Time to fix Steve's back

On Wednesday, October 22

Steve was scheduled to have back surgery.

He was supposed to arrive at 2 p.m. but the

hospital called on Tuesday and

asked him to come at 1:00 instead.

So off we went and arrived at 12:45.

When Steve checked in he was informed that

the doctor was running a little behind

due to an emergency earlier in the day.

So we waited.....and waited.....and waited

finally at 3:00 they took him to Pre-Op

where he

waited....and waited....and waited

Steve was getting cold so the nurse hooked him

up to this interesting hot air blanket....

and he wasn't cold anymore....it really worked well.

At last the doctor, Dr. Frizzell, came in to talk to us.  He

didn't stay long....barely long enough for 

Linda to snap a quick picture

and then we waited some more.

At about 5 p.m. they sent Linda back to the

waiting room and wheeled Steve off

to the O.R.

Surgery finally began at 5:40

and by 7:00 he was in recovery.

The surgery went well....just as the

doctor anticipated it would.

It was just a little before 9:00 when they

brought Steve up to his room

where Linda was waiting for him.

(seems like we did a whole lot of "waiting")

Linda stayed with Steve until about 11:00

then went home for the night.

On Thursday Steve had a nice breakfast and

had been for two walks before Linda

even got to the hospital at about 10:00 a.m.

Linda got her first look at the "surgery site"...

an 8" dressing and drainage tube.

Steve felt pretty good and decided to take

a few phone calls from family.

Soon it was time for another walk.  

The nurse said about his walks that

"He is a Speedy One"

(which was no surprise to anyone that knows him)

After phone calls and a walk we had a

lunch date!

We each had a 

Hamburger, fries & Milk Shake

The doctor wanted Steve's drain to stay in for

24 hours but he decided it

 could be a little less than that and still be OK and

 told the nurse to leave it in until 5 p.m.

The nurse got all the paper work done early

and gave Steve all his discharge instructions before hand.

At 5:00 she took the drain out and put on a new dressing.

Pulled the IV out and called for someone

to bring his wheel chair and escort him to our car.

Steve got dressed, Linda got the car and we were on

our way home by 5:30.

Steve was glad to be home and in his

comfortable recliner.

Before too long ...

he changed into his comfy P.J.'s and

 had some dinner. 

He took a Norco pain pill before bed and

not again until morning.

Friday morning we got our first look at the

incision when Linda changed the

dressing

4 inches long and 12 staples!

(Linda took a picture so Steve could see it too)

The little spot above and right of the incision

is where the drain was.

We will change the dressing each day for 

7 days then no dressing will

be necessary

The staples will be removed in two weeks, 

November 6th, and yes....

Steve is looking forward to that day!

It is November 6th and Steve's

appointment is at 11:45

The doctor said the incision looked excellent

and wants Steve to be back to

"normal" by Christmas.

After the doctor finished his visit with us....

The nurse removed the incision staples!

Next, and last appointment...

 the middle of December.