Home again...

Well I'm finally home again after a very long and exhausting 7 days in Sydney. I was originally only supposed to be in Sydney for 4 days in order to see the neurologist for a check up on the back surgery I had last July. I am having some on going symptoms associated with the surgery. I had a new MRI of my entire spine and in addition I had a Nerve Conduction Test (NCT) run on my hands because I have developed some symptoms in my hands, which would not have been associated with the lower back surgery. So, it was a totally new problem..

As I said the MRI was to follow up on my surgery sight and the NCT was investigating the symptoms in my hands, which included numbness and pain in both hands. I can not hold anything for longer than a minute without my fingers and eventually my entire hand going numb. My neurologist suspected that I might have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and the NCT confirmed his suspicions. I have (CTS) not only in one hand but both. We also discovered that I am developing peripheral neuropathy in both hands. The neuropathy is the same as the neuropathy I currently have in my feet.

The (CTS) can be fixed through surgery. I will have two separate surgeries so I will be able to use one hand while the other hand is recuperating from the surgery. I don't know when the surgeries will happen but the doctor is working on scheduling the surgeries. As soon as they have a date I'll be off to fix my hands. Unfortunately, the neuropathy can not be fixed and I can only hope that it does not get any worse and get as bad as it is in my feet.

The MRI found a suspicious spot near the area involved with my back surgeries (remember I ended up having 4 of them). The doctor then ordered a series of blood tests and a set of nuclear scans of my entire body which not only looked at the suspicious spot but also my bones. The doctor was trying to determine if the spot he saw was scar tissue or instead a collection of fluid which could be a site of chronic infection. If the site was a chronic infection I was looking at ongoing intravenous antibiotics that would be administered on a regular basis in order to keep the infection in check so it would not spread into my system. The results ended up being just scar tissue and not an infection. I was extremely relieved. The scar tissue will be something I will always have to deal with and it will unfortunately continue to give me some pain for the rest of my life. This is not uncommon once any type of back surgery is performed. I can and as I said will have to live with that.

All in all it was a mixed bag of results but overall I think we ended up with mostly good results. I'm not looking forward to the surgeries on my hands but at least they will help my hand get back to some sense of normal. I'll keep everyone abreast of all the latest developments and once again I want to thank all of you that have continued to send me such wonderful notes of encouragement.

One more thing, I don't have to worry about looking for a job until my hands are fixed so in some ways that's one worry off my chest. I hope by the time my hands are fixed the job market will look brighter. OK, that's all for now and thanks for reading this very long post. I'll write again soon and also make sure I do next months 12 of 12. I hated missing it but I did not have my camera with me in Sydney. See you soon. Take care...

That was a winner...

Well I'm back from my every third month trip to Sydney. As usual I went to see my neurologist to see how things are going with my peripheral neuropathy. My check-up went well. I'm not any worse but I'm also not any better. Although I have to clarify one point. When I say I've not gotten any worse I mean that the damage that has been done to my nerves has not spread. The damage that has been done to my nerves can not be fixed at this time as there is not cure. So what we keep checking is to make sure no new damage occurs and that the current damaged cells don't some how affect something else in my body. For instance, I have been having trouble going to the bathroom (No. 1 for those that really need to know) for several months. Since my back surgery that problem has gotten better because the surgery opened some nerve pathways that cut off by the obstructed nerves unfortunately the surgery couldn't fix it completely and it's not 100% but we keep moving forward. I'm not sure if that made sense but it's hard enough for me to understand much less explain.

I have had an increase in pain and the specialist believes it's one of three or a combination of three things. Those things are, 1) I'm stressed about finding a job and the stress is affecting my damaged nerve cells making them act up more, 2) because I have been getting the feeling back in my legs ever since the back surgery which was meant to do just that, give me back the feelings in my legs, however the reconnection of these nerves may serve as a new venue (pathways) for the damaged cells to send out even more incorrect impulses then they already send out. The biggest problem with that is those impulses happen to be pain impulses, and 3) it may just be a case that my current pain medication is being metabolised by my liver quicker and so we will have to raise the pain medicine levels. The specialist is erring on the side of caution and he has raised my pain medicine and we will review it in three months at which time I hopefully will have a job which will reduce the stress.

