Day 4

Yesterday was a little rough for me. I probably over did it a little. I felt like I had a bit of a fever and the aches that usually accompanies a fever. Karen took my temperature and it was pretty consistanty 99 or below. I was a little stuffed up. I was a little inconsistant with when I took my meds, I slept to much and as a result I did not sleep well last night. Over the course of the day I would say the pain level was a 4-5 even with the meds.

Today I woke with a little bit of that fever-ish ache again. So I took it easier. I still took my short walks around the house but did not over do it. I took naps but tried to keep them shorter. I took my meds on schedule. I also did not wear the back brace as much today; It is not very comfortable. As a result I felt much better today. It's 8:00 PM and I am starting to feel warn down now but overall it was a better day. I am thinking the difference is that I am not yet ready to try and get off the meds yet.

Overall pain level right now is probably a 2-3 medicated. It has been pretty consistent all day. It jumps up significantly when I cough or sneeze but that is to be expected I suppose.

Karen has been wonderful. I am TRYING to be a good patient and follow all the rules. She is keeping me honest and helping me do the things I am not allowed to do on my own yet. Including picking up the cats so I can pet them. Thanks hon!

Back in the saddle again...

Well It's 5:45 PM and apparently I survived.

Karen drove me to the hospital at 5:00 AM. We arrived at the hospital just before 5:30. I went to the desk to register and it turned out they had no record I was on the OR schedule!!!

It all worked out in the end. It was just sort of paperwork snaffu. But the 2 surgeons and the anesthesiologist were all aware of the scheduled procedure So with a short delay I was called back and prepped for surgery. I had to put these funky tights on to help prevent blood clots. I put the silly backless gown on and the IV line was paced. I was told they were going to give me somthing through the IV to relax me, though I really was not nervous at all) and the next thing I remember I am waking up in the recovery room with Karen by my side and a pair of funky inflatable shoe like things that alternate inflating and deflating every 5 seconds or so. Kinda makes it tough to nap....

They gave me this little magic button that administers pain meds when pushed. It won't administer the drug more than every 10 min.

I pushed the button 4 times in the first hour, one other time after I sneezed (ouch). But other than that I have had to use it only when told to by the nurse, before the physical therapist came and before getting up etc..

I have gotten up and walked the halls, with a nurse, 2 times now. They removed the catheter, thank goodness, and I was able to dress myself with PJs I brought from home.

For breakfast I was given broth and juice and such. At lunch I graduated to semi-liquid foods. I had cream of wheat, soda, and ice cream. For dinner I ordered pork loin with roasted potatoes, a salad, some veggies, a roll and cheese cake. It arrived at around 4:30, kinda early. I had just gotten myself situated, taken a bite of roll and a orderly comes in to take me to radiology for an xray. My dinner was still warm when I got back so I sat in the visitor chair and ate dinner.

After dinner the nurse and I took a stroll around the ward and helped me connect up my computer. The hospital installed in-room internet just 2 weeks earlier. The nurse thinks I am the first to use it. Not only do they have wireless but also wired ethernet ports in the rooms. So here I sit, blogging away.

The back does not hurt very much. Mostly due to laying around on it. The incision site / my stomach, probably hurts the most, Specially when I sneeze or caugh.

Other than that I am doing well....

Karen brought me a DVD so I will probably watch that here in a couple of minutes.


OH, By the way, I received the Kineflex disc, the one I wanted. :-)

I'll keep you informed.

Tomorrow's the big day.

My surgery is scheduled for 7:00 AM tomorrow morning. I have to be at the hospital at 5:00 AM to check in etc.. The procedure should take less than an hour. Rocovery also less than an hour.

I thought I would be really nervous right not but honestly I am not. I probably will be in the morning but right now I am just wishing tomorrow would just get here.

I found a link on the web that showed a video stream of the exact procedure I will be going through. It was VERY interesting. It was also a pretty graphic but it answered all the questions I had about what would be going on during the procedure. If you are interested you can watch it by clicking HERE. Karen thought I was nuts for watching it but I think it has made it easier for me....

