We will need a photo and details in this thread: https://www.progressiveears.org/foru...highlight=gearOriginally Posted by Garyhead
We will need a photo and details in this thread: https://www.progressiveears.org/foru...highlight=gear
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Les Paul was in an auto accident which badly crushed his right arm. Doctors were hell bent on amputating it, but he convinced them to set it so it would heal in a permanent guitar playing position. Thankfully for the sake of history, doctors obliged.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Sometimes, doctors are a bit too quick to amputate. I friend of mine was walking home through the snow and fell into a dug-out foundation. After trying and trying to climb out, his fingers got frost-bitten. At the local burn center, they wanted to take four of his fingers. He asked for a second opinion and he the next doctor was able to save them with no problems.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Got my surgery date today… June 12th. I’m amazed at how fast this is progressing. The problem? Severe arthritis in the spine. Calcium deposits squeezing my spinal cord. It just happens to be where the nerve bundles leave the spine and go to the arms. I still have no pain, just partial paralysis. Here’s hoping PT can restore some movement over the next year.
The Ice Cream Lady Wet her drawers........To see you in the Passion Playyyy eeee - I. Anderson
"It's kind of like deciding not to date a beautiful blonde anymore because she farted." - Top Cat
I was expecting to be kinda meh, but it made my nips stiffen - Jerjo
(Zamran) "that fucking thing man . . . it sits there on my wall like a broken clock " - Helix
Social Media is the "Toilet" of the Internet - Lady Gaga
^ Best of luck Gary. That sounds like a hard row to hoe.
Best of luck, Gary. What sort of surgery is it — fusion, laminectomy, something else?
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
Best wishes, Gary.
Frog in boiling water
Hope all goes well.
Best of luck,Gary.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
I've got a bit of an update on my ❤️ heart. I've been in the hospital for two weeks. Can't leave the floor because of passing out at Terra Incognita in Quebec city. The staff has been amazing. Hospital food is awful but my wife is sneaking in food! She stays by my side 6 to 8 hours a day. I got lucky marrying her. I've been waiting to see the surgeon for 2 days and the wait the has been excruciating. I have really not wanting my chest to be cracked open big time. A doctor came into my room an hour ago and said the medical team is leaning to a Transcatheter Aortic Vavle Replacement. The run a line through my groin, ouch, to my heart ❤️ to unblock my aortic valve to repair significant damage. It's far less invasive compared to open heart surgery. I can't begin to tell you what a relief 😌 that is. Still to be confirmed by the surgeon, hopefully today. Thanks for the support here.
The downside is the surgery will blow out my kidneys that are functioning at 10 percent. I'll need dialysis but it's not 100 percent sure but the nephrologist said highly likely. I can wait 5 years to get a transplant. This deterioration has been happening for 20 years so I'm prepared.
The main thing I'm doing is to not feel sorry for myself and keeping a positive outlook, which I am.
Removal of C5 vertebrae and a spacer installed. Going in next to adams apple. Move esophagus & vocal cords out of the way to remove the vertebrae.
Formal term - Cervical 4-5 Anterior Discectomy and Fusion with Plate and Screws. Use of Structural allograft. Use of Spinal cord neuromonitoring.
three months in a neck brace and PT may take a full year to completely heal.
The Ice Cream Lady Wet her drawers........To see you in the Passion Playyyy eeee - I. Anderson
"It's kind of like deciding not to date a beautiful blonde anymore because she farted." - Top Cat
I was expecting to be kinda meh, but it made my nips stiffen - Jerjo
(Zamran) "that fucking thing man . . . it sits there on my wall like a broken clock " - Helix
Social Media is the "Toilet" of the Internet - Lady Gaga
Sounds like you have a great support system in your wife.
My ma gave up on dialysis. To me it seemed like a small price to pay for a full rich life. To her, it was a nuisance because she couldn't give up her incredibly unhealthy diet thus aggravating the successful dialysis regime.
The Ice Cream Lady Wet her drawers........To see you in the Passion Playyyy eeee - I. Anderson
"It's kind of like deciding not to date a beautiful blonde anymore because she farted." - Top Cat
I was expecting to be kinda meh, but it made my nips stiffen - Jerjo
(Zamran) "that fucking thing man . . . it sits there on my wall like a broken clock " - Helix
Social Media is the "Toilet" of the Internet - Lady Gaga
^^ Best of luck to both of you. Stay strong and positive. Remember, once it's all behind you, it's only a memory. So keep focused on that time.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Thanks for the update, Greg. Sounds like the preferable option. Stay positive and listen to your medical team. Best wishes.
