January In Straubing - For C56 & C67 ADR

[HappyHusbandDC]

Hi Everyone,
My wife, son, and I flew into Munich on Sat Jan 24, 2009.
My wife had two level ADR surgery done on Tue Jan 27th (yesterday).

So far we could not be more pleased with the outcome and overall experience.

Within 7 hours of surgery my wife was up an walking, within 12 hours she was eating, and within 18 she was walking the halls in the Straubing Hospital.

The Surgery was performed by Dr Bertagnoli (and team); the procedure took about 2 hours to insert ProDisk-Cs into the C56 & C67 locations.

Mark Mintzer and Team at Global Patient Network has worked with us and supported our efforts from well before our decision to proceed with the proceedure.

After our arrival into Munich on Saturday we stayed in Munich on Sat night. We stayed in Munich because GPN had arranged for us to meet with neurologist Dr Herbert Baumbach, on Sunday evening. The evaluation was infinitely more thorough than the neurological exam my wife had in Maryland. The findings were supportive of the procedure and added a great deal of information about the exact nature of her neurological deficits.

If fact, it was some of Dr Baumbach's finding that enabled us to determine that the deficits were no longer present post-surgery.

I was so impressed with Dr Baumbach that I'm trying to schedule an examination for myself prior to our trip home.

Klinikum St Elizabeth in Straubing:
The hospital staff has been very helpful and friendly. However, having the language barrier adds a layer of delay and increases the chances for miscommunication. This is where Mark and GPN come in. Mark has repeatedly interacted with the hospital on our behalf; this has resulted in less wasted time. By being familiar with the various hospital departments and staff Mark was able to really make things go more smoothly.

Back to the patient:
I expect that her recovery will continue at a reasonable pace and that we'll soon be doing some easy sight seeing around Straubing.

I'll update again as things progress.

Friday Jan 30, 0813 (gmt +1)
We decided not to check out yesterday because of some residual bleeding from the surgery area. Nothing to worry about, but I did not want to be changing bloody bandages at the hotel... Jennifer was very active yesterday with several long walks (with stairs), a shower, a trip to the Physical Therapy department (for a massage), and finally a fast walk down the hall for a view of the beautiful sunset. All of this was combined with less sleep than the 2 previous days and by 2100 she was very very tired.

This morning Jennifer's lower back is more sore; I suspect from all the time spent in bed over the past 3 days. Her blood pressure is a little bit high (something we are told is not unusual). We've been for a walk already and we've developed our list of items to get/settle/address for checking out. 1000 is the time for the next visit to the Physical Therapy department.

This morning I asked staff at the hotel (Theresientor) for extra pillows etc to prop up the head-end of Jennifer's bed so that it's more like her bed at home and the bed here at the hospital. more later...

Monday Feb 2 0910
We left the hospital on Fri afternoon. We dropped our stuff in the hotel and went out to dinner and for a walk afterward.
Sat and Sun were spent checking out Straubing and Bogen and going on increasingly long walks. Jennifer's neck is now not as issue; the foam collar is annoying and the scar has to heal but the chronic neck pain is gone!
We stopped by the hospital yesterday to say hello and ran into one of the Pro-Spine doctors who said she was going great and that she could stop taking the muscle relaxer medicine, yeah!
We have an appointment at the Pro-Spine Offices this morning. We fly home tomorrow.

I'll let Jennifer pick this up from here forward. Thank you for all your kind words and support.
t

[dshobbies]

HH,

All great news. I hope your wife continues with her easy recovery. Make her slow down if she gets ahead of herself. Slow and steady wins this race.

Wishing your whole family all the best, Dale

[HappyHusbandDC]

Mark here, 9:30am in Straubing... Jennifer is having a wonderful recovery.

Here is a video I shot yesterday morning... she was just about 24 hours post-op and you'll see how comfortable she is already. The things that she knows about with some of the neuro deficits were not known to her prior to meeting with Baumbach. I can't say enough about how is complete baseline neuro status gives so much more useful info going into the surgery.

Well, I have to run.... take a look:

YouTube - Multi-level Cervical Artificial Disc Replacement, ProDisc ADR

PS... sorry for the poor quality... that was with pocket digital camera. Also, since my original post, Jennifer is describing the vertigo symptoms that are missing.

[mmglobal]

We are not surpised... we already pay both ways... we pay through the nose for medical insurance, then must still self pay for surgeries that have been FDA approved for years because our insurers elect to call it 'experimental'.

I'm hopefull about Obama, but agree that he has a huge mountain to climb. The task is so huge. Hopefully, he'll have the right tools and it won't be like he's trying to chop down a giant tree with a spoon.

[sahuaro]

Great news, Jennifer! I had the same weakness but only in my left hand and arm and I can tell you that one year out, I have regained my strength and can pass all those resistance tests! I didn't have the vertigo--but it is wonderful that that is now gone, too! Wishing you all the best.

