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Ahh, the chiro hurts his back. Old injury from years ago finally gets aggravated in a big way and bam! I have a herniation pushing into the spinal canal with all the trimmings: leg pain, numbness, weakness, burning, etc. etc.

So, been getting adjusted for a week now and it's improving steadily...I gotta tell you, if you've ever had a herniation and didn't give the Flexion/Distraction technique a try, you're missing out on some really great, non-invasive, ways to get things back to 'normal'.

On a similar note, TonyT had some degeneration in his neck and is recooperating from a procedure to replace some discs...send him some love.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to both of you.

Spring was here, for a few days, and I was able to ride on Monday and Tuesday. Now I hear that we are supposed to get 4-8 inches of snow on Friday?! What?

Hope you guys are better soon.

And stop that disco dancing at all hours of the night!

Been getting adjusted for years. Love the endorphin rush.

TonyT and you are down together?

Heal up fast, it's almost April!

You guys need some new wheels to get you going again...



Just kidding guys... ....hope you're both feeling better soon.

DJ

Both of you guys get better soon. Before spring hits!

Now I hear that we are supposed to get 4-8 inches of snow on Friday?!

Just in time for my 2nd trip to the Big City this weekend!

Vann, I didn't know that you were coming to Raleigh.

mac

Raleigh - where Barney goes to party!

Michael, actually, we have the corner room at the 'Y' booked for a trip later this spring!

A lot cheaper than our room in NYC, I can guarantee!

Thanks guys, Scotty is right, he was nice enough to call today to see how I was doing...A couple of you know about this (and I post it in the hopes that some of you knuckledheads get yourselves checked out):

About 6 weeks ago I was in NOLA for some meetings..the flight from EWR was ok, but by that first evening I had a terrible pain in my back, by my left shoulder blade. It felt like a pulled muscle but by the second day I couldn't even sit still in a meeting. I got home on a Thursday night and went to see the Doc the next morning. He put me on low level painkillers, anti-inflammatories, and even valium as a muscle relaxant. After a couple of weeks of this, no joy. By now the back pain has company: pain in my shoulder, left arm, tingling in my fingers, and a loss of strength in the left arm....I think "SH*T"... can't be a heart attack, not ME! I am strong like bull !

My Doc sends me to get a c-spine MRI and the report details a few hernitated disks, stenosis, bone spurs, etc..basically my cervical spine was having problems and my spinal cord and connecting nerve roots were paying the price. He looks at the report and the images and says "wow". You never, ever want to hear your Doctor say "wow". He says "You need to see a neurosurgeon NOW". Two days later I'm in the office of a 'renowned' neurosurgeon, one of the top guys in New York metro......this is Friday the 2nd of March.....He looks at the images, does a full neuro exam and says "How quick can you have surgery?"

I had herniated disks in levels C4-C5, C5-C6, and C6-C7 and other stuff.... He said in addition to the disk herniation (which of course pinches the spinal cord), I also had stenosis of the spinal canal (the holes in the vertebrae narrow and compress the spinal chord), and also a narrowing of the foramen (the openings in the side of the vertebrae where the nerves branch out to the left and right, The stenosis was severe enough that even a mild whiplash could have paralyzed me; the chord simply had no room in its bony home. I also had some bone spurs on a couple of vertebrae that were complicating things. I had my surgery on the 8th, last Thursday, The procedure was a Anterior Cervical Disectomy on my C4-C5 and C5-C6 disks. He removed the two really bad disks (one was worn down to almost nothing) and put in cadaver bone spacers to fuse the 3 vertebrae together. In addition, he attached a titanium plate spanning the 3 vertebrae as a brace, all held together with six 1 inch long screws. He also had to do quite a bit of bonework to take the pressure of my spinal chord and nerve roots, and also had to grind down bone spurs on the front surface of a couple of vertebrae to allow him to attach the flat plate. Amazingly, this was all done through a 1.5 inch incision in the front of my neck, just to the left of my Adam's apple. I was in the hospital for one night and was home by Friday noon. Unreal what they can do with those surgical instruments nowadays. Bottom line is the surgery went fine (3 hours) and my symptoms disappeared immediately. I still have a bit of a tingling sensation in my left index finger, and some numbness under my chin near the incision. The Dr said this was not uncommon, my nerves will need to recover, they were compressed very badly. As of today I feel ok, just slightly weak, and the worst of it really was the sore throat from the intubation. I did have a loss of strength in my left tricep, but that will come back, I will not need physical therapy. I was cleared for driving yesterday, and he'll let me get back on the bike as soon as my full strength is back. The surgeon is also a rider so he knows the deal. I told him all I care about is being able to do the Edelweiss ride ride the Alps in May/June. He said I will be back on the Beemer long before then.

