Here I go, my 3 level Activ-L story begins

[fuzzy]

3 Activ-L's, wow, how cool!

I really do wish you the very best and I know you are in the best of hands. We just missed each other by a few days!

Yeah, the beautiful woman in xray....
and you will love the nurses that will take good care of you the next few days!

[dshobbies]

Joe...,

Hope your surgery went off/goes off without a hitch and turns out to be everything you've hoped for. My fingers are crossed and my thoughts are with you.

Pretty women! Mark, I'm surprised you hadn't noticed

Happy holidays to all, Dale

[mmglobal]

I saw Joe this morning. He looked pretty darned good having had a 3-level lumbar less than 24 hours prior. He seemed to be in good spirits... I wish I could have stayed longer to chat.... aren't too many old-world computer geeks like me around... I'll bet we would have been comparing stories about stone computers and memory that cost a bazillion dollars and was measured in k... not megabytes or gigabytes. (When I say k, I mean like 4k... 8k??)

He's got his compter and they've got wireless there... I'll bet he'll be along soon to give us the first-hand update.

Mark

[annapurna]

Joe,

Hope you're doing well and recovering from your big surgery. Hope you're not too sick from the anesthesia or med's.

I feel like we're twins since I got surgery at the AlphaKlinik on Wed for my knee. I see both Dr. Zeegers and Dr. Toft for my spine and knees, respectivley since I have ongoing problems with both.

Congrat's on taking such a big step in recovering your spinal health. You are in good hands with Dr. Zeegers and I'm sure that you will continue to do well.

I'm staying in a hotel to the south of Munich and will return to the States on Wed. of next week. I'm on crutches for the next two months, but my hubby is with me. We will be at the Klinik on Monday for a knee checkup. Will you still be there? Should we stop by? Do you need any help?


Best,
Laura Wurth

[fuzzy]

Hello Annapurna I am pretty sure Joe will still be there on monday. You might check at the nurses station to see were he's at. I am sure he would love to meet.

[mmglobal]

I'm here with Joe... he's just 2 days post-op now and I can't believe how well he's moving. Still stiff and sore from surgical pain and has all the normal post-op challenges. However, he seems to be way ahead of the game now, with no new symptoms in his legs, he moves well, walks easily and can even sit in ways that he could not prior to the surgery. There are many motions that were incredibly painful before the surgery that are already better.

My usual caveats apply... still early... don't know how good he'll get, but at 2 days, he looks great and can be happy that his recovery is going as well as possible.

I'll post more as I know it. He's pretty well connected, so I expect to see him posting his own version of the story soon.

Pain free vibes out in all directions.

Mark

[joemonfl]

Good morning. Guess what? I made it!!!! Wew wew! Cut just like a melon.

I felt at 50 and a athlete for so many years, that this was a good time for the surgery. I think that has helped my recovery.

Fri of surgery was rough, Dr Zeegers replaced 3 levels or discs and I'm now about 3 cm taller.

Sat wasn't much better and up til Sunday afternoon I was in pretty bad shape. The back pain is basically gone. But having the new found height is stretching my body up and I have to get used to that so other parts are sore, hips, etc.

Under the TMI heading but good advice, The belly gas was horrible, when they moved my insides to get to the discs,it shuts down the bowel action, so as I recover, parts start working at different times and gas builds up. They were going to give me a laxitive overnight but I couldn't make that, so I asked for a supository and viola, the gas went down and things started working again. Big wew wew! :0) Once the belly got better my pain level went down a lot. Those tummy urges shortened Marks visit when he came by to check on me, but nice seeing a friendly face.

Sunday I even got to listen to the jags game against the steelers on the radio via the Internet from 7-10:30 at night my time. I was able to concentrate on the game for that long and felt that was progress. It was a good game and made me feel a little closer to home.

But how do I feel? Really pretty good. I get surprised when I get up from a chair and my low back doesn't hurt, it has for so long. Mornings before took me about 1-2 hours to straighten up, not now. I'm a little sore in the hips but overall pretty good. Yesterday I walked to Dr Bohm's (sp)offiice upstairs. Oh the meds and procedure I think blurs your memory so taking some notes on names is a good idea.

It's cold here, about 29 today. A far cry from the 80's in florida that I left.
Sunrise is around 8:30am and sunset is around 3:30pm, also way different than Florida.

I should be here in hospital today and perhaps Tues or by Tues they may move me to the hotel, I haven't heard yet.

am I happy? oh heck yea. Is this major surgery? Oh yea, and Dr Zeegers is one outstanding surgeon. With this result, even though it is early,I wouldn't have gone anywhere else.

[Sonata]

Congratulations Joe!

I have been thinking about you.. Wishing you the best..

Sonata

[fuzzy]

Wow, what a great story!! You are doing great. I had my visit to Dr. Blome by wheelchair (he drove me). Shows you how good you are doing.

Congrats to you and Zeegers. Say "Hi" from me!