[mmglobal]

I just spoke to Jennifer. She'll have to be punished if she doesn't come here for a first-person update. She's had some ups and downs, but generally is very positive. Hopefully the downs are activity related.

At 13 days post-op, I can't believe that she can say things like, "I've been taking it easier lately. I'm doing things like scrubbing water troughs, but not shoveling out the barn."

Here is a shot from our farewell dinner at Rapunzel.... 3 days
post-op (you can see how Tom chose his username. Jen's
great recovery is quite a relief. He looks pretty darned happy!)


all the best,

Mark

[jentop]

Hi all, it's me Jennifer. I posted somewhere earlier last week but don't really know where that post showed up, oh well. It was a bit of a long ramble anyways. First, thanks for all the supportive posts! Very encouraging to hear that hand strength continues to improve a year out. I'm doing great. Some days better than others, but I really can't complain at all. The biggest deal is NO DIZZINESS OR VERTIGO so far. That was supremely tested last week when I had a massage, which would always make me at least dizzy when rolling over and sitting up at the end. I was always convinced that the dynamic positioning of my c-spine( along with those monster posterior osteophytes!) affected my cord compression and caused the issues-couldn't have been good for CSF flow. So far, I'm feeling pretty vindicated. Neck pain is pretty minimal,just a dull ache-no more nerve-like throbbing. I'm able to get by with the occasional Tylenol 650mg. I'm going to the gym,3 times so far at not quite 3 wks post-op. No major weights, just light free weights and some machines,plus treadmill. Feeling tired the next day, but still better than pre-op in terms of pain and balance issues seem mostly gone.
The hardest thing for me is going slow. There's so much I want to do, but need to be patient for a few more weeks. I can't wait to get on my (safe and lazy) horse this spring! I'll keep updating-bye!

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

Sounds like an awesome recovery so far.

Terry Newton

[jentop]

Cervical ADR in Straubing/Vertigo followup
(I'm re-posting this here as I'm not sure where I posted it and wanted to be sure Mark knows I'm not in some witness-protection program as I haven't posted much.)
Hello all,
I just read the posts my husband(HappyhubbyDC) made while we were in Germany and those Mark made also. Wow, has it really been two weeks? First, I want to thank everyone who has already posted words of encouragement, even before I've posted a letter. That is just so remarkable to me.
I'm still doing well for the most part. As much as I hate to admit it, going slow seems to be the wisest advice. About two days after getting back home I hit a bit of a bump in the road. Apparently, I must have really done too much around the old homestead, like getting out to the barn at 7am, husband in tow, to brush my horse . The result was a pretty painful neck and day along with ridiculously high blood pressure 151/101! I decided to take it easy and switch off the NSAIDs(which apparently I'm sensitive to regarding their tendency to increase BP) and go with something else. When I checked my BP a day later it was 120/80 or less. So, I'm trying to not overdo.
Now back to the beginning- I am so amazed that my surgery has happened and I am "on the other side" of it as I visualized and talked to Mark about before. I'm one of these people who works at being in the NOW. That can be great if you're not in pain, but when you are it really sucks. So, before deciding to have this surgery I had my options which were all pretty crappy. Keep on living with the nausea, vertigo, pain and uncertainty and hope it doesn't get worse, or do fusion surgery and be pretty certain I'd end up with adjacent levels degenerating and need a subsequent surgery. Then I came across Mark Mintzer, that soft-spoken guy, who gave me all the detailed information I asked for and more. It seems like he and I are a similar breed in that respect. I tend to surprise most doctors I see because I'm generally much better informed than they expect. So, I decided to be proactive and take a chance on ADR and keep the best chance I had for as active a life as I could hope for. Pretty much a no-brainer for me, but still very scary and was I really brave enough?
Apparently I was and the positive visualization, hypnosis beforehand and all the prayers and support I received didn't hurt either. Today, my neck is stiff with a little pain. Enough to make me think, "gee, should I take something for it" but not get up and take anything. I even went to the gym this morning for a little treadmill walking and lower body workout. (Really, I am taking it easy!) I'm hoping things continue to improve as time goes by. Considering all the neuro deficits that were uncovered during my amazing 4 hour exam by Dr. Baumbach in Munich (also facilitated by Mark of GPN), I feel now, as I did even then before surgery, like the luckiest woman alive. Time will tell how much is fixed by this surgery, but the immediate results are good so far.
I'll continue to post updates as I know there are many people out there trying to decide what to do next. I know this has been a bit scattered, but I'm still processing this whole adventure. Hopefully, my next post will be a bit more organized. -Jennifer

[jentop]

Just an update-
today I totally impressed myself, and my husband, by doing a decent tight-rope walk with my eyes closed. Pre-op during my neuro exam with Dr. Baumbach, I couldn't do one or two steps without nearly falling over sideways. I had tried to do it about a week postop and was still unable. Today was way better. So now if I take up drinking and driving I should be safe when pulled over, as long as I keep my eyes closed,lol!
Truly amazing stuff.