[Troy]

Quote:       Originally Posted by dhermesc

We just buying time. We are headed to St Louis Childrens Hospital or the Cleveland Clinic in the next couple of months. The VNS was the least invasive procedure that can be done and would be the first surgical move of any hospital attempting treatment. We could have it done by his current doctor or we could travel across a couple states and have it done with numerous followups that require the same amount of travel. Our doctor gives it a 1% chance of stopping his seizures and a 15% chance of "helping" to some degree. The kid has tried and failed 17 medications in the past three years and doesn't have many options left. His next surgery - if they'll do it will look something like this: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/neuro...ratemporal.htm or this http://www.clevelandclinic.org/neuro...s/temporal.htm

wow, i am really sorry to hear that as well. best of luck and wishes to you.

[SPOCAHP ANAR]

Hows it hangin? OK bad Joke....... My dad had this operation last summer. Hope things are going fine.

[troy2000]

It's a pretty routine procedure; probably I'll be sore for a while.

One of the guys I work with had the same thing a year ago and was off six weeks and two days. I hope that means he was milking it. Maybe not; being fit and capable of heavy labor is a requirement for my job profile's "indicative duties", as the company puts it. So they may not let me come back until I'm 100% by a company doctor's standards.

Make me stay home three weeks, I'll go nuts. Make me stay home six weeks, I might start getting used to it...

[troy2000]

dhermesc,

You're a timely reminder that I have it pretty good after all. I wish your son and your whole family luck.

My mother had an epilepsy-type problem the last twenty years of her life, from expanding scar tissue in her brain, and it took most of the fun out of what should have been her golden years.

[.22guy]

Good luck to you Troy.

[Chris]

Best wishes Troy for a speedy recovery.

[troy2000]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Dale

Take care, Troy and will wish you the best. Perhaps after the operation you won't be so contrary, LOL.

And if people are like dogs, cutting me after I'm grown and set in my ways probably wouldn't change my habits anyway.

[troy2000]

I'm just about at the end of the gauntlet; tomorrow morning I show up at the hospital at 8:00 am California time.

Since last week, I've been to the doctor's office twice and the specialist's once; I've had blood drawn twice; I've had an EKG; I've filled out paperwork from the doctor, the specialist, the surgeon, the hospital, California Disability Insurance, and company papers for the Family Medical Leave Act.

I've emptied absolutely everything that wasn't company issued from my work truck, and a few things that were; I've cleared off my desk; I've briefed the people who are going to be covering for me while I'm off; I've put a voice-mail message on my company cell phone and shut off my pager.

I've cleared out my personal pickup so the wife and number one son can drive it when necessary; I've brought the last trailer load of ceramic moulds from my mother-in-law's old place; etc.

It's going to be a relief to get actually get cut on so I can lie down and not do or think anything for a couple of days, I think. Or not...

[Outriderdark]

Good luck, hope you feel better soon!

[Oxford]

Troy...pleasant dreams, and when you come to you'll be starting the mending process. Like you said, the time waiting is the hardest part. Hope you feel like posting as usual in a short while and will tell us all about your experience.

[7mmag6]

yea youll be driving that jeep in no time good luck brother

[dhermesc]

Quote:       Originally Posted by troy2000

It's going to be a relief to get actually get cut on so I can lie down and not do or think anything for a couple of days, I think. Or not...

On the first night you'll suddenly remember something you forgot and then by morning you'll have an entire list for your wife and son to take care of. On the third or fourth day your wife will tell you to STFU or she'll smother you with a pillow (speaking from personal experience).

Hope it all goes well.

[WetKnife]

Make sure your Doctor understands the surgical procedure and that you should leave the hospital still a man with all the goods you walked in with.

[troy2000]

I'm up and just got dressed. The gal at the hospital told me to wear something that's loose, comfortable and easy to get into when I come in. So last night I laid out some painter's jeans, a baggy shirt, slip-on shoes and my light leather jacket.

But I reckoned without the women in my life. My mother-in-law and her ninety-year-old sister went shopping, my wife tackled me and put a hammerlock on me, and I'll be shuffling through the lobby to admitting in dark blue-checked flannel pajamas with big white buttons, a terrycloth robe, and padded, elasticised, cloth house shoes.

I'll be a true fashion plate of the geriatric set. I told the old lady I'd look like an escaped inmate, and she said, "good. Maybe they won't let you get away."

