12/24/2009 - Recovery

When I got home from my Anterior Cervical Discectomy & Fusion surgery, the girls (dogs), were very excited. Even more than the usual excitement they express whenever I return from being away for as little as an hour. But I couldn't do much, so they settled down relatively soon. My first night home I just relaxed and watched a little TV.

12/24/2009
I had a very good nights sleep. I felt pretty good in the morning. I took the dogs for a walk up to the park and back. It had just snowed, again, so I ended up having to do most of the walking in the street. Fortunately, the girls have been trained not to pull on the leash, so I had no problems walking with them, even though I was a little sore and it would not have been go if they had pulled the leash.

12/25/2009
Again, had a pretty good nights sleep. We both stayed up until about 1:30am, then slept in until about 10:00am. I took the dogs for another walk. In the afternoon, we went over to Deanna's Mom's for Christmas dinner. She had everything fixed and didn't want us to bring anything, so we didn't. It was really good, but I didn't have much of an appetite. She fixed prime rib, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables, squash, carrot salad, pumpkin bread and tapioca pudding, which was great. It was difficult to swallow the meat, but the salad was very good. We came home with left overs, which was very nice.

We had company in the evening. Megan and James brought Griffin, and Aaron and Heidi brought Jaycee and Caden. It was interesting to just sit back watch the family dynamics. Although they are brother and sister, they couldn't be further apart in their lifestyles and attitudes. It's sort of like trying to mix oil and water. Griffin really likes Jaycee, and was running up to her all night for hugs. We tried to get the kids to play downstairs with the Wii, or the DVDs, or the computer, but that only kept their attention for a few minutes before they were all back upstairs wanting to be part of the family group.

12/26
Woke up in the morning and I couldn't talk. I felt worse than any other day since my complications with open heart surgery. My shoulders and neck were really sore. The pain pills couldn't touch the pain, and all I could do was whisper. I spent the entire day just sitting, reclined on the couch, which was the only comfortable position I could find.

The kids came over later at night. Trevor and Becca brought Jordan, Addie, and Myia. Lindsey brought Avery, Crew, Cade, and Afton. Scott didn't come because his work paid for dinner and front row tickets to the Jazz game that night. Deanna sent Trevor for bake at home pizza.


12/27/2009
Slept in. Still couldn't talk. Felt even worse as if that was possible. Can't eat much. It's hard to swallow and keep anything down, even liquids. It goes halfway down my throat, then gets stuck.

12/28
Deanna went back to work. I felt a little better. Slept most of the day and took a lot of pain meds (the normal dosage only).

12/29
I felt 25% of normal. So what does that mean? I could get around OK once the pain meds kicked in. My throat was a little better. At least I could talk hoarsely instead of just whisper.

12/30
I was sitting at the kitchen table, trying to eat while reading the morning paper when I came upon this article by Doug Robinson: Past Glory Makes Pain For Today (I have abbreviated the article)

The first thing I noticed when I bumped into an old acquaintance in the mall one afternoon was the neck brace. Then he showed me the scar. (I have the same scar that is still swollen as I am reading this article)
Jim Herrmann, co-captain of BYU's 1984 national championship football team, pulled aside his collar to show me a raised crimson lip on his lower neck where a surgeon had entered to repair his neck.

"Football," he said.

Football? Herrmann is 46 years old. We did the math — he hadn't played football in 22 years, which means he had likely carried the beginnings of the injury all those years and didn't know it until it manifested itself one night as white-hot pain shooting down his arm.

The doctor looked at the MRI and said, "It looks like you've pounded on your neck." Herrmann explained that he had played football. Ah, the doctor said, that explains it. The injury wasn't the result of one play or a trauma; it was the accumulation of hundreds of ordinary crashes on a football field. (This is basically what my doctor told me. The only problem is that I never played football. In fact, I never played any type of ball in college or even in high school. At no time in my life have I ever injured, or jarred, or hit my neck in any way shape or form to playing football. The only thing I can remember was that I was in a car accident when I was eight years old had hit my head, and was unconscious for 2 days. I have had many other medical problems, but this neck problem was a real puzzle to the doctor who kept searching, but never found a reason, for the problem.)

"It's not just me," Herrmann said. "A lot of other players have the same problems and are worse off than me. All those years of pounding your head against big guys takes its toll on your body."

During the reunion of BYU's '84 championship team last fall, he learned that many of his teammates have had similar experiences in middle age. Kyle Morrell, unable to sleep at night because of pain in his shoulder, underwent surgery. Glen Kozlowski had chronic pain and was unable to use his left arm until he underwent neck surgery. (This was the main symptom that lead me to search for an answer as to what was causing the pain.) Other teammates told of pain that showed up late in their knees, backs, necks and shoulders.

... But then a few months ago, he woke up with a knot behind his left shoulder that grew into excruciating pain during the next two months. By then, his hand felt as if he had struck his crazy bone — "but 10 times worse." A searing, burning sensation shot down his arm and into his hand and fingers. Parts of his hand were numb and hot. He ate Advil and got massages.