Oh and before I forget it, when I said that was a winner I was referring to my 12 of 12. It seemed to have gotten a lot of people's attention and I'm glad. I will continue to do the 12 of 12 and who knows what we shall see. You'll just have to stick around and check in, at least every 12th day of the month. Other than the visit to Sydney the only other news is 1) my mum seems to have come through the surgery fine and it looks like they got all of the cancer. They will have to monitor from here on but it looks good and 2) I have a second interview with a company I had a 30 minute telephone interview last week. The second interview is this Thursday at noon and unless I totally f&%k this interview up I believe I should be able to get an offer from this place. I will let you know what happens as soon as I know. Until then take care and stay safe...

Hospital world... (part five)

So there I was laying in my bed, in a new ward and in a room with only one other patient. It looked like we shared the same nurse and she was there when I arrived. She was busy running around putting things away and making sure that this tube was in the right hole and that dressing material was where it belonged. She was paying a lot of attention to the man in the other bed. I assumed that he had only arrived a bit earlier from just having his operation as our nurse kept asking him if he needed anything, how was his pain, and did he need anything right at the moment and so on. I tried to get her attention on several occasions and it was almost as if I was annoying her. She would occasionally acknowledged me and would tell me that she would be with me in a minute. I didn't really understand what was so difficult. The man she was tending to was in no apparent distress. I mean all she was doing was helping position him in his bed so he could watch telly, putting his things away and cleaning up around his bed. So I just didn't understand why she couldn't take just a second to ask me what it was I needed. It wasn't as if I was trying to ask her to re-do my surgery. I just needed a urine bottle so I could stand next to my bed and do what nature intended me to do in the bathroom but instead I had to do it next to the bed because of the surgery and hence the need for the bottle. Nothing, more nothing less.

I was a bit troubled to think that maybe my nurse was incapable of doing two things at once but maybe it was the morphine speaking and maybe I was just being a tad unfair since I had only just met her. Believe me I have huge amounts of empathy for what nurses do day in and day out because my hubby does it and he does it with the added stresses of doing it in the Emergency Room. I understand when someone is involved in something extremely difficult and they can't be disturbed when their are doing say "brain surgery" but I really don't equate what our nurse was doing with brain surgery. The way I saw it and the way 99.9% of the population would have seen it was that all she was doing was settling two new patients into their respective beds and making sure that they were as comfortable as possible before she headed out to check on her other patients. I also want to be fair and say that I was not privy to the entire picture and there may have been something extraordinarily special about the man in the bed across from me and it was quite possible that he had special needs but if that were the case then she should have gotten some help to attend to all of her duties. A few days later I would come to realise that I really did not need nor want to have her attention but I am getting a head of myself.

I had been told by the surgeon that I was allowed to walk to the bathroom if I needed to use it but it would be better to use the bottle as much as I could to save the wear and tear on my back. I was a bit disoriented being in a new room and I didn't know where the bathroom was but If I had known where it was I would have just gotten up and headed over to it to take care of business instead of asking for a bottle. Once I was able to take care of business one way or the other I would be able to lie back down, push the pain medicine button and go to sleep. I finally got the nurses full and undivided attention and of course the first thing I asked for was a bottle. She got me the requested bottle and as she started to leave to allow me to attend to my business I asked her if she would please draw the curtains around my bed so I could have some privacy. She turned around and said to me "You're in a hospital and once you enter these doors all of that type of privacy goes away. So it's best you get used to it " and she proceeded to walk away. I was to tired to say anything. I had just had surgery on my back, I was in pain and I had to pee like there was no tomorrow. So I used that bottle right there in front of everyone and anyone that might come into the room or pass by the door, which was an issue because I had the bed facing the door, but it would be the last time I did so without the privacy of a curtain. That little incident set the tone of what was to be my next three and a half days of sure hell.

This nurse turned out to be an absolute nut job. She had personal conversations with me of a nature that were totally inappropriate. Conversations like she was in love with my doctor and his wife is hot too. She talked about the drunk old lady that lived above her and that all she really wanted was for the old lady to die so she could buy her apartment. She said she had only recently been assigned to this ward but already she knew that everyone there hated her and that they would only let her look after these rooms. On top of all this, and believe me there was more, the thing that sent me over the top was the day she was helping me get ready for a shower.  I was in the bathroom and I asked her to please get my shaving bag. I was trying to get my gown off and wasn't looking up so I did not see her come back into the bathroom and the next thing I hear is her saying "So what do you need out of here?" and at that moment I looked up to see that she had opened up my shaving bag and she was rifling through it. That's when I had had enough and I told her to get out of my bag. I told her she had no right to open my bag and to start looking inside. I had not asked her to do that I had only asked here to get it for me and that she had no right to go through my personal items. Lastly but most importantly I told her that I was not a child but rather I was a grown man and I expected to be treated like one. She said that she was only tyring to help, and I told her "Well don't". At that point she turned into the ice princess and then everything I asked for she made it seem as if it were an effort or I would have to wait a while as she was busy and she'd get to it as soon as she could.