Today my pain has been worse than it has for a few days... Dunno why, maybe to help assure me it is a good thing I am going ahead with surgery.

Anywho, Wish me luck.

KineFlex vs. Charite

Last week blogged that I went to 2 different doctors, Orthopedists, concerning my back troubles. The first was a sports medicine specialist and the second a spine specialist.

As you might recall, the first Doc recommended surgery, spinal Fusion, to relieve my symptoms. I went to the Texas Back Institute (TBI) for a second opinion. Dr. Barten Sachs concurred with the first Doc but suggested we TRY and get insurance to pay for a disc replacement as opposed to the fusion. He indicated I was a good candidate for a clinical trial but that there were no active trials at the moment. And typlical clinical trials are randomized such that 1/2 or 2/3 of the patience receive the trial device and the other portion of patience in the trial receive a spinal fusion. So even if I did get into a study there would still be a chance I would receive a spinal fusion.

The problem I have with Fusion is that the adjacent disc/vertebrae end up taking on the function and stresses of the jointed vertebrae. This can lead to premature degeneration of those adjacent discs after a few years. In effect starting it all over again.

I left Dr. Sachs's office agreeing to have them submit the request to the insurance company for the disc replacement but would proceed with a fusion if the request was denied. I really did not expect an answer for at least a week if not longer.

Tuesday morning I received a call from TBI. Expecting to hear that my insurance declined coverage on th disk replacement, I was surprised to hear them say that a couple of positions opened up in a currently running cclinical trial. The best news however was that this study is to compares 2 different disc replacement devices instead of a disc vs, fusion. I was told I am a good candidate for this study if I were interested. Karen and I went in for an appointment that afternoon for screening. They did some tests, took some more x-rays and after all said and done I have been accepted into trial.

The trial is intended to compare the outcome of disc replacement surgery done using the Kineflex to the Charite artificial disc implants. The Charite implant was the first device to be FDA approved and has 10 years of clinical history. The Kineflex is applying for FDA approval but has been in use in Europe for a couple of years now with very positive results. I have a 50/50 chance of getting one device over the other. Personally I would prefer the KineFlex, just based on what I have read. But I am thrilled either way.

I was quite a pleasantly surprise when they called. I had pretty much accepted that I would have to settle for fusion surgery since the insurance companies are rarely if ever covering disc replacements.

They wanted to schedule surgery for Wednesday November 22nd but that is the day the boys come home for Thanksgiving. I have not seen Bob since July or Tyler since August. I could not be in the hospital during their short stay. So, my surgery is scheduled for Monday November 27th. I will be in the hospital 1-2 days. after that time, I will be able to move about the house and take short walks but will have to take it easy for a week or two. Within a month or two I should be able to resume a normal active lifestyle, including Soccer and Cycling. This is in contrast to the spinal fusion which typically has a much longer recovery time; 3-6 months before normal daily activity can be resumed. It took a year or more to recover for I friend of mine in the officewho had this done.

I am very excited and very nervous. It is bad timing with the holidays coming up and us still working on the house. But it promises a pain free future as opposed to what I envisioned as me in a wheelchair by age 55.

For more information on the study you can visit http://www.spine-health.com/research/trials/kineflex/kineflex01.html

For information on the Charite device see: http://www.spine-health.com/topics/surg/charite/charite01.html

For information on the Kineflex device see:
http://spinalmotion.com/kineflex_lumbar_disc.htm


Wish me luck. I will keep you posted.

Party line? Shame on you!

With the move(s), the medical issues, selling and buying houses etc, I have pretty much tuned out much of what has gone on around the country and around the world for the past several months, specially politics. Normally I do not read the news paper but I get my news via internet sources. Since moving, I have not found a good local source for news. And with this part of the country being on the conservative side, I try to avoid political conversations with folks around here, at least until I get to know them a little better. So I am a little out of touch.

