Ti-Ed 5 Years post op

[susancook]

Hey Ed! You continue to be an inspiration for everyone.....well, especially me! Your statement that you wish that you had had the surgery earlier addresses my personal question about waiting.

Thanks for posting your ski video. Frankly, it scared me! Glad that your titanium is so strong! And backpacking with a 40 pound pack! I love backpacking and Dr. Hart said that I probably would not be able to do it after surgery. Maybe I can....but I only usually carry 25 pounds anyway. Backpacking in the NW is why we moved here. We like to hike and camp. You have given me such courage that an active life is possible after fusion. Thanks!

I hope that you had a party to celebrate the occasion. Why didn't you invite me?

Question: you said that your doctor had you sign another consent after the anterior procedure day so that he could do the posterior procedure. So, what if you said no?

Again, congratulations and continue to LIVE your life!

Adios from Susanna in Puerto Vallarta

[jackieg412]

5 years

Way to go!!!! You always make me happy! I am a little behind you in the years since surgery---but I am always wowed by all you do!! As I said--Way to go!

[titaniumed]

Question: you said that your doctor had you sign another consent after the anterior procedure day so that he could do the posterior procedure. So, what if you said no?

You know, I have thought about that....I guess my lumbar would have fused at 70 degrees with the spacers intact....I remember it, and its also stated in my hospital reports. There was no decision at that stage, it was Admiral Farragut’s “damn the torpedo’s” attitude that was in my mind as I walked in. Sometimes, we have to take risks, big risks.(I attended Farragut many years ago).

I had a long post written up for you the other night but deleted it. This happens sometimes....I can change my mind or go back and forth.

I believe that you are at the stage where you need to sit and talk face to face with one of us posties....We are all over, perhaps talk to Gail or Jenee in Sisters, Ore. Or come down here or in the bay area, go talk to Linda. Meets and greets at scoli meetings are also highly advised for support.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Its nice to know if and what effect my posts have had on those making decisions.....and I’m glad that it helped many of you in your decision making and recoveries. Not that surgery is the correct answer, more of a understanding of what it entails, and at least making an informed semi educated decision. Its an important decision, probably the most important we can make in our lives. You can run in and have a rotator cuff operation, or a cholecystectomy, or a knee job, but scoliosis surgery takes time in our minds....we need to feel somewhat comfortable with it all. Accepting the changes, the lack of mobility, and being prepared for recovery is essential.

Thanks for the appreciation and thanks for all of your posts.....I have learned much from all of you, thinking about all the different subject matters.
Ed

[Doodles]

Ed--
Congrats on your 5 years and for being such an important member of the forum for positive attitudes and good, factual information. Kudos too to staying so active here.
I will be 4 years at the end of March and only weigh in on rare occasions it seems--and I'm retired. No excuses. I have found since Nov. I can get down to pick things up off the floor so much better and have fewer aches and pains than before. I had returned to taking Synthovial-7--hyaluronic acid--at about that time so now I'm uncertain if it was that or just time. I had taken this pre-surgery--along with everything else I could come up with that might work for pain. I definitely thought it helped. It dawned on me in Nov. when I was having sciatica pain again that I used to take it.
In case this might help anyone, can get on line and on Amazon. You put a dropper full of the tasteless liquid in water. Super easy. Not cheap though.
Thanks again Ed for all you do! Janet

[loves to skate]

Hey Ed,
I just got back from a Clipper Ship cruise in the Leeward Islands leaving and returning to St. Marteen. What a great experience. I am also five years post-op in December and I am so grateful to be able to go places and do things I never could have done before my surgery. I still hope to meet you some day. You are a model of inspiration to so many people on this forum. I'll drink a toast to that - how about a margarita? Ed, you are the best.
Sally

[titaniumed]

I'm like you and wish I'd had surgery when I was younger. I tried several times but two surgeons and one doctor told me I was too old. Of course I wasn't too old but it's a shame that those professionals weren't willing to at least tell me why they thought I was too old. I believed them. I'm glad I didn't get surgery with any surgeon who was not a specialist in scoliosis.

Ohhhh......Now I’m emitting grumbling noises....(I’m a noisy guy lol) and feel sorry for those that might have done this route, climbing Mt Everest is not for your everyday climber! Your lucky to have stumbled into Dr Hey....and its probably a really good thing we waited....Yes, earlier might have been better, but our timing and selection and faith, and belief in our surgeons worked out....Things always have a way of working themselves out no matter how difficult our paths might be. Creating a path of optimism is the only way......there is no sense in having negative thoughts.