Oh, and I'm a 1/2" taller. Really.

The Dr said none of this was a result of an accident, trauma, posture, etc...he said it was age and genetics at work....."some guys get heart attacks, you got this"....Good news is my pre op tests showed I'm in otherwise great shape. Bloodwork, etc...the EKG tech asked me if I was a long distance runner.......after I stopped laughing I asked her "Do I LOOK like a runner ?"..She said my low heart rate and EKG showed an exceptionally strong heart. Nice to hear I won't keel over one day after shoveling the driveway.

I hope to get back on the ST in a couple of weeks (right before we leave for Longboat Key, FLA for a week)..

Cheers guys !

Tony

Glad to hear everything went OK. Titanium spine? sounds like the six million dollar man.

Geees Tony...You've been through a nasty op...Did you spend any time in ICU or did they extubate in recovery?

I can't believe they would send you home the next day....

Take it easy and don't rush things too much..the bike will be there when you're all better....and hope you're feeling better and stronger soon.

DJ

Damn Tony sounds like you been through the ringer. Glad recovery is going well. Probably a good thing You're "Strong As Bull". Good luck.

Scotty, Hope all is well and you are feeling better. Pain is not fun. Good luck.

rdsmith3 wrote:Tony

Glad to hear everything went OK. Titanium spine? sounds like the six million dollar man.

Bob, more like a hundred grand.....(and counting)...

Thanks for the good wishes guys. Baby steps...

DJ, my room was in the hospital's Neuroscience wing and I was looked after by the Neurological Intermediate Care Unit. Spent 3 hours in post op recovery. The tube was out by the time I woke up ( as was the catheter thank God !)

I couldn't believe the one-nighter either, but the Doc said it was SOP unless there are complications. The surgical incision didn't even require sutures or glue. Just a Steri Strip which was removed Wednesday.

Herb (sjbmw) called this morning and we have officially begun planning for our assault on the MOA Rally.

Hi Tony - I didn't realize what you've been going through. Hope you're able to recover fast and get back to normal. Thanks for posting such a detailed report. I'll take you out to lunch/dinner sometim when you're up for it. Heck, I'm up there every week now.

p.s. - It's been a rough winter for a lot of us physically.

Tony - that sounds like some serious work on you! And some high dollar metal parts! Glad you are OK and recovering.

And I was sitting here being bummed out by my long-anticipated trip to NYC being cancelled by the weather! Your post makes me realize how lucky most of us are. Great attitude!

If I decide to make to the MOA rally, I hope to see you there!

I'm going to try and get back to work this week....probably a few hours a day sitting at my desk depending on how I feel. I still have a bit of pain but that's the ligaments and other tissues stretching back into position. Overall I must say I feel pretty damn good.

Yong, thanks, it' ll be a pleasure...I've cut out the business travel for now so I'll be working out of my house in Cranford most of the time. If you recall that's very close to Summit and also the sushi place where we met last time. If you like Spanish/Portuguese there is a great place right in town next to the train station.

Vann, let me know when/if you reschedule your NYC trip. The weather will actually improve big time as of this week. Maybe we can get a few of us together for lunch/dinner/drinks. And of course let me know if you need local info/advice.

Wow that is a heck of an operation Tony. I am most amazed that they can get everything in and out of a 1.5" incision. I want to go on the Edelweisse trip too. Maybe you could take the good doctor with you for his payment.

Scott I hope you are felling better, too.

I will see you guys somewhere this summer.

Tony - glad you are doing OK. Don't know when we are going to go back to NYC but it will probably be this summer. My wife says not till the weather is warmer!

I would like to get together with some of the 'Yankee' crew when we go! I'll give you a shout!

wncbmw wrote:Tony - glad you are doing OK. Don't know when we are going to go back to NYC but it will probably be this summer. My wife says not till the weather is warmer!

I would like to get together with some of the 'Yankee' crew when we go! I'll give you a shout!

That's a good idea -- I'd like that. You can call me a Yankee, but, please, do not ever call me a Yankees fan.

No Yankees. Phillies.
And gimme a whiz wit please.
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