first woodcock flight at twilight.

There have been a few turkey vultures come soaring by and the ravens are still dancing in the wind--when they can get away from the nests.

I need to get out and do some birding! Unfortunately, all the lakes are still frozen as are the marshes. They are the main attractants around here until the warblers show up.

Progress!

Went to see the surgeon today. I no longer need to wear the back brace and I can have my car keys back! Yahoo!

Also got a scrip for some PT which I will take down to Elite Therapy tomorrow so as to set up a schedule. The PT is mostly to regain the flexibility of back and legs that I have lost since the surgery.

Seven Weeks

It's now seven weeks since my back surgery and I've made some progress. I'm still wearing the back brace as per doctor's orders but will, hopefully, be relieved of that burden when I see the surgeon on Tuesday. The left leg has completely recovered from the loss of feeling and is 100% in everything but flexibility and strength. The right, also lacking in flexibility and strength, is about 95% recovered in sensitivity. I found it possible to put both socks on this morning without the use of any tools for the first time so that's a plus. As everyone keeps saying, slow and steady.

I'm still doing the PT exercises the therapist left me with but I've added walking on the deck, climbing the stairs and a couple of stretching exercises I did after knee replacement to get both the strength and flexibility back.

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I'll be on my own for a couple of days as Terry has an Embroiderers' Guild conference with all the region reps in Louisville that runs through Sunday. Her flight took off from the Corning-Elmira airport this morning at 6 AM. She promises/swears she will not volunteer for anything. With her absent, I may just sneak out and actually drive for the first time since January 21st. That is, IF I find I need to get anything from the store. (The surgeon says I shouldn't until I meet with him once more, but the heck with that.)

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Other than that, things remain quiet at the Aerie. We've had a couple of really nice spring days this week that have caused quite a bit of melting. The driveway is nearly completely cleared and there are actual patches of lawn starting to appear. The day time temps have reached into the 50s while, on clear nights, the nights have been in the upper 20s. One cloudy, but still night it stayed in the mid 30s. Extended forecasts include only a slight chance of snow showers between now and the end of the month which is fine by me.

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I've noticed a decided decrease in the number of birds at the feeders. I assume that's because many of the Common Redpolls and Pine Siskins have headed north. Only a few of those remain either having missed the memo or because they are too weak for the long flight and find the easy pickings at the feeders more to their liking. It may be wishful thinking, but I believe the Goldfinches are starting to shed their olive drab and take on some yellow.

I heard a Robin for the first time last evening. I know they are said to stick around during the winter, but I seldom if ever see them at our elevation. With many of the pastures, hay fields and corn fields where the winds kept the snow thin being exposed now, I imagine there will soon be many, many more Robins out hunting for worms and other bugs.

I'm looking forward to seeing/hearing the Red-winged Blackbirds and Woodcock. Those will be reall harbingers of Spring!

Six Weeks

It's been six weeks since the back surgery and I guess I'm making progress. This was the first full week without a visit by home healthcare so I've had no one around to tell me if my progress is normal or not.

There's still a weakness in my legs but that seems to be improving. Not so the flexibility, however. I still can't bend my right leg enough to put a sock on so it's been necessary to use a "helper,"a short length of PVC cut in half lengthwise upon which the sock is pulled. You push your toes into the tube created by the sock and then pull the whole thing up. The sock ends up on your foot and around your heel so you only have to give it a tug to get into place. (Taking the sock off is easier as you don't have to reach down to the toes with both hands--something I can't do.)

And the right leg is still displaying some loss of feeling. That's something the surgeon said could go on for six months or even longer as the nerves that were stretched during surgery will take some time to adjust. 

Meanwhile, I'm still confined to being a passenger (should we go anywhere) and to wearing my brace. I've two more weeks before my next doctor's appointment and I'm hoping he'll give me the okay to drive and to remove my turtle shell. I'm also hoping to learn if I'll get some after pictures (either x-rays or an MRI) of what has been done. Be nice to know.

I've been doing my exercises regularly and added cleaning the deck of snow. I don't have to lift the snow but rather merely push it or sweep it under the deck railing. Terry still does the driveway as the slope is a wee bit too slick for me to attempt. That and the snow she's been moving has been a bit heavy of late.