My wife was faced with a similar situation. Pain, numbness in her arm shoulders and neck. Due to her existing conditions no surgeon was willing to operate. She got three opinions, all the same.
I hope this all goes well for you.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
I’ve had (count ‘em) 10 cardiac catheterizations (including 5 stent placements) since the mid 90s, the most recent a diagnostic a year or so ago. No valve issues so far, knock wood! The procedure has gotten easier and easier over the years, with faster and easier recovery. Used to require an overnight stay, now it’s an outpatient procedure with just two hours bed rest. (Obviously the valve replacement changes all that, but I’m just talking about the Cath/recovery itself. Almost no pain at all.
Hope this turns out to be what you need, and best of luck!
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
I was awake for my angiogram. Doc found no obstructions so he said “we have time, let’s take a tour”. He swung the monitor around toward me and gave me a tour. I’m sure I had been given some sedative but I felt nothing. Had to lay flat for two hours…..got up and went home. Yes, I didn’t need stents or valves but wow, what technology.
The Ice Cream Lady Wet her drawers........To see you in the Passion Playyyy eeee - I. Anderson
"It's kind of like deciding not to date a beautiful blonde anymore because she farted." - Top Cat
I was expecting to be kinda meh, but it made my nips stiffen - Jerjo
(Zamran) "that fucking thing man . . . it sits there on my wall like a broken clock " - Helix
Social Media is the "Toilet" of the Internet - Lady Gaga
Will do. Still waiting for shipment to arrive. All the pictures I have are in unsupported file extensions that prevent me from posting here. I tell ya….this guitar SCREAMS pretentious PROG!
The Ice Cream Lady Wet her drawers........To see you in the Passion Playyyy eeee - I. Anderson
"It's kind of like deciding not to date a beautiful blonde anymore because she farted." - Top Cat
I was expecting to be kinda meh, but it made my nips stiffen - Jerjo
(Zamran) "that fucking thing man . . . it sits there on my wall like a broken clock " - Helix
Social Media is the "Toilet" of the Internet - Lady Gaga
Gary and Greg, good luck and best wishes.
Gary, how long before you can ride your bike again?
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Where I am now…I can’t even pull a vacuum cleaner back let alone a motorcycle handlebar. There is no guarantee I can reverse my partial paralysis. It will be sheer will and a good PT tech that will get me on the road again. Cutting open my neck, pulling on my esophagus & vocal cords doesn’t bother me….being partially paralyzed at 64 really bothers me.
The Ice Cream Lady Wet her drawers........To see you in the Passion Playyyy eeee - I. Anderson
"It's kind of like deciding not to date a beautiful blonde anymore because she farted." - Top Cat
I was expecting to be kinda meh, but it made my nips stiffen - Jerjo
(Zamran) "that fucking thing man . . . it sits there on my wall like a broken clock " - Helix
Social Media is the "Toilet" of the Internet - Lady Gaga
Sound pretty much exactly like the surgery I had in 2018 (feel much more recent!) The neck brace was the hardest part, but I was a good boy and they let me ease off on it early. Otherwise it was not overly painful, and recovery was smooth. Of course, PT was critical. To this day the lesson I never forget (nor can!) is to avoid looking down at screens. Phones and tablets are anathema to the cervical spine-surgery survivor! There will very likely be some loss of neck flexibility at our age, no matter how good the PT is.
As a cyclist (the kind with pedals), my biggest regret is no more road biking. I just can't bend my neck up that far for that long after the surgery. I wasn't riding much anyway before, because the weakness and lack of feeling in the left arm compromised my control, although I still had (and have) enough dexterity to operate the shifter and brake. And I can get along on a more upright bike, like a hybrid, though I'm thinking about an electric since my last lumbar fusion.
Still, we get through these things and forge ahead, because it's better than the alternative.
This is what my neck hardware looks like:
Neck-50.jpg
"I have not yet begun to procrastinate."
I can't think about what I would do without my bike. It's my main mean of transport. It's either walking, or public transport, but they have their disadventages.
My mother did the same thing. She was on Dialysis for 10 years. It got to the point where it was no longer helping her and options were slim. She decided to go off of dialysis and passed away about a week later. It was actually a rather pleasant way to go. She slowly slipped into a coma after a few days and then passed away in her sleep a few days later. She was on Morphine, so no pain and she bravely accepted her fate.
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