Well we arrived at the surgery center at 10:15 and the misses went in around an hour later. The whole thing took about 15 minutes and then the nurse and doctor called me in to tell me they isolated her pain in disc 2 and 3. This means we had to go straight to a CT Scan about 6 miles away. I of course had chatted up the nurses and gave them each a bottle of wine so we were getting special treatment. The doctor received two bottles and after talking to us before she went in and learning we were not only patients but friends of Dr. Corenman in Vail, (who sends them a lot of patients) was also very accomodating. In any transaction, which this was too, it’s all about the relationship as people are still people. Anyhow the misses was in recovery for about 30 minutes and when they rolled her out in a wheelchair, she was virtually headache free! I won’t go into the technicalities of what they did but it’s not a pleasant procedure. We all know how tough Lori is, but they don’t, or didn’t, until she was through. The doctor when talking to me said, “she’s one tough girl” to which I replied, “I told you so”.
We rushed to the CT Scan where we received the royal treatment as Jamie (our new friend and procedure coordinator who now loves us and our wine) had called ahead saying they needed to get us right in with no wait. (she sends them a lot of business too, are you beginning to see how things work?) 15 minutes later we were driving home across town with Lori still headache free. I kept asking her if her head was ok so many times I probably gave her a headache! Now I knew the pain reliever the doc shot between her discs had to wear off sooner or later so I kept checking. She pretty much made it through the night but this morning her head is up a little bit on the pain scale. This is expected and in fact, they said it might hurt a bit more along with the neck (injection sight and discs) for up to 5 days. Regardless, we’re thrilled that after 3 plus years, we’ve finally isolated the problem.
So what’s next, well, it’s neck fusion surgery, the same one that Peyton Manning had. Hopefully in November we’ll get in and the surgeon will perform a couple procedures at the same time. First he’ll have to go in the front of her neck and fuse discs two and three. Here they’ll use a plate and a cadaver bone. Second, he needs to go in the back of her neck and open up the nerve channels for the 5th and 6th nerve so she will regain the strength in her right arm. Then she should be good to go! So that’s about it, pretty simple huh. We’ll keep you posted, now we’re just waiting to see what insurance covers.
The boys had Chess Club after school so I picked them up at 4pm. Ty had called sayin dad where are you as I was supposed to pick them up at 3:45! Jag and I then headed out to a baseball meeting with the coach and team that drafted him for the 2014 season. They treat it just like professional baseball these days. Kids tryout the year before, get drafted and then have winter training starting now even though our first game isn’t until probably sometime in April. Our team is going to try to raise money to go play a tournament in Cooperstown New York where the Baseball Hall of Fame is. It’ll be a week long, 7 games and in next June or July. We’d make it a family vacation as they give you a cabin on a lake there and it’s supposedly beautiful in upstate New York. The kids that were there (5 of them) were great and even though Jag only knew one (the coaches son who was on his team last year) they all hit it off. The meeting was at a Pizza Hut and there was a table of girls about 12 or 13 years old that were flirting with the boys all night long. Finally our guys reciprocated, here it comes. It’s great for Jag to have another crowd of friends rather than just at school. He’s really social and makes friends with everyone and like I said, these are good kids.
We were home a bit after 7pm and then settled in for the night. Today I’ll be taking down all the Halloween lights and will try to get up some Christmas lights. Monday I’ll go to the forest service office and spend $10 for our tree permit. We still put up our fake tree but also go cut one for in our family room. It’s so much fun and when you cut one, they’re so fresh, not a single needle ever falls off! The tree always kind of looks like a Charlie Brown tree as it’s not from a tree farm so it isn’t all trimmed and perfect which we love even more. We string popcorn and put home made ornaments on the real one, and throw in a few store bought colored balls. The fun part is walking through the woods and arguing as a family as to which one we want. It’s not a real argument, just each of us saying “this is the perfect one!”. After we cut it down and drag it back to the truck we have some hot chocolate and sandwiches out in the forest, it’s loads of fun.
Time to run. Ty is downstairs with me while Mom and Jag are still sleeping. Ty and Lacey wanted to get up early, him saying “I want someone to go downstairs with me” and Lacey barking, so I rolled out of bed to take them both down. I think I’ll run to the gym.
Here’s a comment from Robi,
Robi says:
Prayers are with you misses! The boys looked great in their costumes and they are getting so big, and they are so handsome! Can’t wait to see them in 27 days!
Hope everyone is well and has a great weekend. Take care and God Bless.
Grandpa Bob and I do care about Lori’s condition, we would like to be updated often. I am sure the rest of the family feels the same way.