I haven't made any forays out into the rest of the world yet although I've been cleared to do so. I am starting to get a bit antsy about that. Even a walk around Wally World or Lowe's would be enjoyable. We talked about going over to Wellsboro, but our twice weekly snowfall interrupted those plans.

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This latest snow storm, named Thor, is currently passing to our south and, with the winds out of the north-northwest, it looks like it will stay there. All we got was a little less than 1/2 an inch of very light fluff that required the deck but not the driveway to be cleaned. I used a broom to do the cleaning it was that light. Those north-northwest winds may be a blessing as far as the snow is concerned, but the air is cold. As of noon, it's only gotten up to 12 degrees and it feels much colder.

This looks like it might be our last really cold night with a forecast of minus 4 degrees. Then things are supposed to be getting warmer with temps during the day getting to the upper 30s and even *gasp* 40s. With sun yet!

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We're going through sunflower seed like crazy. There must be over 150 birds out there in the mixed flock of Common Redpolls, House FInches, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice and American Goldfinches. In addition I've seen one or two Red-breasted Nuthatches, a dozen Mourning Doves, half a dozen Blue Jays, a pair of Northern Cardinals, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers and a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers. And, of course, there's the visiting Sharp-shinned Hawk that shows up to prey upon the seed eaters on occasion. And the Pileated Woodpecker that yaks it up from time to time between chiseling out either an ant colony or a nest hole in the trees. (If I had more suet to put out, even it might come closer to the house.) In short, we're feeding a heck of a lot of birds, but they are all the usual winter birds. It would be nice to see some different birds. Spring birds in particular would be welcome, but that would require a good deal of melting and little warming up. 

Five Weeks

Today marks the fifth week since I had my back surgery. I'm making progress.

Last Thursday the visiting nurse came by for his last visit and on Friday, the visiting physical therapist made her last visit. Since she decreed I could walk with a cane and get up and down steps--slowly, but I could--then, in the eyes of Medicare, I was no longer house bound and she was no longer needed. Besides the few exercises and encouragement she gave me, she said there wasn't much more she could do for me. "But," she said, "be sure to press your physician for some out of house PT when you see him again. It will help build you strength and flex those joints the surgery has you favoring."

She's right. While I've been doing those exercises religiously, there's still a lack of strength in the knees and hips, especially on my right side. All the lack of feeling and tingling I had in the left leg is gone and it feels normal if somewhat weak. The right leg is still lacks some feeling from the thigh down to the toes and there's a good deal of weakness there as well. When going up and down stairs (with the help of a cane) I notice that lack of strength on the right side.

Today, between exercise sessions, I spend time out on the deck in the sunshine (!) walking some laps. Ten laps of about 40 yards each for nearly a quarter mile, and it was tiring! I also went up and down the stairs five times in succession and that too was a chore. I'll do both of those exercises--weather permitting--every day to get my strength and stamina back.

Three Weeks...

On the morning of January 19^th I underwent back surgery. My lumbar spine was all screwed up with bone spurs, compressed or nonexistent discs, one vertebra that was 1.8 cm out of position, bone and muscle scar tissue from previous surgeries and a mess of other crap that was pinching and irritating nerves whenever I stood or sat upright for more than 10 or 15 minutes. Oddly enough, when I was slouched in a chair or working my ass off in the yard, the back didn’t really bother me. 

The neurosurgeon was going to go in and scrape out the bone spurs, chip away other protrusions, replace the discs, put the L4 back where it belongs and then screw and pin the whole mess (L2 to L5) together. The whole process, he estimated would take 5 to 5 ½ hours.

It took 8 ½ hours as my bone and scar tissue was unexpectedly thick and tough. I spent all of the next day in a complete fog and do not remember a thing until the evening of the day after surgery. Terry says she listened to me singing along with the oldies of the ‘50s and ‘60s while I was in recovery but I’ll have to take her word for it.

I spent much of the next week in a daze of oxycodone as well. I had no desire to be moved anywhere until I was assured that the lack of feeling in my right leg (from hip to toes) was temporary. I’ve been told that this a result of irritating the nerve both from the surgeon’s working on the nearby bone and scar tissue and from stretching the nerve with the insertion of new discs between the vertebrae. Even so, three weeks later, there’s been some improvement but there’s still some tingling and pins-and-needles that is disturbing. They say time will tell if there’s any permanent damage.

