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Prayin' for ya Bob!   

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Wow. I just had spinal surgery exactly two weeks ago.

And I couldn’t be happier!

I had a huge... the doc called it a "massive rupture" at C6 (well, the first
one that bends). MRI on a Monday, I was in surgery on Friday.

I was not, at least from the MRI you couldn't tell, at risk of major
paralysis. I did have very serious pain that was either or both in my back,
just behind my shoulder blade, or my right triceps. And the pain would
trade places from time to time. I also had numbness in my thumb and
first two fingers. No loss of strength anywhere and no loss of balance. No
reflexes, either, in my right arm. Pain killers were useless, and I was
suffering big time. I couldn't wait for surgery!

Doc gave me the choice of going in the front, like you, which requires
them to bust through a disk and thus requires fusion, or from the back
which cuts more muscle (I have a wrestler's neck) but gives them
easier access. My situation was a no-brainer. Went in the back.

Mine was a short surgery (an hour and a half, I think). The doc did find
busted material pushed up pretty deeply into my spine. The phrase he
used was, "where it wasn't supposed to be," which I think is a gentle way
of saying I was at much greater risk than was thought. Anyway, I was
three days and two nights in the hospital. In recovery (the first hour or so
post op) I needed oxygen assistance, and my peeper didn't work right
away so I needed a tube... er... hose... the first night. Fortunately, in my
bike racing days, I inadvertently nipped off a few inches in the chainring
so at least I didn't need reel long hose (pun intended). :)

Anyhow, immediately upon becoming conscious I knew things had gone
VERY well. The pain in my back/or arm was gone baby gone. Somewhere
post op they gave me morphine but I never had that little button thing
you describe. My pre-surgery information said that I would have that
morphine button... but the nurses were very watchful of my pain level and
always gave me what I needed to keep things to three and under on the
one to ten scale.

I had discomfort at the incision, of course, and once it got up to four on
the one to ten scale, but Norco 10/650 (plus whatever they kept putting
in the I-V, took me down to a pain level of one-half on a scale of one to
ten. They sent me home with Norco 7.5/325. Within a few days I didn't
need any drugs during the day, and just two nights ago I stopped
everything. Oh, they also gave me Valium as a muscle relaxant. I took that
in the evenings for a week or so.

Here is the funny (and very cool) thing. For six years I have had a shaky
right hand. I had no inkling of the cause. Now, the shaking is gone! I can
hold my hand steady for the first time in, well, 6 years.

I will say a prayer for you too.Cameron Reddy38968.4938078704

Bob, say the 12th is my birthday! That means everything is going to be just groovy, I promise.

I will be thinking about you on that day, as will all of us I'm sure.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Yes Bob, we're gonna be right there with ya buddy! Hang in there!

Serge

Oh, one more thing. Try not to worry about the surgery causing further
damage. They will put your head in a vise of some sort and crank it down
enough to break skin on your scalp, leave a few very tender spots, and
give you the MOTHER OF ALL headaches.

I'm telling you this so you can rest assured that they are VERY careful
when messing with the spine. Your doc will likely use a microscope and
he has craft with his hands the likes of which no luthier on earth has ever
attained. He knows how to cut the grain downhill. He knows when to use
a backer board to avoid tearout. He KNOWS whether a downcut bit is
better than a straight bit... he doesn't speculate of just have an opinion,
as we do. He knows, when he does use a downcut bit, to start from the
outside of the material and move in, sweeping side to side, leaving half of
the bit open to the air and never fully buried in the wood, thus always
allowing the chips of wood somewhere to evacuate. The list goes on and
on...

And he will get paid $50,000 for your surgery. No kidding.

We are talking about a serious craftsman.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers-just imagine how this group cold get down if we all wee together
Cameron, thanks so much for relating your experience to me. I don't know about you but they are removing 4 discs. I hope you had this and didn't need the pump.

A misty eyed thanks to all of you

Anyone know how Bob is doing? Today is his surgery.

Was just wondering the same, it might take a couple of days before we hear from him, his surgery was scheduled for yesterday...