September 28, 2011

Yesterday, Mary drove me to my first follow-up appointment with my neurosurgeons. PA Carter checked me out, beginning with a nice little icebreaker. “Did you hear the office talking about you while you were waiting?” asked Carter. I really didn’t know how to respond except with a feeble “Uh…no…” Carter replied, ” The staff were asking if that was my vertebrectomy?” He went on to say that my surgery had been unique enough to cause some comment. The actions of removing the ninth thoracic vertebra and the multiple-level fusion of the spine were significant in that these surgical combinations are not that common. All I could think of was that I was just “thrilled” to have been the star of an uncommon surgery.

He allayed any fears when he said that I was having an excellent recovery and that my stature was straight and “terrific.” This visit was a big staple removal event. Carter removed three-quarters of my ninety-six staples while I was standing. He asked if I needed to sit for a break, but I was motivated and declined. I will continue to use the walker for another couple of weeks and then graduate to a cane. Next week, I will have x-rays and I will see Dr. Steuer. Carter will remove the remainder of my staples at that time. I am excited about getting a look at my new back hardware!

That was yesterday…not bad at all! Today, I will be seeing Dr. Reddy, my oncologist to catch back up on my follow-up post radiation treatments. Then, it’s off to visit MawMaw at Glancy Rehab. We plan to visit another rehabilitation facility that will take over after her Glancy Rehab is concluded. This will be a two to three week residential rehabilitation that will ease her back into the home environment. A huge bonus occurred yesterday: Transportation was approved for dialysis sessions. We were very concerned about getting MawMaw back and forth to dialysis sessions. Mary had worked diligently with case workers on getting this approved.

Evan and Will were at Glancy bright and early yesterday to observe PawPaw assisting MawMaw with a vehicle transfer. Will said that it went well, using his car, Gretchen, the VW. Evan was on the scene to speak with the EMS service that will transport his grandmother for her dialysis sessions three times a week. All positive on this front!

Mary, Sarah and the boys went to the Braves game last night. Although, the Braves lost, they had a great night out.

That’s about it from Milton, Georgia on a foggy Wednesday morning.