Thursday, June 19, 2008

Well it's been a month and half since I have updated my Blog. I feel like I have really been through the wringer after spending the last 33 days in hospital. I finally come home this past Tuesday, June 18. I'm happy to be home but still have a lot of rehab work to do before I can even think about boating or fishing.

I've gotten a lot of questions about what is going on with me so I guess I should let everyone know the story. Here is the condensed version:

On 4/7 I went in for a lapectomy on the L5/S1 disk. I had a small herniation of the disk which was putting pressure on my sciatic nerves and causing leg pain. The Neurosurgeon assured me I'd be back to 100% by May 1st. I spent one night in the hospital and was released. I felt great for about the first week or two. The sciatica was gone and I was a happy camper. I started getting some pain back a week or two after the surgery and told the doctor. He basically brushed me off (a pattern that would repeat for a month) and told me to come back to see him in two weeks.

I was finally admitted through the ER on 5/14 where it was discovered I was the unlucky recipient of one of those "Hosptial Style" Stapf infections you read about. I had apparently gotten it during the initial surgery and it had settled in my spine where it was liquefying everything it came in contact with, including nerves, muscles and the the entire L5/S1 disk. Needless to say, it is pretty essential to have a lot of that stuff in working order if you want to do things like walk, stand and sit.

They got the infection under control by flooding my body with massive amounts of exotic IV antibiotics, which I will have to continue taking for a few more weeks. I am now trying to learn to control the pain and teaching myself to walk again.

I'll be out there as soon as I can. I'm motivated if nothing else.