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Post by Dora on Jun 6, 2007 21:45:51 GMT -5
As some of you know my partner Mike (photographer on a bunch of the pics PEC puts up) had surgery today, he had ruptured the C6-C7 disk in his neck and it was sitting on the root nerve. This injury has been causing him a lot of pain as well as loss of use of his arm/severe numbness. Its been a hard few weeks for us.
Mike's surgery today went well and as planned (they did fail to mentio that they somehow screw your head down to operate so the funny screw holes were a suprise) With the brace he looks like Frankenstein. He already has feeling in his left arm again. He is in A LOT of pain still from the surgery but we hope that it will be worth it in the long run. We will be back home by this weekend since we felt it best to be where we could get some help in case of emergency where I do not drive.
Thank you everyone that has given us your thoughts and prayers. If we are lucky he will be well enough to make Solstice without us having to piggyback him.
Dora and Franken-Mike
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Post by swissgrl on Jun 6, 2007 22:27:26 GMT -5
sending lots of jingles for a speedy recovery!!!!
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Post by atticus on Jun 6, 2007 22:33:28 GMT -5
Jingles to Mike for a speedy and pain-free recovery!! Tell him Finn needs his personal photographer back!! Finn is such a supermodel when Mike takes his pics!  Prayers and Jingles to both of you!! |
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Post by calypso on Jun 6, 2007 23:07:42 GMT -5
omg Dora, yes, much jingles to Mike. I sympathize. I have herniated C3/4, C4/5, C5/6, C6/7 and L4/5. I'm glad they could do surgery on him and I will pray it brings relief!
Caly
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Post by jenm on Jun 6, 2007 23:27:35 GMT -5
Jingles from CA for a smooth recovery and pain free future!
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Post by Dora on Jun 7, 2007 10:03:00 GMT -5
Its been an ugly ride. He is so glad to just feel his fingers again. We do not have insurence so just to get him in we were put over the barrel with what they wanted for a deposit.
It was a hard night for him last night after the hospital drugs wore off. This morning he had not been up yet when I left so I don't know how he is feeling but his dressing was dry. I had been really worried about that since they had acted like there was not going to be any ned to change the dressing for a while and it had to be changed twice. Maybe if he says its ok I will post the pic of his neck ;D
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Post by agilitygal on Jun 7, 2007 11:42:46 GMT -5
I have had back surgery and the recovery period for me took 2 years before things were anywhere normal. Considering that I surprised everyone that I could actually walk again, let alone periodically run with my agility dogs, proves that the body will heal itself if given time and attention. The surgical repair is a blessing. . .but, you will always need to be careful. Things will never be the same. Best advice I can give: take the time to allow the healing and live the rest of your life carefully and gently.
His photos, by the way, are the b-e-s-t!!!!! I always look for them.
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Post by earlybp on Jun 7, 2007 11:49:59 GMT -5
That's a lot to go through. I hope that he feels better soon!
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Post by paintedlady on Jun 7, 2007 13:50:13 GMT -5
Best Wishes coming your way ;D Take Care
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Post by penny/pals on Jun 7, 2007 13:53:02 GMT -5
Jingles to you Mike and Dora and a speedy recovery I hope they gave him lots of meds for home its hard when you can't sleep because of pain. Take care and rest alot.
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Post by cederr on Jun 7, 2007 15:39:06 GMT -5
TONS OF GOOD VIBES of HEALING for you, MIKE, and for DORA for strength and patience with you when your pain meds wear off <wink>
TAKE IT EASY!
PAM
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Post by Dora on Jun 7, 2007 18:39:48 GMT -5
They gave him 80 heavy duty pain pills, so I really hope the pain wears out before the drugs do!
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Post by Dora on Jun 12, 2007 21:00:00 GMT -5
We have been in the hospital since Sunday at noon, there is some sort of problem and all of the symptoms are back and the pain is far worse. He is hooked up to a continous pain med drip on top of the other heavy narcs. He is supposed to be operated on tomorrow morning again. This time they will cut in through his throat and fuse him. he will have pretty scars coming and going now.
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Post by atticus on Jun 13, 2007 0:31:29 GMT -5
Dora and Mike my thoughts and prayers are with you!
Jingles for a more speedy recovery and Pain free!
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Post by swissgrl on Jun 13, 2007 7:00:29 GMT -5
Dora, my thoughts are with you and Mike. Sending lots of jingles for a complete and speedy recovery!
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Post by cederr on Jun 13, 2007 9:28:47 GMT -5
Dora and Mike,
my thoughts and prayers are with you for a successful surgery and pain free recovery!
PAM
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Post by penny/pals on Jun 13, 2007 10:34:10 GMT -5
Sorry to hear this my thoughts and prayers are with you. A speedy recovery for Mike.
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Post by toeps on Jun 13, 2007 10:57:51 GMT -5
Healing thoughts and prayers for you and Mike!
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Post by cybercat on Jun 13, 2007 16:43:47 GMT -5
Hang in there, guys! Jingles for you all...
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Post by djrepp on Jun 13, 2007 23:16:02 GMT -5
I am wishing you both well. Mike you have a wonderful spirit. Sending lots of good thoughts your way for a speedy recovery!
