Pre-surgery work up finished! :-) Jeri update

[Guest guest]

If this sounds a little giddy, it is.

I am SO glad to be done with my pre-surgery workup.... a couple of

reasons.

It took from 9am to 3:30pm.

Now there's no turning back.

Oh, one more thing -- a margarita would taste good right now.,

I donate my 4th (last) pint of blood at Red Cross in about half an

hour. What fun that is! Cookies, lemonade, pizza, crackers w/cheese.

I have always had one son or other or hubby with me cuz of

snow/ice/wobbly after donating/wobbly cuz of numb feet.

There were some things I wasn't rock-solid-sure about; now I am.

ALL my hardware will be taken out.

Wedges will not be in cages but will be cut from donor shins.

Allograft is a more mysterious way to describe that and a bit easier

to think about.

I've been unsure if some of the terms I see in this forum refer to

me. Now I know. I'll get laminectomy because of stenosis. At first

appt he didn't use those terms.

All hardware will be removed.

I'll be fused from T3 - S1. Because I'm going to be fused to S1, he

doesn't want any bending or turning at all...

I will not be up to walk AT ALL until I'm at the skilled facility

because they have a tilt table. I will not be partially sitting up

in bed... I will not be laying on my side in bed...but turned just

enough to prevent pressure points. He doesn't want me bending AT ALL

for about 6 weeks. In fact, he said that I'll arrive at my 6 week

checkup on a stretcher, and rolled onto the exam table.

Man, am I glad I'll have prism glasses! I tend to break things, so

maybe I'll order a second pair now... hubby can keep them safe so he

can give the second pair to me if I break the first pair.

I've got to be at hosp by 5:30, surgery starts at 7:30. It'll take 10-

12 hours to do both A & P. He'll do it all in one session unless he

gets tired. He said he needs at least 4 hands... I was worried that

he'd let a resident take over for a period of time. Nope. And the

resident will be either a 4th or 5th yr resident or a fellow. Now I

finally know what a 'fellow' is! And I'm so relieved about that.

He'll eat lunch and use the restroom while I'm being repositioned

from A to P or vice versa.

Hubby and both sons (19 & 21) were with me. I really wanted the boys

to understand what will happen, including all the details. Even 5

yrs ago, I wouldn't have requested that they go, but now, I would

have been very disappointed if either one had opted out.

He used a model to explain how screws work vs. the hooks I have in

now. He patiently and completely answered every single one of my

questions.

I'll let you know if my opinion changes, but I feel completely

comfortable that Dr. Cliff Tribus is right up there in the club with

Drs. Bradford, Broachie, Hu, and LaGrone. He actually did his

residency and/or fellowship with Dr. Hu under supervision of Dr.

Bradford.

Now that I understand more, I hope I can help anyone who knows less

than me about all this... very few people who know less than me.

Well, I'm off to my last visit to the vampire.

Jeri