Update on the dad
He went in around 10am, the doctor came out at about 2:40 to talk to us (as of 2:58 he's still here answering questions.)
The surgery went very well, no problem of bleeding, and his vitals were stable the whole time.
The main worry is can they get rid of the infection....Will it spread...will they need to replace anything they have already done if the infection goes after what they just replaced...Will they need to replace anything else....
As of right now they replaced disks 6 and 7 in the neck (the last two of the cervical spine) (here is a link to a picture of the whole spine http://www.popovic.com.au/imgs/spine.gif) They put in a metal plate along with a type of cage made of plastic and bone material to support where the disks were. The infection ate through the disks.
They took cultures of the infection...to see what kind of infection it is and where it came from, this well help to determine what type of antibiotic they should use…though he is on antibiotics now.
They are going to keep him in ICU to monitor, track, and make sure the infection doesn't spread. If they can get rid of the infection then we are pretty much good to go, however, the infection is still there. If it spreads to something else then they'll have to replace that. As for right now they can’t do much else other then to try antibiotics to get rid of the infection. They operated now to make sure it didn’t get worse around the disks then it was, and to get the cultures.
If it goes after what they just put in, they'll have to replace all of that hardware...the cage and such serving as the new disks.
So lets hope the infection doesn't spread...if it does then that will possibly mean a third surgery. If it doesn’t spread they'll probably still do a 2nd one to make sure its ok, and to possibly reinforce it more.
The surgery went very well, no problem of bleeding, and his vitals were stable the whole time.
The main worry is can they get rid of the infection....Will it spread...will they need to replace anything they have already done if the infection goes after what they just replaced...Will they need to replace anything else....
As of right now they replaced disks 6 and 7 in the neck (the last two of the cervical spine) (here is a link to a picture of the whole spine http://www.popovic.com.au/imgs/spine.gif) They put in a metal plate along with a type of cage made of plastic and bone material to support where the disks were. The infection ate through the disks.
They took cultures of the infection...to see what kind of infection it is and where it came from, this well help to determine what type of antibiotic they should use…though he is on antibiotics now.
They are going to keep him in ICU to monitor, track, and make sure the infection doesn't spread. If they can get rid of the infection then we are pretty much good to go, however, the infection is still there. If it spreads to something else then they'll have to replace that. As for right now they can’t do much else other then to try antibiotics to get rid of the infection. They operated now to make sure it didn’t get worse around the disks then it was, and to get the cultures.
If it goes after what they just put in, they'll have to replace all of that hardware...the cage and such serving as the new disks.
So lets hope the infection doesn't spread...if it does then that will possibly mean a third surgery. If it doesn’t spread they'll probably still do a 2nd one to make sure its ok, and to possibly reinforce it more.