I should have known she was going to be trouble. There had been other signs, like when I asked her not to open the drapes one day and so then she turned around and threw them back closed almost tearing them off their hooks and said something to me to the effect of me wanting to stay on the dark side again. It had nothing to do with the dark side, what ever that meant. It was just that I was still having a few headaches from the whole surgery, spinal fluid thing and the light bothered my eyes. Besides at the end of the day if i wanted the curtains closed then that was my right. At other times  she would get extremely irritated when you did things different than her way and you could tell by the way she then interacted with you. I finally had to ask for her to be removed from taking care of me. I wrote up a five page complaint about her, which is the first time that I have ever done such a thing about anyone for anything. The worst part of it was she was not the only problem on this ward. There were other nurses and assistants that were equally as bad. And to top it all off the bathroom that my roommate and I shared did not get cleaned for over three days and were talking about a hospital here.

To make matters worse, while all this was happening and I was trying to recover, on the Sunday following the surgery that has occurred that Friday I found out that we were going to have to go back in and do it all over again. The surgeon had come in that Sunday morning to have a look at the wound as he had normally been doing and unfortunately for me he discovered that the wound was leaking and not in a good way. I have to tell you that his news just about sent me right over the edge. I couldn't believe it I hadn't even left the hospital this time and we were going back in so this would be surgery number four. Anyway, the surgeon called all of the weekend staff in and opened the theatre up to do a quick emergency fix up. I was in surgery by noon and back in my room late that evening around dinner time. I was in pain and all I could think about was I was stuck in this hell hole of a ward. I just didn't know how much more I could take.

I only scratched the surface here but suffice it to say it was the ward from hell. It was so bad that on the Tuesday following my surgery they moved me back to the ward in which I started and hubby had just arrived to see me as he had been back in Tasmania all of this time because he had to take care of things on the home front. Anyway, he followed me down as they moved me back to the other ward and as soon as they got me settled in my new bed space and the attendants left I honest to God burst into tears. That's how bad it had been and if I had more patience and time I would tell you all about it but I also don't want you suffering like I did and it's painfully just typing all about it. The last few days in the hospital went off without a hitch. All up I was in hospital for two weeks and I hope that it will be the last time I have to see the inside of a hospital for a long, long time!

Well that's the short, long and quick of it and I once again apologise for the very long post. As I mentioned in some ways I didn't even give you the full story and you should be thankful for that as it would have killed you to have to read it all and at the same time I'm thankful too as it would have killed me to have to relive it all. Anyway, I am recovering well and It was three weeks yesterday since the fourth surgery. As it stands everything seems to be right on track so lets hope it stays that way. Until next time take care...

Hospital world... (part four)

Be aware that this will be another long post as have been most of the recent posts with the title of "Hospital world" So, here we go. I finally got admitted into hospital and put in a bed. As I mentioned before I had been given a private room but shortly after settling into the room I was told I would have to move to a shared room because the nurses and doctors looking after another man thought he might have TB and he had to be isolated. I was moved to a shared room with four other men. I did at least get the window seat. I got to look out over the city which was especially nice in the evening watching all of the lights in downtown Sydney.

As I had been told there would be no surgery on Tuesday because I apparently was stupid enough to eat something at lunch. (Okay they didn't call me stupid to my face but I felt as if they did earlier in the day). It would have helped if someone had told me not to eat. Anyway, lets get past that bad memory and move on. I spent a quiet night Tuesday and slept as well as one can while in hospital. It is a bit hard to get a full night sleep because the nurses keep coming in to take your temperature, blood pressure and your oxygen saturation. Basically they needed to make sure you hadn't died on their shift. If you had there would be so much paper work to fill out which would mean they would have to work a bit of overtime to get all the forms filled out. After a nine hour shift the last thing they wanted was all of that paper work much less a dead patient. Okay that's not really why they take all those obs (observations). They take them to keep track of all those basic bodily indicators while your there and to make sure everything is moving along smoothly. Well, that's what they told me. I still think it's all about the dying and the paperwork.