But running up to Tuesday, election day, it was a little difficult to ignore the politics all together. In the days prior to and including election day. It was suggested to me more than once that I should vote the straight democratic ticket so we can "stop Bush". I am no Bush lover. In fact would like very much for him to go sit in a closet somewhere til the end of his term of office. There is probably an intern around who could find him one. But to you who would encorage me to vote the straight ticket, under any political climate, I say Bunk! This is a democracy ... no... wait, It is a republic.... Regardless. Everyone has the right and duty to vote the way they feel is best for the country. But I in good conscience I cannot cast a vote for someone I know nothing about just because they are one party or another. There are plenty of idiots on either side of the isle. And I do not want to be a party to putting them in office just because of their party affiliation.

It is my duty as a citizen of this country to vote, and my duty to do my homework before I vote. I do vote regularly, and I make an effort to at least familiarize myself with the candidates. On the other hand, if I do not know any of the candidates in a particular race, I do not cast a vote in that race. It is my opinion a no vote is better than an ignorant vote.

I understand the "Message to Bush" concept. And apparently the elections did send some sort of message to Bush and the rest of the Republican party. But at what cost? Did a Democratic School board member get elected who supports open and free access to pubic schools for any undocumented/illegal immigrants. Or democratic state representitive who favors placing vending machines in schools to help subsidize the school budget. Or perhaps a state senetor was elected who wants to tax the internet on a per kilo-byte basis... Those people exist.

At the same time perhaps a republican congressman or state representitive, lost. One who does not want to impose their religion upon others, who belives in personal liberties and responsibilities and open dialog, Who does not support Bush's foreigh policy.

The right/duty to vote is important. I hate to see it trivialized and diluted by strong party affiliation.

'Back' to my old self

The house is coming along, really the only things left to do is put up shelves in the garage and hang pictures.

The builder still has a rather long punch list but that is always to be expected in a new house.

Kyle celebrated his 17th birthday yesterday. Traditionally the family goes out to dinner sometime around the date of the birthday so Monday we took Kyle to 'Texas Land and Cattle', A Steakhouse chain here in the Dallas Area. I must say it was good eats.

Kyle is trying out for the Wylie HS Billiards team. Who ever heard of a high school billiards team? Anyway, he seems to really be enjoying it. He has practice at a local Bowling alley every Tuesday night. Heritage Ranch, where Nancy and Howard live, has a couple of billiards tables in the clubhouse so we have taken Kyle there a couple of times. I have forgotten how enjoyable pool can be. Keep your fingers crossed that he makes the team.

Michelle is going to try out for the Cooper Junior HS girls soccer team. The tryouts are the end of this month I think. They play during the winter sports season, which I thought was odd. Anyway keep your fingers crossed there as well.

I have been having back issues for 20+ years on and off. It started again right before we moved; Good timing eh?. But it was not too bad and I worked through it. Historically the pain goes away in a week or two or three. This time it has not. In fact it has gotten worse. I had an MRI done in October and it shows I have a degenerated disc, no news there. And some bulging that is encroaching on the spinal column, Again nothing new really. My primary care physician referred me to a orthopedist and I had that appointment on Monday. In short they recommended surgery., Spinal fusion. While I do not disagree with the prognosis he really did not give me much information about the procedure or the options etc. Basically he left it at "call me when you want to schedule the surgery and I will try to fit you in after the first of the year"

I wanted a second opinion on what my options were etc. Previously I had seen somthing on disc replacement vs. Spinal Fusion and wanted to persue that as an option. After some research over the internet, I made an appointment with a Spine guy at the Texas Back Institute; Apparently a highly respected, cutting edge institute right in my back yard. They did the first disc replacement surgery in the country. I had the appointment yesterday. He concured that surgery was probably the best option but was VERY good about discussing all the options and the different aspects of each of the options. Unfortunatly the disc replacement will almost certainly NOT be covered by insurance. and at $35k+ I cannot afford that out of pocket. BUT he is going to try and convince them to cover it.

If the insurance will not cover the disc replacement I will go ahead with the spinal fusion but with the docs at the Texas Back institute instead of the first doc. I had a VERY good experience with them and have a very positive first impression. The procedure they recommended was less invasive and had a shorter recovery time and left more options for surgery in the future should I need it. (less scaring and such) They also said they would be able to get me in before the end of the year. Which is important, not only from a pain relief stand point but from an insurance standpoint as well.

I will keep you posted.