One Week Post-Op

I have to say, I am impressed with Sandy’s progress. She is not back playing tennis, but she is moving around periodically and is doing it reasonably well. Surgery was just a week ago (yesterday), and this was a huge procedure. Considering that she was told that she would be in the hospital for a full week, the fact that she is this mobile and “independent” is pretty remarkable.

Remember, they removed an entire vertebra (T2), inserted a spacer, fused three vertebrae above and below T2, and reinforced the entire structure with two rods that measure 8” or more. In the xrays, the spacer looks a bit like a piston, with an adjustable height. The rods are titanium-cobalt alloy common to many types of medical implant devices, if I recall. The incision runs from the top of her neck to about 2/3 of the way down her spine and is marked by staples every centimeter or less. It is an impressive zipper. There is also a temporary drain that runs out of her back. If you have ever considered back surgery to solve your aches and pains, this might change your mind.

She can get out of bed and take care of things like brushing her teeth, getting dressed, and so on. A few days ago, I was not sure she would be able to do any of this on her own for a while. With each day, she is able to do this with just a little more ease. It still takes perhaps 20 or 30 seconds or so to sit up in bed before standing up, but that is considerably less than the minutes that process consumed a few days ago. I noticed some involuntary movements during the day before yesterday, such as a slight nod, and even a small shrug of her shoulders. Today, she is moving her head from side to side with limited range, but with some ease. All things that give you confidence that she is healing. The staples will be removed next week and then perhaps some physical therapy. There has been discussion of additional radiation treatment, but I suspect that was only being considered if part of the vertebra were to remain intact. Complete removal would seem to obviate that.

We really do not know what to expect after this. Hopefully, she will continue to heal and will be able to resume normal activity. I am sure it will be a slow recovery from this surgery, but Sandy already confirms that the pain in her back and right arm which required the surgery is indeed gone. Little victories. We’ll take them.

The first big test will be Saturday, when Sandy plans to go to Haley’s gymnastics meet. Her sister, Beth, will be here to take her and run any blocking and tackling in the bleachers, if necessary. Beth isn’t very big, but she’s feisty and protective of her sister, so she’ll be fine.

Regrettably, I won’t be there. I had a ski trip planned with a group of guys. Sandy and Beth (and a few others) insisted that I needed the break and should continue with the trip. I’ll admit that my arm is not sore from any twisting and I am thoroughly JACKED UP to be going! I call it “Downhill Therapy” – a regular necessity for me and something from which I always benefit. I really appreciate the group of guys that are rallying in Utah for five days…and the understanding that we’ll undoubtedly need from local authorities and barkeeps.

Oh sure, I talk a big game—we’ll all be crushed by 9 each night, I am sure.

Back home, Sandy and Beth will have a great time without me in the middle, Hannah and Haley will love seeing their Aunt Bethie...and Haley will definitely appreciate having the additional audience at her meet.

First Full Day at Home

Maybe “gingerly” was too generous and “mobile” too liberal to use. She makes it from point A to point B, but with great difficulty. Sitting up to get out of bed takes minutes, not just a few seconds. There is pain, but it seems to be acceptable so long as she stays on the schedule. Sandy can sit upright comfortably in the large red chair in our back family room. This room is mostly windows on two sides and gets tremendous sunlight during the day, making it quite comfortable. It looks like that is where she will spend quite a bit of time over the next several days. Stay tuned.

The Bionic Woman is Coming Home

Great news—Sandy will be coming home today. She is mobile and reasonably self-sufficient, and the physical therapist cleared her yesterday to go home. She passed the PT tests …getting out of bed on her own, walking around, up and down stairs, visiting a few key rooms (ahem), etc. The pain seems to be managed well enough through oral medications, as well. She moves quite gingerly, but can get around well enough manage at home with some help. The girls are at school as I write this, so they will be surprised and excited to see her when they get home today.

Happy New Year - Sandy Surgery Update. Or, T2 Has Left the Building.

Happy New Year!

Sandy’s surgery went well on the 31st. We drove down to Hopkins at about 5:45am (aargh) to get her there in the window they gave us, 6:00-6:30am. It was a cold, icy morning. There was a lot of sitting around, which did not help to calm Sandy’s apprehension over the procedure. They finally wheeled her in to the OR around 8:30, and actually started cutting around 9:45 or so. The surgery went without incident. Things were removed (T2), a spacer was installed, along with an assembly of instrumentation made of titanium alloy. I have xray images that were taken during the surgery that illustrate the hardware in a spectacular fashion. If I can find some way to digitize them, I will post them for you to see.

One of the OR nurses was very diligent about calling me every couple of hours to let me know how things were going or to report a specific milestone. They started closing around 4:15pm, and finally wheeled her out to the Neuro Critical Care Unit (NCCU) at around 5:00pm. It is a fairly messy procedure that requires considerable clean up, and it took a little more than 90 minutes before Sandy’s dad, Bob, and I were able to see her. She was remarkably lucid for having just regained consciousness. I also think she was relieved that it was over. The anxiety of anticipating this procedure was pretty difficult, but the aftermath has been relatively easy. She even called it, “a piece of cake” compared to the last surgery. Imagine that—having your spine disassembled and reassembled is a “piece of cake.” It’s all relative, I suppose. One thing for sure, this just does not seem like a big deal compared to the transplant and whipple in Feb 07.

Sandy actually got out of bed today and was able to walk a few laps around the floor at Hopkins. She also climbed and descended a couple of flights of stairs and appears very stable on her feet. The Physical Therapist “passed” her and said that she was cleared to go home. Not bad for two days rest! She has been taken off of the IV drugs and is now on oral medication. So long as her pain can be managed orally, she should be able to come home soon. We were hoping to get her home by Saturday, and now it looks like we may even beat that. I’ll keep you posted.