I've tried to keep the prayer warriors updated on our own Doc Ashby's scary brush with partial paralysis that forced him to come home from Aussie land to get surgery here under his VA Insurance.
Here's what he sent out...and then a note when I wrote back.
If you choose to send him well wishes, please note he's unable to sit or stand or anything long before spasms set in...which is good news... as it means the nerves are back working...but they're really MAD at him for being pinched off all these months!
Ed's note(s)
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Dave, If you have the time, please do update the prayer thread for me, using the info on the email, and stress to each and all how very, very grateful I am for each and every prayer sent. THe were what got me through. It's just too physically hard for me to write even the amount here before muscle cramps force me to get up and move.
Ed
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I got back from the hospital to O.L.’s late yesterday evening. Though there are some lingering anesthesia after-effects still to be dealt with and those muscles in my legs that have not received a nerve impulse in 4+ months are protesting GREATLY at being asked to work again (I’m suffering waves of massive “Charlie horses” to multiple muscle groups simultaneously, and can’t maintain any sitting, standing or walking position for very long before the cramps start) I am delighted to report that the surgery looks like it will be a total success – beyond my wildest hopes.
Every muscle group that was not working now works, and I have full range of motion with both legs. As for the post-surgical pain, and is as to be expected, the incision in back is very, very sore, but is a pain that feels precisely like a severe deep tissue muscle bruise when I move those lower-back muscles. From the instant I awoke after the surgery every single bit of the former back pain was totally gone. While in the hospital the kept me hooked up to a morphine pump that I could use at will (every 15 minutes if need be) to control any pain I never needed to use it, or any other pain medication: not one single time! The greatest pain level I have felt since the surgery has been MARKEDLY LESS that the lowest level of pain I was experiencing before the surgery.
I anticipate a 100% recovery. Those muscles that have just been along for the ride all these months just have to be strengthened. The biggest obstacle at the moment is that my oxygen absorption level is very, very low and a walk of 30 to 40 yards causes me to become very light-headed. They kept me on oxygen the entire time I was in the hospital and considered sending me home with oxygen, but the anesthesiologist felt that, since my body had reached a point that it would “re-normalize” the oxygen level by ceasing activity I might actually recover from this post-anesthesia effect much faster by just pushing the body’s own response – do activity until I notice the initial ‘light headiness’ then stopping all activity until the oxygen level returns to normal.
The surgery took 7 ½ hours ‘in theater’, and I was under anesthesia a bit longer than that. They did some blood transfusion(s) (they never would tell my precisely how many) during the surgery, and two more transfusions post-surgery. I do know that the 2 post-surgical transfusions were done to boost my hemoglobin level, to assist in oxygen absorption.
The anesthesia left my mouth, throat and lungs very, very irritated, and where the tube was taped in place left sores on my face; all of which is nearly healed. I’m also still coughing up ‘gunk’ from my lungs periodically, but the more of it I cough up the more my lung capacity is increasing (they gave me a small instrument that is used to both exercises the lung function and measure the lung volume I can inhale) and I’m making good progress each day.
That’s all the ‘highlights’. I feel I’m off to a great start. If nothing goes wrong along the way, I expect an absolute full recovery. I’ll update everyone whenever there’s anything worthwhile to report.
Ed
p.s. I had to write this as a word document and copy-past it to this email so that I could write it in segments. I can’t sit at the computer very long before the muscle cramps set in.
Topic: Doc Ashby's surgery update- 12/26 (Read 1757 times)