We might have lived in a time of confusion regarding scoliosis years ago, but now its different....We know certain basic things, being too old is not something that one should hear from anyone anymore. They operate on patients just shy of 80, possibly older.... but I wouldn’t use this as an excuse IF the person “really” needs scoliosis surgery....I also am wary about thinking that a particular method of non surgical treatment that just might improve a curve or make a person feel better, buys time, when in fact their diagnosis of degeneration like in my case is in fact the biggest problem. You see, you really CAN live with big curves, but you cant live if your spine is rotting away, osteoporosis takes hold, or nerves become encapsulated in bone etc. I don’t think the untrained can diagnose these things, and I’m not sure if the trained are totally sure on some issues. Going in on a surgery and discovering a major problem after getting in and backing out is devastating!

Timing is everything.

Ed

[jrnyc]

Ed...congratulations...i am so glad you are pain free and able
to fully enjoy all your activities!

Janet....i never heard of taking hyaluronic acid by mouth....
i have been offered shots (for bad knees), but haven't had any yet...

how does the stuff help when taken orally....? i thought it had
to be injected right into where the problem is...????

jess...and Sparky(age 6 tomorrow)

[Doodles]

Jess--
It just lubricates the joints wherever needed I think. I have a finger that developed arthritis about 4 months ago--weird. One date it hurt and then swollen joints etc. Since I've taken it THAT for sure has gotten less swollen and doesn't hurt much at all. Knock on wood I also have not had sciatica pain which seemed to crop up every 4-6 months and last for at least a couple weeks. We shall see. It might be worth a try. Obviously, I had to quit all meds before surgery, so I'd really forgotten about it.
The company must be quite small. The # on bottle is 866-318-64150 but someone--like a real live person--always answers. They are extremely nice and helpful. One time a few years ago I was desperately out of it and the guy actually said he would drive 1/2 way to get it to me. It's around Kansas City MO about 3 1/2 hours from here. I said that wasn't necessary but couldn't believe he offered. It is now cheaper on Amazon. Can't remember price but they only have it in 1 oz. bottles so I started just ordering 2. Probably lasts about 1 1/2 months. May take that long or more to really see differences. Janet

[titaniumed]

Sally

Sounds like a great trip! I was in Curacao once and in Utila on a dive trip....Where they get these names from, I don’t know. LOL I would never dream of naming a chunk of sand Utila, but they had pretty good imaginations back then.....

I cant drink Margarita’s. Too acidic for me.....I’m more of a wonderful wino these days.....

Its is good to have our lives back.

Someday, I will come to NC to dive......Morehead City of course, and in August since I hate cold water.

Ed

[jrnyc]

thanks for info, Janet...
i will look into it...

jess

[Pooka1]

In horses at least, oral joint supplements cannot work because they do not pass through the intestines into the blood stream. Plenty of people including myself give their horse IM injections to help with joints. Vets directly inject joints. If it could be done orally nobody would be injecting their horses. The oral stuff is a huge scam in the horse world.

I assume it is the same with people assuming the gut characteristics are similar in this regard.

[jrnyc]

hmmmmm...
so i wonder about the human world...
there are so many different kinds of supplements..
i looked up the hyuralonic stuff online...
general cost seems to be around $50 or so a bottle of
the capsules...
it also comes in cream form...
and as injections, some form of it is cosmetically used
as filler (aside from the injections for inflammation as in
knee injections)
interesting stuff....must be quite versatile...

sorry for hijacking thread, TiEd

jess...and Sparky, almost age 6

[JuliaAnn]

...Things always have a way of working themselves out no matter how difficult our paths might be. Creating a path of optimism is the only way......there is no sense in having negative thoughts.
... you really CAN live with big curves, but you cant live if your spine is rotting away, osteoporosis takes hold, or nerves become encapsulated in bone etc. I don’t think the untrained can diagnose these things, and I’m not sure if the trained are totally sure on some issues. Going in on a surgery and discovering a major problem after getting in and backing out is devastating!
Timing is everything.

Ed

You are so right about the timing. I marvel at the timing of my surgery. We just happened to live in this city where Dr Hey practices and we just happened to have good insurance last year. Also I just happened to end my job early last year running our little construction company because our sons were no longer interested in working for us; my husband has another full-time job in construction with health insurance so this was no loss to us. Pretty amazing how things do work out. And I just happened to injure my back which forced me to quickly make the decision to get surgery and get it over with.