Wednesday was a quiet day as the surgeons told me that there would definitely be no surgery that day. Thursday was the day had an 95 percent chance of surgery so from Wednesday night at midnight it was no food and only enough water to take my tablets. I have to admit that I had to take a bit more water than they probably wanted seeing that I take 16 pills first thing in the morning and a little water just isn't going to make the medicine go down. Thursday morning rolled around I waited anxiously for word that the surgery would happen. The nursing staff told me that the would let me know as soon as they knew something and that they would probably hear something around breakfast time but no later than noon. About ten o'clock the nurse that was looking after me told me that surgery would be a no go that day so she asked if I wanted anything for a late breakfast. I said no and spent the rest of the day watching television or staring out the window. At midnight on Thursday night I started my fasting once again hoping that surgery would happen on Friday. I had an 85 percent chance for surgery on Friday so it was fingers crossed and what ever will be, would be.

Friday morning I took my pills with as little water as possible and waited anxiously for word from my nurse about the surgery. It must be that ten o'clock was a time in which things happened because at 10 o'clock a surgeon arrived at my bedside and told me that it was all happening. He told me that some one would be up to collect me in about an hour and that the surgery would happen around noon. Needless to say I was ecstatic. Well as ecstatic one can be when it comes to having surgery.

I was wheeled down to surgery as they normally do, bed and all. I was first taken into a pre-surgery room in which they prepared me for my anaesthesia. The anaesthetist explained everything that would happen and of course asked me if I had any question, which I didn't. He was hooking up lines to my already existing cannula which had been put in on Tuesday when I was first admitted. They next thing I knew I was in the recovery room. The anaesthetist had put me to sleep without even telling me he was about to do it. No "Now count to 100". No "Now count backwards from 100". No "You should start to feel sleepy". No "How are you feeling now?" No anything, nada, zilch, nothing.

As I said I woke up in the recovery room. However, unlike the first surgery and remember this is the third surgery, I felt like I was dying. The pain was out of control. I don't know what the doctor did differently this time opposed to what he did the second time but I had to assume he did basically the same thing. All he was going to do was to seal a hole that was leaking spinal fluid to stop me from getting headaches, fevers and possible infection. He also needed to remove the growth next to my spine so as to take the pressure off the nerves that it was pressing on and that was causing me amongst other things leg pain and numbness. So as far as I knew the surgeon did the exact same surgery. Now mind you the surgeon was different from the two previuos surgeies only becasue this time I was having the surgery in the public hospital opposed to the private hospital. This surgeon was the senior surgeon/registrar of the doctor who did the first two surgeries. In some ways the originally surgeon was involved in this surgery by giving the new surgeon some pointers/ideas as two how to fix the problem this time around but he just wouldn't actually be doing the surgery. In some ways I was actually happier with this new surgeon. He was young and vibrant but most of all he came across as competent and I believed/felt that he could fix the problem.

There was pain to be expected as the anaesthesia wore off and because the pain would get worse over time they gave me, as they do for all major operation patients, a button to push that administered a measured amount of morphine. I tell you what, I was pushing the hell out of that button and it was NOT helping. One of the nurses came over and I told her how bad it was and I mean bad as in "crying" bad. She got permission to administer an additional dose of morphine on top of what I had given my self. All in all they ended up giving me four more top ups before the pain started to subside. After that I was able to control the pain easy enough with the button also know as the PCA (patient controlled Analgesia).

I was finally wheeled up to my room which was on a different ward and in this room I only had one room mate. This ward was specifically for patients who had had surgery related to neurology. I was soon to find out that this ward was straight out of the "Twilight Zone" and I wondered if I was ever going to get out of it alive. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it was the morphine talking. I've got news for you. I know exactly what happened for the next four days, and in the next post I'll tell you just what happened on ward 7 North.

Hospital world... (part two)

So where was I? Ah yes, I was getting ready to head over to the hospital on Tuesday to be admitted. Now on Monday prior to my admission I received a call from a woman at the admissions office telling me what I needed to do on Tuesday when I got to the hospital. I was told by the woman that I was to go to the admissions desk and then after I filled out a few forms I was to go to a place called IBAC which would be a sort of holding place for me until my bed was ready up on the ward. I told the woman that would not a problem . I did exactly as I was told when I got to the hospital on Tuesday. but instead of going up to IBAC the woman at the admissions office told me that my bed was ready and that I needed to go straight up to the ward on level 9. Not being one to question authority, well I don't question it often and decided that this would be one of those times that I didn't, I once again did as I was told and headed up to level 9. When I arrived on level 9 the nurse in charge informed me that unfortunately my bed was not ready and that I needed go back down to IBAC and wait. So off to IBAC I went to await further instructions. Something told me that this day was not going to go as planned and that there were going to be a few more surprises.