[Father Time]

Quote:       Originally Posted by troy2000

I'll be a true fashion plate of the geriatric set. I told the old lady I'd look like an escaped inmate, and she said, "good. Maybe they won't let you get away."

Well, when you look good, you feel good.

[Oxford]

Troy...keep your back side covered. :nod: Those hospital gowns were invented to make nurses smile.

[troy2000]

Loads of fun yesterday. The hospital had me come in at eight in the morning, so I could sit around for an hour and a half letting folks admire my new threads. Then they took me into the prep area, had me put on one of those gowns, and left me for another forty minutes.

But there's one improvement over the last time I was lying on a military gurney thirty-five years ago: the gown and flannel blanket were toasty warm, like they had come straight out of a clothes dryer.

The anaesthesiologist came in and gave me a "choice" of general or spinal anaesthetic, but his comparisons of the two were so lopsided that it was obvious he wanted to do the spinal. I wasn't wild about a sore throat from a breathing tube anyway, so I went with it.

The last time I had a spinal (again, 35 years ago), they used something that felt like a stainless-steel drinking straw filled with Tabasco sauce, and the two orderlies who held me down earned their pay. But this time it was just a little pinprick. Then while they were working on me, the guy trickled something through the IV that had me drowsy and semi-asleep throughout the procedure anyway.

Of course, he didn't mention a few little details. Like the itching all over my upper body about the time they were finishing up the operation, that made me feel like I had been stung by 712 little piss-ants. "Oh yes, that happens from the anaesthesia sometimes..."

The operation went fine, although it feels like they used a roto-rooter on the left side, where the hernia was more advanced. What they did was stuff a folded piece of mesh into each tear after they reached it, then peel back around the tear and lay another piece flat. The theory is that tissue is supposed to grow through and around the mesh, and make a much stronger repair than just trying to stitch me back together again.

When they first got me into the recovery room I started feeling around to see the extent of the numbness, and almost dislocated my shoulder yanking my arm out from under the covers. Note to self: no matter what it felt like, the odds are actually very low that those were someone else's private parts you grabbed...

Everyone had predicted I'd be on my way home an hour after the operation. But my left leg decided it wanted to stay asleep long past the three hours the anaesthesiologist had said it should take the spinal to wear off. I managed to stand up once, and almost had them convinced I could walk. But when I tried to show them the leg went sideways instead of forward, I started listing to port, and they had to catch me and stuff me back onto the gurney. So I didn't get out of there until about 6:30. And about 5:00, after everything had worn off nicely, I started shivering and shaking uncontrollably, like I was in an ice box. Which felt very interesting, because the sliced and diced area wasn't numb anymore. And again: "oh yes, that happens with the anaesthesia sometimes..."

The recovery nurses took pity and gave me a Vicadin along with a fresh warmed blanket, but it was a case of too little too late. Things didn't really simmer down until I'd been home for a few hours, gotten some food down me, and taken a second vicadin along with some ibuprofin.

Things are a lot better this evening, as long as I'm sitting up or lying down on one side. But getting up and down or rolling over concentrates my attention wonderfully, and on the way to and from the bathroom I walk like a bent-kneed, stoned Groucho Marx. The family has finally relaxed enough to laugh when they watch me, which is good. All that worry and solicitous care was making me nervous.

[troy2000]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Oxford

Troy...keep your back side covered. :nod: Those hospital gowns were invented to make nurses smile.

What bothered me was the half-dozen times a nurse took a quick peek under the blanket to "check on the dressings." Trouble is, it was a different nurse every time.

[Oxford]

Troy...Thanks for the detailed report. :nod: Glad you're on the way to recovery. It's finished! Over! Done with!
Were the nurses who checked you out really looking at your surgical stitches or something much more private?
BTW...My oldest daughter is a surgical nurse but her speciality is assisting with heart surgeries of all types.
Hope your pain killer's are effective. Don't be a hero and let the pain get too bad before throwing another pill down. They don't give out pins for taking the pain so relax, and just ride it out. In a few days you'll be back to your old self.
Best to you as you recover.:right:
Ox

[troy2000]

Ox, as far as I know my privates aren't particularly remarkable one way or another, but by the end of the parade I was starting to wonder.

Maybe the nurses just wanted to see if they were turning black and blue and multi-hued, and swelling already. I guess even nurses need entertainment.

If that's what they were looking for, it was too early. That didn't start until today, and I'm glad I was forewarned about the possibility or I'd be a little rattled.