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Post by sassiedogtk on Jun 14, 2007 0:43:53 GMT -5
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
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Post by Dora on Jun 14, 2007 17:59:46 GMT -5
I am pretty tired, I am still waiting for all of it to hit now that it is over. I feel like I could sleep for a week. Here is the generic post to everyone on what happened.
We are home! Here is the official scoop as to what happened. He went in last Weds. to have his disks fixed and moved off of the nerve that was causing the loss of use and numbness in his arm as well as a great deal of pain. The first few hours after the surgery things went pretty well, he could feel his hand and move it again. Then the pain started, and the massive swelling (looked like he was hit with large balls on either side of his shoulder and one side stuck up two inches further than the other. We called the doctor, they changed muscle relaxers and kind of blew us off. Then we called again as the pain got worse, prognosis: muscle relaxers must not be working lets add Valium. By then Mike was is convulsions with tears in his eyes the pain was so bad if he even got up to pee, I come down with the flu to help things along. So now it is Sunday and he looks like he would rather drop dead the continue on he was in so much pain so we went to the ER. We had another MRI that showed that there was something "loose" in there and are admitted into the hospital.
The pain was so far out of control that they stuck him on a diladad drip that he was hitting regularly at that point on top of Oxycontin twice a day with whatever muscle relaxers. At this point they were still talking using steroids to make it better. Exactly seven days after the first surgery I was able to peel off the steri strips and see the first surgery site in time to shove him back into the OR.
The second surgery was a great success. They found that when the shaved the ruptured part for the first surgery it just gave the rest of the disk the room it needed to basically blow up. The disk has been removed, he has a cadaver bone and some sort of metal plate but he feels good we are at home now and he is resting after a trip to see his babies (the horses).
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Post by agilitygal on Jun 14, 2007 18:06:57 GMT -5
OMG! That's a horror story. So happy they finally got to fix it right. Now things should look up. That's always a risk when they remove part of the disc. So glad to hear it's better now. Rest! Rest! Rest!
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Post by exceller on Jun 14, 2007 19:27:25 GMT -5
I must report that the boys (horses) were all quite happy that Mike made his first stop from the hosiptal a visit to the stable to see them. Everyone came over to greet him, even my most stuck-up exracer, JR. Thank goodness you are feeling better Mike. Darlene |
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Post by atticus on Jun 14, 2007 20:11:52 GMT -5
Thank goodness Mike is OK, I think we were all holding our breath hoping he would be pain free! "There is nothing better for the inside of a person than the outside of a horse" one of my favorite quotes. Get well soon Mike! (& sleep well Dora!)
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Post by Dora on Jun 14, 2007 20:26:22 GMT -5
This really has been a nightmare. He is so healthy, you look at him and you never think he is 40 he looks so much younger. He was a guide for Mt. Rainer, kayaker, worked search and rescue. All around really heathy. To have him blow a disk cleaning a stall was such a bizare thing. We layed here on the floor one night while he was in agony and tried to make jokes about it. Some we came up with were.
What a s**tty way to go.
What the hay I guess that is how things go.
What a p*sser.
My job is the s**ts.
There were a bunch of them but I can't even think of them now. He has had it so bad. This was really hard on his mind getting ready to go in for this last surgery. I had thought about taking up a collection for him so we can all do something really nice for him now that he is doing a little better. If anyone is interested let me know.
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Post by shelberttk2 on Jun 14, 2007 23:14:37 GMT -5
Thoughts and prayers coming your way!!!
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Post by Dora on May 11, 2008 17:07:44 GMT -5
Some of you might recall Mike getting hurt last year helping the horses up at Dean's bad enough that it required two surgeries back to back. Mike did not have any medical insurance, the hospital had agreed to take part of it as charity but failed to mention that certain parts would not be covered after the large sum that we had to borrow for them to agree to pick up the rest. We have been paying off the extra xrays and the gas passer for almost a year now on top of the money we had to borrow. With Mike still unable to work at a regular job due to the injury we are really hurting. I really need some help with the hospital bills if anyone can help with even small donations straight to the anesthesiologist it would really help our cause.
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Post by gratefulknits on May 11, 2008 17:17:49 GMT -5
Wow, this just goes to show that there really is only One Mind, and we are all thinking in to it. I was just thinking about you and Mike this morning, I don't even know what brought you to mind, but I was wondering how you both are doing. I'm sorry to hear that you've been hit so hard by his medical expenses.
Would you PM me your anaesthesiologist's name and billing address (and account number if you have one)? I would like to make a contribution.
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Post by Dora on May 11, 2008 17:40:14 GMT -5
You know its pretty sad but I am crying over anyone being willing to help. Its so sad to see what this has done to Mike. He suffers a lot of pain from it still, can't move like he used to, has trouble lifting on stuff. You watch him move and wince, you can tell it hurts him even if he won't say anything. He has to constantly worry about doing something that might jar it since there is no further way to fix this if anything else goes wrong.
Here is the information on this bill, if anyone sends money please let me know the amount so we know how much we still owe. Every penny counts at this rate. Thank you so much for helping us.
Valley Anesthesia Associates
Po Box 84571
Seattle, Wa. 98124-5871
account number 390660
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