Not long after arriving at IBAC I found out that my intuition was not wrong. The nurses at IBAC told me they were indeed expecting me, to have a seat and that someone would be over to talk to me about a few things in reference to my hospital stay and upcoming surgery. I took a seat and I hadn't been sitting for more then ten minutes when suddenly a surgeon arrived with one of my neurologist's registrars (it's what a doctor in training is called, kind of like a resident but one step above a resident). I was surprised to see a surgeon but I was about to be even more surprised by what he said. The surgeon introduced himself as Mark and told me that they might be doing my surgery that afternoon. Mark said that he needed to know when I had eaten last. I told him that I had just had a sandwich about an hour ago as it was lunch time. He then got a bit cranky and said "Well that's no good. We won't be able to do your surgery today". I of course told him I had not been informed that I was going to have surgery on Tuesday but rather I was only going to be admitted. I also told him that I had been informed I would be in hospital for a few days and that on Thursday when the surgery list came I would then find out when I would be scheduled for my operation with Friday being the earliest and most likely day. I said that if someone had told me that I might be having surgery on that Tuesday I would have never eaten, but alas no one had let me know and unfortunatley due to the lack of information I had eaten lunch.

The surgeon explained to me that they had planned on trying to do the surgery on Tuesday as it was an urgent operation and that they admissions people should have told me that so that I could have fasted for at least six hours before the surgery. That of course had not happened and because I had eaten they would not be able to do the surgery. The surgeon then told me he thought it would be best if I went back home until they called me. I told him that I was not prepared to do that. I said I had discussed all of these arrangements with my neurologist earlier and we had decided that it would be better for me to be in hospital. The neurolisist thought that it would be better for me to be in hospital so that they could keep an eye on me especially in case some new complication arose before the surgery. He also thought that by being in hospital it just might hurry the date for the surgery. I told the surgeon that I had come prepared with the knowledge that I would be sitting in hospital for a few days and that I also knew that during those days the doctors would not be actively treating me, that I would technically just be resting while awaiting my surgery. The surgeon wasn't happy with that idea but I insisted that I was not going back home. Besides I had just spent $65.00 and was not prepared to spend another $65.00. I was not going to waste a $130.00 and be inconvenienced because of someone elses breakdown in communication. He turned to the registrar and told her that he had to get back to surgery and for her to sort this all out. I repeated to her that this whole thing was not what had been planned and I was not leaving. I told her that she was going to have to talk to whoever and that they needed to fix this problem. She said she would go see what she could do and she would be back in a bit.

You can only imagine how I felt. I'll tell you how I felt. I was furious about the whole thing. I thought I was being jerked around and I didn't like it one bit. I mean after all I was the patient. I was the one with a huge growth coming out of my spine. I was the one who was having headaches and fevers due to spinal fluid collecting in the growth in my back and last but not least I was the one in pain who was also losing all feelings in my legs due to the pressure that the growth was putting on various nerves in my back. Needless to say I was pretty damn PO'd by this time.

About 45 minutes later the registrar came back and told me that they had arranged a bed for me. She then also told me that because they had to wait to find out when I would be having surgery, that I would have to start fasting every night from midnight just in case they could squeeze me in for the operation. The fasting would start on Wednesday night so I was given a reprieve for Tuesday and all day Wednesday as far as eating was concerned. She told me that the surgery would definitely not happen on Wednesday. She said that there was a 95 percent chance it might happen on Thursday. There was an 85 percent chance for Friday. If it hadn't happened by then that there of course was no surgery on the weekends but if the surgery hadn't happened then it would definitely be schedule for Monday. Other than that it would be a waiting game and I said that it was fine by me.

Okay that's enough for this installment. So next up I'll tell you when the surgery finally happened and the big hiccup that occurred after the surgery. I hope I'm not boring you with my long, wordy story. I just can't help myself when I'm writing. Anyway, take care and I'll be typing the next installment as soon as the feeling returns to my fingers from typing all of this gibberish. I'll be back soon.

Coming soon...

All you ever needed and or wanted to know about how I survived the latest surgery. As a teaser I'll tell you that there were two surgeries, one on a Friday and the second two days later on Sunday making it four all together. Stay tuned for more...

I know, I know....

...it's been forever since my last post. I feel awful. Well okay maybe I don't but I do feel that I should at least do a quick update for the loyal readers, all two of you. Okay maybe all six of you. Anyway, believe it or not but your's truly is still sitting in Sydney awaiting the powers that be to decide on a date for my fixer upper surgery, or should it be called let's try this again surgery. Whatever you want to call it they still haven't decide when they are going to do it. I am however under the impression, based on a phone call I got a short while ago, that I will be entering the hopital tomorrow under my neurologist care becasue the lump that has formed "again" is causing me considerable nerve pain. I will at least be able to get adequate pain management while they take there sweet little time in deciding when they can find the time in their busy schedule to fix something that just could very well be their fault in the first place but let's not get ahead of my self.

