madmike2
Shtirrenuppenmeister
For those who may not know, Dave has had to go through some disc modification. His disc/nerve problem got to the point where he couldn't ride his FJR because he didn't trust himself to hold it upright when stopped.
The adventure included changing medical insurance providers, etc., but now all is well. At his request, below is a transcript of his email as he is still recovering from the meds and can't concentrate or focus long enough to communicate with everyone.
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Hey folks,
I'm back from the operation and thought I'd relay the experience to everyone. That way everyone knows the story all at once and there's no misconceptions on how it went down. I'm at home resting, all systems functioning fine , but aching like hell.
The staff at Stanford were great, everyone seems to have there act together and is dedicated to their career and the patients well being.. Way more so than Kaiser where everyone by comparison seems to be just doing their job till the five o'clock bell rings.
The operation on Wednesday went off without a hitch, right on schedule and I came to in the post op-recovery room, toes wiggling, ankles moving ok, everything's cool ! The sciatic cramp / charley horse I'd had for the last year and a half in my hip was gone, no more foot / ankle pain either. After three or so hours in post op I was moved upstairs to another recovery area.
They inadvertently tried to bunk me in a room with a female patient, but the orderly said they had a law against pairing the roosters with the hens, so the only other room available was a private room, so off I
went. It'd later prove to be a stroke of luck.
After another hour things started to go downhill in a hurry. My back started having uncontrollable back spasms, so intense and long lasting , Stanford had never witnessed this in all the years of experience with back surgery. For over five solid non stop hours my back spasmed every 15 seconds. It felt like a combination of some thing you seen in the movies, sort of a scene from the Exorcist where I held on the bed rails and my body was arched up off the bed, and being zapped by thousands of volts of electricity at
the same time, like some kind of prisoner of war. It was utter and pure hell for hours. I could feel my heart pumping and pumping , increasing the pressure in the lower back till I screamed in agony.again and again... no way to hold it back. Completely unstoppable. All the time my teeth were clenched tight, I could not speak for hours , if I tried, a spasm attacked immediately, same thing if I released the death like grip I had on the bed rails.
Over and over again through this I kept thinking, I'm going to be crippled, my heart will not take this obscene pressure, (it felt like it was trying to rip itself out my body ), or my brain's going to implode, how much longer can I last, I going to beat you s.o.b. As every spasm climaxed, my mind, at least for the first four hours was trying to counter act the pain, felt my mind screaming inside my brain "bring it on you m.f. is this all you got .. I'll beat you're a.. no matter what. I'm not going any bloody where".
The fifth hour started to wear on me, after screaming blood curling screams at least 720 times by now I started to doubt my lasting ability, things started to change from " bring it on " to " take me and ease my pain", but instantly when I thought this I'd hear Diane weeping, pleading to stay with her, or it would be my daughter Nicole shrieking uncontrollably at the end of the bed calling my name, or Ian telling me to keep breathing Dad, hang in there fight this ". It was almost a telepathic communication, as soon as
I had a negative thought, one of their voices came through the mayhem clear as a bell, giving me strength to continue. I'm convinced I owe them my life.
Stanford was hard at work trying to control something they'd never experienced before , pumping me full of meds, Vicadon, Valium, Morphine and God knows what else. They even dragged me back downstairs for a new MRI to see if blood clots were forming in the area. An MRI in a tunnel and spasms..Pure bloody hell !
Part of the problem for the lack of response to the meds is perhaps I had built up a high tolerance for the Vicodin and painkillers as I used it for months previously to gain four hours sleep a night. Ian has said they
finally administered, through my IV, a large enough dose of liquid Valium to kill a person and that eventually knocked me out. I felt the darkness sweeping over me but didn't know if that was a good thing or permanent
thing.
I awoke next morning spasm free, toe & legs working, happy to be alive is an understatement !! All my vitals worked great all day and release papers were drawn up, all the monitor stuff disconnected and curbside wheel chair was on its way up, when something didn't feel right again. They kept asking what was wrong .. All I knew was something wasn't right, Everything was hooked back up and my lungs were working at ¼ of capacity, not enough oxygen was getting to the brain ..So another night in the hospital, and force fed oxygen to make it all balance out. Next day all vitals checked out and I was released on Friday.
Now normally in the past I would never have posted this, as I consider my family life is private from all other aspects of life, but this had such a profound effect I had to share and bare my soul.
The first thing I need to stress is the communication with some one in pain, either in or out of a hospital setting, stroking their hand , caressing their brow, doesn't mean crap to someone in pain. You could be stabbing them with barbed wire and it won't override the pain they're experiencing. Only strong voices will penetrate the force field of pain.
So excuse my drug induced rambling, spelling , disjointed thoughts, I'm alive, It's a new day and I love ya'll.
Dave
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:clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
Welcome back to the land of the physically able, Dave. I can't wait until you've fully recovered and I can ride our favorite routes with you and Di.