I got off the oxy (they called it oxy-fast) as soon as I could since I suffered every side effect they list for the stuff. Hallucinations? Check. I saw colored lights moving across the walls and ceiling like in a disco and bugs crawling on the tile floor that weren’t there. Creepy crawlies under the skin? Check. (Still itching!) Irrational and incoherent thought? Check. I ordered milk and mashed potatoes for one meal and usually couldn’t remember what room I was in as I transposed the numbers every time. I called Terry one night to talk thinking it was 5 PM and then 10 PM. It was midnight and 3 AM. The night I stopped taking the oxy I broke out in the sweats that soaked my bed and had the doctor checking by blood sugar and anything else he could think of.

They did move me from the hospital in Sayre to the Troy facility for a couple of days of physical rehab before sending me home. I didn’t want to go home, but they talked to Terry and she said she could handle me so that was it. Besides, there wasn’t a whole lot they could do for me at that point besides walking up and down the hall. (One luxury I don’t have at the Aerie is a long hallway to walk. Back when I was rehabbing my knees, I would walk laps on the deck, but that’s now ice covered and it’s 15 degrees out!)

I’ve had a couple of visits from the visiting nurse from home healthcare services with another from the physical therapists who did a quick evaluation and home inspection before leaving me with a half dozen exercises to do to strengthen my legs and work on my balance. I was supposed to see my primary care physician on Monday but the ice and freezing rain put a halt to that. We did get to see him on Wednesday and he told me that one of the side effects of the prescription pain killer is generalized itching. I guess I’ll have to trust to the hydrocortisone to relieve that itch until I’m off the pain killer.

I’ve a scheduled appointment with the neurosurgeon on Tuesday the 17^th by which time the incision area should be pretty well healed up. I expect he’ll want to do an x-ray or some other scan to see how the bones, muscles and nerves are doing.

I‘ve been home now since Wednesday, February 4^th and am slowly going stir crazy. I can’t drive. I walk with a walker. I wear a back brace to prevent any sudden twists or bends when standing or sitting. I’ve been doing crossword puzzles, sodoku puzzles and reading. A lot. Oh, and sleeping too. I’ve been sleeping 12 hours or so a day. Sitting up for two hours is a chore.

One source of amusement—besides the internet—is watching the birds and squirrels on the deck. Our friendly black squirrel has visited a couple of times but he gets outnumbered by the grey squirrels sometimes four or five to one. I’ve had flocks of goldfinches, pine siskins, redpolls, white breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, house finches, dark-eyed juncos, mourning doves, blue jays and even a red-bellied woodpecker visiting the deck feeders. The only thing keeping the birds at bay are the squirrels. They don’t like to share.

Just a few more days...

...until I go into the hospital to have surgery on my lower back. Can't say I'm not apprehensive about the whole thing. But, it's either get the surgery or live in pain that prevents me from being on my feet for more than an hour at a time.

I may have explained this before but let me do so again. I've been suffering from pain in my lumbar spine for some time. Even before I had my knees replaced, the back has been a problem. Last summer I tripped while working in the woods up at the Bolt Hole and came down hard on my buttocks. The pain persisted through the month of July and August and in early September I went to see my primary care physician about it. He sent me to a neurologist who had some x-rays and an MRI done.

Long story short, my lumbar spine is rife with all sorts of stenosis, arthritis, thin discs and misplaced vertebrae. Nerves are getting pinched, squeezed and irritated on a constant basis but especially when I'm standing/sitting upright.

X-rays show vertbra L4 (or maybe it's L5) sliding forward 1.8 centimeters from where it should be. As the entire vertebra is only about 4 cm thick front to back, that's a little under half way.

The solution, according to the neurosurgeon is to go in there and scrape some of the bone spurs out, remove the (almost non-existant) discs, pull the wayward vertebra back into position, and then use some screws and pins to hold the whole mess in place until new bone can from fusing the vertebrae in place. He said he will definitely be fusing the L5, 4 and 3 vertebrae but may have to include the L2 as well depending upon what he finds when I'm on the table.