We were in the middle of refinancing our home so I spent the month and a half before surgery getting the house ready for appraisal. All the various home improvements kept me super busy and I barely had time to think about the surgery. I'm amazed that I survived that, walking around with a collapsing spine and a popped disc for so long. My MRI description read "severe levoscoliosis of the lumbar spine... severe degenerative disc disease... Modic type degenerative endplate changes... fluid in the intervertebral disc space... multilevel degenerative changes... severe disc height loss..." etc. Pretty ugly. I actually thanked God for my injury because it took the decision out of my hands and forced me to get the much needed surgery.

And I also agree with you about a positive attitude. I've seen documentaries and read articles that say those who maintain a positive attitude recover faster from surgery than those who don't. That first week in the hospital was pretty rough but I managed to keep my upbeat attitude, joke with the nurses and make my kids feel confident I was fine. I have good memories of the week at the hospital, despite the brutal pain. On day five, I insisted my son and his wife go down to the cafe to grab a bite to eat and my little four year old granddaughter could stay in the room with me. Not exactly a wise decision because my granddaughter couldn't figure out the bathroom so I had to ring frantically for a nurse to help her. So there I was, after major spine surgery, babysitting on day 5 from a hospital bed. Oh my gosh, I heartily laughed about that!

Today marks the end of my fourth month post-op. I still need a small dose of pain medication once a night when my back hurts too bad when I first lay down. But most days I'm up and moving around and it feels fantastic to have no fear of further injury to my back. The freedom is amazing. The steadily decreasing pain is wonderful. I feel like I've stepped back over 10 years already and it's only been four months since surgery!

I have never been skiing but I've wanted to ski my whole life. After my surgery, I cried that I would never get to at least try skiing. And then I found this website and read about your skiing adventures. You have given me great hope that the next years of my life are going to be richer, fuller and more adventurous than I could have dreamed. The next decade will be better, with more options, than the decade I just lived through. How cool is that! Thank you for sharing so much hope.

[Edited to apologize if my post is considered "hijacking a thread". I'm a bit new at forums so I'm still learning how to contribute.]

[scooter950]

adding my congrats

well, let me chime in : congratulations TiEd ! what a milestone! and then to hear about your activity level post-fusion: makes me jealous. my day will come, and this forum continues to inspire and educate and forewarn me. Thx for sharing, I can't believe you don't remember four days- (well i believe you - but it's incredible) that's my worry: waking up in ICU, intubated - but you have no memories of that!! Oh, and you must have been under the influence of narcotics, so signing a second OR consent when under the influence: illegal and non-binding. but too late now! LOL they should have had you sign both consents PRE op! may you continue to fly straight on all future endeavors! God bless!

[titaniumed]

I can't believe you don't remember four days- (well i believe you - but it's incredible) that's my worry: waking up in ICU, intubated - but you have no memories of that!! Oh, and you must have been under the influence of narcotics, so signing a second OR consent when under the influence: illegal and non-binding. but too late now! LOL they should have had you sign both consents PRE op! may you continue to fly straight on all future endeavors! God bless!

I wasn’t intubated in ICU.(tracheal intubation) I don’t think its necessary unless you are being operated on??? I did have an NG tube that ran through my nose down to my stomach. How my consciousness was being controlled, I don’t know?,(through IV’s most likely) and certainly didn’t sign anything upon being just woken up from a deep sleep....It was a few seconds of verbal communication and was like a dream. General anesthesia is a very interesting subject, there are a few levels or stages and I believe they use around 40 different chemical compounds to control these levels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracheal_intubation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatile_anaesthetic

I have had doctors go down my throat with an optics device while awake, not on meds. They were looking at my epiglottis which isn’t that far down really, it’s the entrance to the trachea. I didn’t think it was a big deal.....but then I have had all sorts of things done to me at the hospital. (smiley face) All these things are scary if you have never had them done to you.......now for me, its not that bad. Experience makes you a little braver each time I guess.

I was kept out for a few days since I was told I wouldn’t be able to withstand the pain of having such an invasive anterior done. They performed partial corpectomies on L1-Sacrum which is where they remove the damaged endplates on the vert bodies. Oversized 13mm PEEK plastic spacers were fit in from the front, and BMP was used in sponges in these spacers. My vascular surgeon was also looking for cancers, which I guess is a little bit invasive....Good news, no cancer....AND its not in my family.....

Thanks for the congratulations.....success was always part of the plan, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ed