Does this mean Yo-Yo-Yosemite is on for this year? :yahoo:
The adventure included changing medical insurance providers, etc., but now all is well. At his request, below is a transcript of his email as he is still recovering from the meds and can't concentrate or focus long enough to communicate with everyone.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey folks,
I'm back from the operation and thought I'd relay the experience to everyone. That way everyone knows the story all at once and there's no misconceptions on how it went down. I'm at home resting, all systems functioning fine , but aching like hell.
The staff at Stanford were great, everyone seems to have there act together and is dedicated to their career and the patients well being.. Way more so than Kaiser where everyone by comparison seems to be just doing their job till the five o'clock bell rings.
The operation on Wednesday went off without a hitch, right on schedule and I came to in the post op-recovery room, toes wiggling, ankles moving ok, everything's cool ! The sciatic cramp / charley horse I'd had for the last year and a half in my hip was gone, no more foot / ankle pain either. After three or so hours in post op I was moved upstairs to another recovery area.
They inadvertently tried to bunk me in a room with a female patient, but the orderly said they had a law against pairing the roosters with the hens, so the only other room available was a private room, so off I
went. It'd later prove to be a stroke of luck.
After another hour things started to go downhill in a hurry. My back started having uncontrollable back spasms, so intense and long lasting , Stanford had never witnessed this in all the years of experience with back surgery. For over five solid non stop hours my back spasmed every 15 seconds. It felt like a combination of some thing you seen in the movies, sort of a scene from the Exorcist where I held on the bed rails and my body was arched up off the bed, and being zapped by thousands of volts of electricity at
the same time, like some kind of prisoner of war. It was utter and pure hell for hours. I could feel my heart pumping and pumping , increasing the pressure in the lower back till I screamed in agony.again and again... no way to hold it back. Completely unstoppable. All the time my teeth were clenched tight, I could not speak for hours , if I tried, a spasm attacked immediately, same thing if I released the death like grip I had on the bed rails.
Over and over again through this I kept thinking, I'm going to be crippled, my heart will not take this obscene pressure, (it felt like it was trying to rip itself out my body ), or my brain's going to implode, how much longer can I last, I going to beat you s.o.b. As every spasm climaxed, my mind, at least for the first four hours was trying to counter act the pain, felt my mind screaming inside my brain "bring it on you m.f. is this all you got .. I'll beat you're a.. no matter what. I'm not going any bloody where".
The fifth hour started to wear on me, after screaming blood curling screams at least 720 times by now I started to doubt my lasting ability, things started to change from " bring it on " to " take me and ease my pain", but instantly when I thought this I'd hear Diane weeping, pleading to stay with her, or it would be my daughter Nicole shrieking uncontrollably at the end of the bed calling my name, or Ian telling me to keep breathing Dad, hang in there fight this ". It was almost a telepathic communication, as soon as
I had a negative thought, one of their voices came through the mayhem clear as a bell, giving me strength to continue. I'm convinced I owe them my life.
Stanford was hard at work trying to control something they'd never experienced before , pumping me full of meds, Vicadon, Valium, Morphine and God knows what else. They even dragged me back downstairs for a new MRI to see if blood clots were forming in the area. An MRI in a tunnel and spasms..Pure bloody hell !
Part of the problem for the lack of response to the meds is perhaps I had built up a high tolerance for the Vicodin and painkillers as I used it for months previously to gain four hours sleep a night. Ian has said they
finally administered, through my IV, a large enough dose of liquid Valium to kill a person and that eventually knocked me out. I felt the darkness sweeping over me but didn't know if that was a good thing or permanent
thing.
I awoke next morning spasm free, toe & legs working, happy to be alive is an understatement !! All my vitals worked great all day and release papers were drawn up, all the monitor stuff disconnected and curbside wheel chair was on its way up, when something didn't feel right again. They kept asking what was wrong .. All I knew was something wasn't right, Everything was hooked back up and my lungs were working at ¼ of capacity, not enough oxygen was getting to the brain ..So another night in the hospital, and force fed oxygen to make it all balance out. Next day all vitals checked out and I was released on Friday.
Now normally in the past I would never have posted this, as I consider my family life is private from all other aspects of life, but this had such a profound effect I had to share and bare my soul.
The first thing I need to stress is the communication with some one in pain, either in or out of a hospital setting, stroking their hand , caressing their brow, doesn't mean crap to someone in pain. You could be stabbing them with barbed wire and it won't override the pain they're experiencing. Only strong voices will penetrate the force field of pain.
So excuse my drug induced rambling, spelling , disjointed thoughts, I'm alive, It's a new day and I love ya'll.
Dave
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
Welcome back to the land of the physically able, Dave. I can't wait until you've fully recovered and I can ride our favorite routes with you and Di.
Does this mean Yo-Yo-Yosemite is on for this year? :yahoo:
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