C3-4, C5-6, C6-7, T1-2 ProDisc-C Nova ADR blog

[labeng]

Hi Mark!

Wow, you look great for just a few days out. That’s incredible! How long before you fly back? Keep up the heal fast! Again, let me know if there is anything I can do when you get back into town.

Regards,
Larry

[Justin]

Hey Mark,

Looking good for just having a major 4-level procedure. Those films are beautiful. I've very curious about the T1-T2 approach (when you have time, of course).

Be well...
PS Check your email when you get the chance...

[fuzzy]

Looks great, Mark. Facinating xray. You 2 look great and its nice weather!

I am jealous as well .

[sahuaro]

Mark:
You are looking great! I hope you and Diane get to enjoy the rest of your stay without overdoing it.
The X-rays are amazing! And I took a closer look at your collar: it's huge!
Compared to yours, mine would be a spaghetti strap! I was going to suggest the cut-off tube socks for a cover, but they wouldn't work!

[Cheryl]

Great Job Mark.

Can you believe how many of us are jealous of you?

[mmglobal]

11:30pm Saturday night. Today was day 4 post-op, 2 days out of hospital. The morning was great! I was treated to an amazing moon set / sunrise from the balcony of room 501....



I was up early, so I went down for breakfast myself and made Diane a tray to bring back to the room. I wish I'd remembered that it was our anniversary, I might have gotten more mileage out of bringing her breakfast in bed.

I felt great through the morning. We went for a long walk. We did not expect it to be so warm so we needed to buy some shorts and sunscreen. After a short rest, we were out again for lunch.

Pretty early in the lunch outing, I hit the 'crossover' point. You are feeling better and better. You are taking less and less meds. Your activity levels are getting higher and higher. Well, it all caught up with me. After lunch, I came back to the room and pretty much slept the rest of the day.

I still feel better than I did before the surgery (an amazing statment for just a few days out!) However, some of the symptoms that were gone are back (at low levels). I have some new symptoms that I'm sure are just due to the rearrangement of my systems. All muscles, ligaments, etc, are being asked to support me in a completly new configuration and some of them are not happy about it.

In any case, I think I'm still way ahead of the game.... just back down closer to earth than I was.

More tomorrow...

Mark

PS... in answer to the question on another thread... after 4-level cervical, 3 days seems perfect.

[dshobbies]

Men aren't idiots, they're brainless, above the waist!

[jentop]

I would say you're right on target, Mark. The statement you made about the new configuration of your neck and its effect on the soft tissues is exactly what I felt around the same time. Now at nearly 11 weeks post-op, my neck feels essentially "normal". In other words, not changed in terms of alignment, though I'm sure it is better than pre-surgery as evidenced by the xrays. It's a much better feeling from a functional standpoint especially.
I'm wondering when you and Diane will be passing thru Dulles? Or if you have much of a layover? Tom and Tyler and I were toying with the idea of driving out to see the new and improved Mark, but I mostly want to meet Diane,
Hope we can make it work,
Jen

[treefrog]

Mark, happy belated anniversary to you and Diane.

It sounds like you are doing really well. Keep it up.

[mmglobal]

It's Monday night, 9pm in Straubing. I posted on Saturday that I'd hit the crossoverpoint and it seemed something like a setback. We laid pretty low on Sunday... it was a good day and the setback that I was afraid of never quite materialized.

Today was amazing, not for anything to do with me, but because of who we spent most of the day with. I've overdone and it's time to rest... I'll blast this out and retire.

After breakfast, we started the day with a walk down by the Donnau in order to scope out beer gardens for lunch with our important visitors. It's official, my height advantage over Diane is vastly improved. I wonder if I can dunk now?


I've known Alan and Ingrid for a couple of years now and his story is one of the most amazing I've ever been involved in. He spent 6 years of his life completely disabled after a long litany of spine surgeries. He could barely speak because of the effort it took and the pain it caused. They will come and tell their own story... I'm just going to post these shots so I'll continue to marvel at the transformation I was able to witness. I'll write more another time.



After a wonderful lunch, I took a break while Alan and Ingrid explored Straubing. We got back together for the obligatory iced cafe in the town square. Remember... this is good luck!





As you can see, the day was filled with smiles and laughter. This was quite a long outing, so I took another break and Diane met them at Rapunzel to pick up dinner to bring back to our room. The warm and sunny day turned breezy and chilly as we wondered if we were going to get rained out. We were treated to a light show, as the evening sky seemed to change by the second. We were even treated to a rainbow.



I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep up with everyone's posts... time on the computer is still somewhat limited. Still nothing but good news from Bavaria. I don't want everyone to think this was easy. The good recovery is still very tough, it's just nothing like the difficult ones. Whatever the few weeks after surgery are like, there is only one thing that matters - long term outcome. I still cannot unwind some of my pre-op symptoms and post surgical pain. I will not know for weeks how complete a recovery I'll have. I'm just pleased that I'm not worse and things seem to be going so well. More as I know it.

All the best,

Mark

[New-disc]

Mark,

Glad to see recovery is going well!!!

Looks like your enjoying Germany.

Keep us all posted....

Thanks for the pictures!!!

Todd

[Maria]

thanks again for more beautiful photos of the landside and happy people with good surgical outcomes. Am anxious to hear Alan's story!

stay well and continue to pace yourself

[Kathy]

Mark, How tall are you? And Diane?

Just curious, as I am from a tall family. I'm 5'10" and hubby 6'2" My brothers are 6'3" and 6'4", dad is 6'2". In my family, you are short if you are female and not 5'8 or 5'9" and a short male is 6'1". I have a female cousin and she is 6'4". I don't know if our heigth comes from our German roots or not (my mom is 100% German). I had a horrible time dating, as I was very adamant on having a guy who was taller than me and taller than me in my high heels.

Glad your recovery is going good, Kathy