All I want to say is I'm hanging in there and thanks everyone for all of your support. I'll try to post something from the hospital but in case I can't know that your thoughts mean a lot and I'll let you know what's going on as soon as I can. Until then take care one and all...

The verdict is in...

Well as they say third time lucky and I hope for my sake that holds true. That's right boys and girls I have to have a third operation. The exact same complication as last time has occurred once again. It's not something I can say "Well let's just leave it and I'll learn to live with it" because like the last complication if I leave it to long I could and probably would lose the use of the lower half of my body and we all know that's not going to happen. Well at least I know it's not going to happen as I kind of like being able to walk.

As I said in the last post I am going to have to wait for a spot to open up in the public system but the surgeon thinks it will only be a week before they get me in. My neurologist is also on top of it and has told me that if there is a problem before they get me in all I have to do is present to the emergency room and tell them to call him and he will take care of everything. He is working with the surgeon to make this happen sooner rather than later.

So here I sit in Sydney waiting for another hospital stay. One good thing, actually it's a great thing, is that hubby is flying up tomorrow instead of next week. I'm glad he's coming up sooner because I sure do need a cuddle. Once again that's all I have for right now but I'll let you know as soon as things progress. Until then take care and I'll see you soon so to speak.

Where's Tony???

Well unlike trying to find Waldo I'll tell you were I am. I'm in Sydney. I flew up on Sunday so I could see the surgeon a soon as I could, which ended up to be Tuesday. I also arranged an appointment with my neurologist and saw him on Wednesday. Today I'm back to the hospital for MRI #3. After that the two doctors will converse after which they will decide my fate. I still believe that they are going to do another surgery. Oh, and yes I'm the unlucky blogger from the previous post that is about to have his third surgery.

I told my neurologist that I had no intention of going back home until this thing was fixed. I also told him that they would have to arrange the surgery, if there is to be a surgery and I'm sure there will be another surgery, that they will have to make all of this happen at the public hospital as I can not afford another stint in the private hospital. The last two surgeries have cost hubby and I roughly $24,000. We simply can not afford for me to have another visit to the private hospital as much as I would prefer to have the surgery done in the private hospital. I know my health comes first but when the well runs dry it runs dry. Besides when it comes right down to it the only thing different between the public and the private are the rooms. The rooms at the private are nicer. Other than that the food is the same as it comes from the same kitchen, because the two hospitals share the one kitchen. The surgeon will be the same but because I'll be in the public system I won't have to pay him in fact I won't have to pay a cent. It's one nice thing about living here in the land down under. So when it comes right down to it there is a huge difference and the best way to go is through the public system.

I hear you say why didn't you go through the public system for the first two surgeries. The answer is, I could not wait to go into the public system as the surgery had to be done right away or I could have lost the use of my legs. The public system can sometimes be a bit difficult to access unless you know how to navigate the system. I won't have to wait this time as my neurologist has connections at the public. He is well known and quite respected at the public and if he wants somebody admitted it happens right away with no questions asked. I didn't have him involved last time and now looking back I realise I should have had him involved from the beginning as it would have saved me a lot of money.

So anyway that's what happening with me at the moment. Hubby is back at home holding down the fort. I wish he was here but someone who is not the patient, that would be me, has to take care of the house and the cat, etc. He will be here next Wednesday, which is when we were both originally supposed to fly up to attend a 40th birthday celebration for his brothers wife. So unless something bad happens, and I'm hoping it won't, I'll just have to wait to see him. Other than that I got nothin'. I'll let you know what the verdict is as soon as I know. Oh and thanks everyone for your comments and kind thoughts it means a lot to me. Cheers...

What are the odds???

Blind item:

What Australian blogger recently had back surgery and then had to have a second surgery to fix a complication as a result of the first surgery? What same blogger is now looking at the possibility of having a third surgery to fix the same complication once again.

Who is the blogger and what are the odds?

Back to back...

...surgeries that is. It has been a very tough past few weeks here in the land down under. When I had the first back surgery I thought great this will take care of a few problems that I had with my legs and feet and maybe it would even help in a few other areas. However, six weeks later I was sitting in the admissions department of the same hospital waiting to be logged in and taken up to the surgery unit. Just like last time, I had the surgery the same day as the admission and then there were four-five days of recovery. Everything was going along just fine the second time until Sunday.

