My new back may no longer be on back order ... soon(ish)
I have a surgery date! June 10.
The meeting with the neurosurgeon up at Dartmouth Medical Center/School went extremely well; baron_elric and I were quite impressed by both his attitude and knowledge. As well as his demeanor. It was hugely different than that guy at Concord Orthopedics who wanted to go in and do all sorts of invasive surgery without really taking any medical background at all.
Without going into huge detail about the visit, the upshot is this:
He'll be doing a minimally invasive fusion and insertion of titanium screws at only one level of the lumber (L5-S1, I believe, but it may be L4-5 -- it all blends after a while) to correct the spondylolethesis. There's a good article here at Medscape. Yes, I'll be the bionic woman from now on. While he's there, he'll remove the cyst that he thinks formed because of the lethesis, and is pressing on the nerves, causing the leg pain in my right leg. He doesn't think the stenosis is anything that needs treating, not now -- he just doesn't see it as badly progressed as the guy at Concord. So no scary lamenectomy & decompression. YAY!
And frankly, given his credentials and that he heads up the Spine Center at Dartmouth (which heads up the SPORT research study, which handles data regarding spine issues throughout a number of large participating medical communities in the US, and is considered the gold standard for statistics on spine treatment in the world), I'm inclined to believe him over Dr. I-Want-To-Operate-And-Do-The-Most-Possible-For-The-Most-Money down in Concord.
Yeah. Just sayin'.
Plus, between himself and the physiatrist who first came in and did a full workup, they took over two and half hours with me. Dr Hotdog at Concord? Less than five minutes. Really. Five frakking minutes.
So, I'm heading to Dartmouth for this shindig. The facility there is incredible, too. OMG.
So, June 10. And probably a hospital stay for a day, maybe two depending on my recovery. No more than that. I'll be pretty much bed-bound except for gentle walking for a while, then rehab will start at about a month out, I believe.
But I'll be able to sit in a chair again for more than an hour at a time. WOOT! I can't wait.
I will have wifi there in my room (the whole facility has wifi -- and artists performing live music in the rotunda in the afternoons. I kid you not.), so I'll take along my trusty iPhone (which really needs a name -- any suggestions?) and will rely on you folks to entertain me. If you know what I mean. Picpams will be appreciated. Those nurses will never know what hit 'em. :)
The meeting with the neurosurgeon up at Dartmouth Medical Center/School went extremely well; baron_elric and I were quite impressed by both his attitude and knowledge. As well as his demeanor. It was hugely different than that guy at Concord Orthopedics who wanted to go in and do all sorts of invasive surgery without really taking any medical background at all.
Without going into huge detail about the visit, the upshot is this:
He'll be doing a minimally invasive fusion and insertion of titanium screws at only one level of the lumber (L5-S1, I believe, but it may be L4-5 -- it all blends after a while) to correct the spondylolethesis. There's a good article here at Medscape. Yes, I'll be the bionic woman from now on. While he's there, he'll remove the cyst that he thinks formed because of the lethesis, and is pressing on the nerves, causing the leg pain in my right leg. He doesn't think the stenosis is anything that needs treating, not now -- he just doesn't see it as badly progressed as the guy at Concord. So no scary lamenectomy & decompression. YAY!
And frankly, given his credentials and that he heads up the Spine Center at Dartmouth (which heads up the SPORT research study, which handles data regarding spine issues throughout a number of large participating medical communities in the US, and is considered the gold standard for statistics on spine treatment in the world), I'm inclined to believe him over Dr. I-Want-To-Operate-And-Do-The-Most-Possible-For-The-Most-Money down in Concord.
Yeah. Just sayin'.
Plus, between himself and the physiatrist who first came in and did a full workup, they took over two and half hours with me. Dr Hotdog at Concord? Less than five minutes. Really. Five frakking minutes.
So, I'm heading to Dartmouth for this shindig. The facility there is incredible, too. OMG.
So, June 10. And probably a hospital stay for a day, maybe two depending on my recovery. No more than that. I'll be pretty much bed-bound except for gentle walking for a while, then rehab will start at about a month out, I believe.
But I'll be able to sit in a chair again for more than an hour at a time. WOOT! I can't wait.
I will have wifi there in my room (the whole facility has wifi -- and artists performing live music in the rotunda in the afternoons. I kid you not.), so I'll take along my trusty iPhone (which really needs a name -- any suggestions?) and will rely on you folks to entertain me. If you know what I mean. Picpams will be appreciated. Those nurses will never know what hit 'em. :)