Post op, I'll be in the hospital for a couple of days. Long enough to insure there's no infection and that the surgical wound is healing well. Call it three or four days. Then it will be home where I'll be pretty much confined to the first floor for four to six weeks. No heavy lifting. No snow shoveling, No driving.

I'm sure physical therapy (aka PT, aka Pain and Torture) will become part of my routine some where along the line. But when ever, that starts, I'll still be pretty much confined to quarters through February and March.

I'm just hoping that all goes well and the result is a pain free lower spine.I might even be able to enjoy another visit to Disneyland.

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Meanwhile, Terry goes to see the podiatrist tomorrow to find out why she's having persistent pain in her feet.

Getting old is just soooooo much fun!

Weather and Health; Proposed Surgery

We're in the midst of a cold spell which should surprise no one. Last year we had minus 13 degrees on January 3rd when I got frostbite. This year it's not quite as cold with the lows only in the low single digits but still on the upper side of zero. That might change tonight or tomorrow night before the temperatures start to swing upward again. And by upward I mean towards--but not above--32 degrees. At least, we've only got occasional snow flurries/squalls that don't amount to much. Today, for instance we got an inch or less of fine powder.

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Terry's still battling the sinus infection that's been causing her to cough up a lung every couple of hours. The doctor swears it's not the flu--or pneumonia--and has prescribed an antibiotic as well as an inhaler to battle the bud and phlem.

I've still got an occasional cough from a similar infection, but I've made far more progress than Terry has.

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I did go see the surgeon about my back today. (Terry stayed home afraid that if she started coughing at the hospital they might want to keep her.) I got to the hospital over in Sayre about half an hour before my appointment. I checked in and settle down in the waiting area on 3 Blue when my name was called and I was reminded I was supposed to go to radiology on 2 Purple for some lumbar x-rays. "Shouldn't take long. Just let us know when you get back."

Well, they must have been having an after Christmas sale on x-rays as the walk-in radiology lab was swamped with folks. I had to wait for over an hour for my name to be called, but just 10 minutes later I was back upstairs at 3 Blue to see the surgeon. It was only forty-five minutes past my original appointment time. *sigh*

The Doc punched up the x-rays as well as the MRI they had done a few months ago. We reviewed the pinched nature of the spinal cord in the L3, L4, and L5 vertebrae. He pointed out how badly the L4 vertebra was out of position (1.8 cm when I was standing straight and 0.9 cm when I was bent forward. Those pictures went a long way to explaining why my back hurts so badly when I've been standing for any length of time.

As a solution, he recommended using pins and rods to realign and fuse those three vertebrae and a little scraping of the nerve channel and grinding away of bone protrusions. Depending upon what he finds when he's in there, he may have to expend the rods to L2. I'd be in the hospital for 3-4 days and then have 6-8 weeks of recovery at home with physical therapy.

We set a date of January 22 for the surgery and then he sent me off to do the usual pre-admissions stuff: EKG, blood tests, chest x-rays. (The EKG was good as was the blood pressure (140/72) and pulse rate (48).) Blood was drawn painlessly and vials filled for the lab to test. Chest x-rays were done at a different radiology lab on the 3rd floor and took all of 10 minutes.With any luck, the blood and chest x-rays will not reveal anything that might cause the physicians to put things on hold.

I finally got out of the hospital a little after 1:30 PM.

Doctor's Report re: Back

Saw the neurosurgeon yesterday. Not the one I was originally scheduled to see. He passed me off to a guy who is more specialized in my sort of problem. Seemed very calm, focused and competent.

Problem: Severe degradation of the lumbar spinal column.

Solution (if it can be called that): Surgery to do a little scraping and cleaning of the openings in the area of L2 to L5 to take out scar tissue from previous surgery and general wear and tear and bone spurs from arthritis to be followed by the insertion of screws and pins to assist in the fusing of those three vertebrae. Four days in the hospital baring any complications (infection, etc.). Recovery time to be six weeks to six months. Back brace to be worn for the first three months or less as the bones fuse. No driving for at least the first six weeks. No heavy lifting for the same time frame. Physical therapy a must.

Prognosis: Return to normal activities though slightly less flexible due to the fusion of those vertebrae.

I’ve a pre-op x-ray/physical appointment scheduled for December 30^th. Surgery to take place sometime in early January.

*sigh* Like everything else when the warranty runs out….