I had was recovering just fine and had even started getting normal meals, which isn't saying a lot when it comes to hospital food. Anyway, the nurse in charge of taking care of me needed to change the bag that was connected to the drain in my back and did so with out any problems. However, in doing so he noticed that there seemed to be fluid leaking from around the actual site where the drain was, which is technically not right. They staff apparently tested the fluid that was leaking out of my back and apparently they found that the fluid contained CSF (Cerebral spinal fluid), which shouldn't be there. I had not been told they had tested the fluid until later. If I had known that that they had found CSF that would have explained why all of a sudden nurses and doctors that I had never seen were suddenly popping in and checking on me, asking me if I was okay and did I have any headaches. At the same time I also started running temperatures again like I did a few weeks earlier and as I had after the first surgery. I was put on strict bed rest, which meant all peeing and pooping where to be done from a prone position. (Peeing I can handle but until I could get up, go to a normal bathroom, sit down and take care of business, pooping lying down was not and never will happen. I don't care how backed I got it was never going to happen and thankfully it never did)

I saw the doctor on Monday and he told me that if the leaking didn't stop they would have to go back into to the wound, open it back up and fix what ever was the problem. Well I was not very happy about that I can tell you. The doctor also said that not only was I confined to bed from that point but I was also not allowed to sit up more than at a 15 degree angle. It's hard to describe a 15 degree angle but let's just say it does not lend itself to eating in bed and it definitely makes drinking anything a near impossibility. Hot beverages and soups where definitely not on the menu for the time being.

I was seeing the doctor every day both am and pm, which is very unusual because you're lucky if you see your doctor once a day in hospital much less twice. Late on Tuesday the doctor finally thought that the drain could be removed as it seemed to have stopped leaking from around the outside, or it at least had slowed right down. Needless to say the nurse removed the drain and sure enough it looked like we had stopped leaking. I was bandaged up and was told as long as there was no more leaking everything would go as planned and I could go home by Thursday. Seeing that it was Tuesday evening I was already past my first date of exit which was supposed to be Tuesday morning. We even had ticket to fly back home on Wednesday. I told James that everything was going to be just fine now that the leaking had stopped and that the drain was gone so he may as well use the ticket we had to fly home on Wednesday and that I would catch a flight on Friday after they let me out on Thursday.

The nurses kept checking the drain site throughout the night and they had to change the dressing only once because it was overly wet. Around midnight they woke me to have a look at the dressing and found it full of fluid. I was beside myself I knew that if they could not stop the leaking the doctor would need to open me back up again. I sure as hell didn't want to go through that again and besides we would have to pay for the operating room and all that goes with it along with a few more days recovery and to be honest I know it's my health but we didn't have the money. I mean in the course of 6 weeks we had laid out roughly $20,000. Now I know that many of you are thinking, but I thought you live in Australia with paid health care and you are right we do. However, because I chose to have these operations done now instead of waiting to have them done in the public system then we are responsible for the bill. In some ways we couldn't wait but what ever the reason we were bleeding money as fast as I was leaking out of my back and it had to stop. Anyway, they called one of the doctors on night duty and she put three stitches into the opening and we then all crossed are fingers that in the morning I would still be high and dry. Thankfully I woke up the next morning dry as can be. YEAH. My doctor wanted to watch it all day Wednesday and Thursday and if by Thursday evening all was the same I could go home on Friday.

End of story I went home on Friday and I'm here now typing away letting you know how it's going. James took the staples out last night and he says it all looks fine. The stitches will come out tomorrow when I see my doctor here at home. All in all I'm recovering just fine. The only drawback is that I'm right back where I was seven weeks ago, but lets hope this time that after another six weeks of recovery I won't end up back in hospital. I apologise for another long boring post but I promise the next few will be short and sweet. Spring has sprung in my end of the world and I'm taking pictures from around the garden to share with you. There is still snow on the mountain but there are daffodils blooming everywhere else. Things are looking good so let's keep it that way.

It's all in the recovery...

Well it's day twelve after my surgery and based on most peoples view, apparently I'm doing very well. I have to admit I thought I would be in more pain than I have been. The worst part is the pain associated with all of the muscles I have to use to help offset muscles I'm not allowed to use. I'm going to have certain muscles in my legs so well developed by the end of this process but the problem being is I won't know what to do with them after I'm recovered and no longer have as much need for them. I'm also getting some great arm muscles out of the deal. Oh and as an added bonus to all of this I lost 6 kilos (13 lbs). So the downside of this is that I'm a little less heavy, I've got great legs and arms but in between there's just a plain middle aged man. Ah well, such is life.

