Justin, it's been an amazing road that I've been down. It's been such a pleasure for me to be involved in so many people's lives. When I went to Germany for my surgery in 2002, Diane and I had to go get passports. We'd never been overseas. Meeting you in Vienna was on my second trip to Europe. On that trip, I was able to observe surgeries at 4 different spine centers. I was there for Doreen in Straubing and was fortunate enough to observe a ProDisc-C procedure in Vienna.
Having been such a homebody, I'm still quite taken by the international aspect of this. Since meeting you in Vienna, we've seen each other in Los Angeles and New York. I've met Doreen in Seattle, LA and Tahoe. Hopefully, the next time we meet... we'll be skiing too! (Unfortunately, we probably need to be on the other side of lumbar surgery for you and cervical and knee surgeries for me!)
I am the one who is blessed to have you and so many others all around the world that I consider dear friends.
I can't wait to hear what Bertagnoli says about your Myelo...
Kathy... yes, it's my curse... er... passion. This all comes from the entire community. I just looked back through the posts back around the time of Justin's surgery. It was great to read how his story unfolded. But the most amazing thing was that it was the same community. Many of the folks that were posting to Justin 6 years ago are still here. (I should resurrect some of the old threads.) I second your motion... thanks to the entire community. I credit the Braintalk Spinal Disorders forum with saving my life. I'm proud to still be participating, 9 years later.
Mark
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