Today I start my back strengthening exercises. I would have started them a few days ago but James has been on night shift the past few nights and of course then he has slept the following days. Now you might ask what does James' work schedule have to do with rather I start my exercise program or not. Well you see the program requires me to lay on the ground and do a series of three different exercises. I don't have a problem with the exercise. I have a problem with rather or not I would be able to get up from the floor once I got down there. I had visions of me lying on the floor for 10 hours or more waiting for James to come home and eventual rescue me from my peril. Anyway, now that he is off for the next few days I feel it is safe enough to start said exercises.

I am venturing out of the house today (James will be driving of course) as I've got prescriptions to be filled and I need to go by the bank for a few items. Maybe we can even try to have breakfast while we are out. I'm still not allowed to do grocery shopping etc. I mean I can go to the store and point at items we need or want but I can't carry anything so it's not really much help to James. All in all though things are going well and the only person who is really having a hard time with all of this recovery is Molly B (the cat). She just does not understand why I can't/won't pick her up for a cuddly. She weighs like 9 kilos and I can't pick up anything heavier than 2 kilos. She follows me around constantly meowing pitifully for me to pick her up and sometimes it gets to the point of me sending her outside because I can't stand it. Anyway, she'll survive as will I.

Well, that's all I have for now and as I've had my 30 minute limit of sitting it's time for me to get up and walk around for a bit. Until next time Enjoy...

Mission accomplished...

No not that ill-gotten, self-serving, unconscionable, etc., etc. mission. I'm referring to "Mission Crack-n-Back". As you may or may not be assuming, and we all know what happen when one assumes, you would assume correctly that I am out the other end of my surgery. I won't make this long as we only got back yesterday (your Wednesday - my Thursday), and I can only sit for periods of 10 - 30 minutes before I have to get up and move around.

So real quickly, the surgery went off without a hitch. (YEAH) I'm not in as much pain as I thought. (YEAH) I'm forced to use muscles that I would not normally use all the time to offset and protect my back, and those muscle being used to protect and serve are what's really painful. (BOO) It will be 2 - 6 weeks before I'm basically up to speed with most normal activities like doing the laundry etc. (yes that includes all activities, if you know what I mean) (BOO)

OK, I need to go for now but will try to make a better post when I can sit a little longer. Thanks everyone for all of your kind, sweet word of encouragement and well meaning. Your comments and notes meant so very much to me. I appreciate that you care and I hope I can return the same in kind some day ten fold.

Snow on the mountain...

Well winter has really and truly arrived here in Tasmania. There is finally a pretty fair amount of snow on the mountain with more to come. I don't think we will see any at the house this time around but we still have a good eight weeks of winter to go and the times before that we got snow at the house it is always in August. So at least if it plans on snowing at the house this winter it will wait until I get back from Sydney after I have my surgery.

Speaking of surgery, this will be the last post I make before the surgery. We fly up tomorrow and I go into hospital on Friday morning at 6:30 am. The surgery is the same day, in the afternoon. I think I mentioned in a previous post, I'll be in hospital until Wednesday barring any complications. I'm still not sure when they will allow me to fly home. I've done a little research on the net and the best case scenario I can see is that they will make me wait for 10 days before I can get on the plane. The worst case scenario is a few weeks. Lets hope for best case scenario!

I'll be staying at James' parents for the days after the let me out of the hospital. I'll just rest and do as the doctor orders. I'm taking the laptop with me so I'll post something after the surgery and the drugs wear off. I won't be able to bring the lap top back with me because after the surgery I'm not supposed to pick up anything more than 5 pounds. Boy is the cat going to be pissed at me when I get back. James will bring the laptop back when he goes up next time to see his mum.

I'm not to worried about the surgery as they did something similar a few years ago but around my neck. This time it is on my lower back. I know there are always risks that's why the make you sign the "If I should die before I wake papers". As I said I'm not worried as we have the best neurosurgeon and because it's all going to happen so fast it will be over before I know it. All I'll remember is the anesthetist telling me to tell him about my morning and I'll say "Well, we got up at 5:0..." and the next thing I'll hear is "Wake up Mr. Gardner. It's all over and you've done very well." Then the anesthesia will wear off and hopefully the morphine will be not far away.

Okay one and all I'm out of here. Mum, John and everyone else we will let you know how it goes as soon as it's over. I leave you with two pictures I took this morning between rain and sleet showers. The mountain sits at the end of our street so I apologise for the electrical lines etc. Enjoy...