He was asked to carry the flag before the start of the BYU-Utah game as part of the 25th anniversary of that '84 championship team, but by then he couldn't even use his left arm. The day before the game, he was injected with a painkiller using a long needle inserted into his neck and spine — just so he could carry a flag.

A few days later, the pain returned with a vengeance. Because of the pain, he couldn't sit, couldn't sleep, couldn't drive a car. The only relief he found was the standing position, with his left arm raised above his head. Unable to sleep, he paced the house all night looking like a crazy man with that arm raised high, an ice pack on his neck and tears in his eyes. (My symptoms were not this bad, but at times I could see where it was on track to getting there.)

... He saw a specialist and underwent surgery. The surgeon cut into the front of his neck, moved his esophagus to one side and worked his way back to the spine. He removed bone spurs and three herniated discs that were impinging on his spinal cord, replacing them with bones from a cadaver to complete a three-level spinal fusion. He secured the repaired discs with a titanium plate and screws. (Exactly the operation I just had, and am still recovering from.)

"It's the first time I've ever questioned the value of football — was it all worth it?" says Herrmann. "It's funny, in pre-op, ESPN was on the TV and they were showing football highlights. I told them to change the channel. I couldn't stand to watch those guys banging heads. But afterward, I turned on the TV to watch college football.

"I am not complaining. I am so grateful for my life and football. The place I live and many of my good friends are because of football. I would say the vast majority of my teammates would say they would do it over again, and I think you've got to put me in that category. But there were times when I wondered." (And I still had the same problem, but without the fun and benefits of playing football.)

12/31/2009
Last night was a particularly bad night. I coughed and coughed, and coughed some more. Before I went sleep, I just sat on the edge of the bed and coughed over and over again, real deep coughs, trying to clear my throat. But it just wasn't happening. I was only half asleep for most of the night because of my coughing. Somehow my mind kept making the coughs animated. It was as if they had a life of their own. It seemed like they were just sitting on a book case ledge, and every once a while one of them would just go off. It was scaring me how violent the coughs were. Needless to say the back of my neck (outside muscles), are sore this morning,a and the area around the incision is red and swollen.

I called the Doctor's office at about 10:00 am and talked to the nurse. I was concerned about the coughing and the hoarseness lasting so long. I told her that I didn't think my throat was getting better; that I was having a hard time swallowing; that I couldn't talk' and that I was coughing what seemed to be all night long. She said she would talk to Dr. Mark and let me know.

I called back later in the afternoon and talked to the nurse again. She said she still hadn't heard from Dr. Mark.

Later that afternoon, around 4:30 she called back and said that the Dr. said ordered a steroid pack for my throat. He told her that what I was experiencing was normal, and could last 4 to 5 weeks. She asked if I wanted to order the steroid pack, which is basically a tapered dose of steriods (starts out with a lot, then tapers to none). I told her no. I was just making sure that what I was going through was normal. Besides, I was already on steroids - prednisone. She agreed that I shouldn't have both, so I am just going to continue on as normal.

Today I felt about 30% of normal. My neck hurt a little, my shoulders a little more, but the worst part still is my throat. Still difficult to swallow, and when I do, it never goes all the way down. Then I cough - a lot. That causes more problems with my throat and it's like and endless circle. Even food that you would think would be easy to eat, like soup, or ice cream, are difficult. Not only to swallow, but because of the after-taste which causes me to cough more and more. Jello is good. It feels good going down, and it doesn't cause me to cough. Salad also is good. I think because it has a lot of water content, and not a lot of salt.

I tried taking cough syrup (NyQuil), to make me stop coughing at night, but it actually made my cough much worse. It irritated my throat and caused me to cough for 10 minutes straight, plus all night at intermittent intervals. Not a good plan.

1/1/2010
Last night was not as bad. I didn't take any cough medication, which makes me cough, or pain medication which keeps me awake. I stayed up late so that I would be really tired. But I still had to cough all night, just not as bad as last night. I got up early and moved to the couch and reclined with a pillow and blanket, which helped stop the cough - not completely, but somewhat. This morning the back of my neck and shoulders really hurt. I took some oxycondone, and later some Tylenol and Soma, which finally took the pain away. As I am writing the pain in my neck and shoulders is increasing, so I'm going to have to go relax again for a while.

1/2/2010
Deanna had today off. I didn't do much, other than watch TV all day. I don't have a lot of energy, probably from not getting a good nights sleep. The pain is still in my shoulders and neck, but it's getting better. Still taking oxycodon as needed, but always less than 2 or 3 per day.

1/3/10
Not much change. Couldn't sleep because of coughing. Still have pain in shoulders and neck. But feeling about 50% of normal now.

1/4/10
Two steps backwards. Yesterday was great compared to today. Still coughing, not sleeping, and achy. Deanna went to church today, but I stayed home. I managed to clean up the kitchen a little, but that was about it. Just felt like I am going backwards instead of feeling like I making progress.

1/5/10
Feel a little better today - about the same as I felt on Saturday. Deanna and I both had a dentist appointment early in the morning. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it through, laying back, with my mouth open, and not coughing. But I did make it through. The appointment was for a cleaning and checkup. For the first time, in as long as I can remember, I had no cavities.

I was able to do a little work on the computer. But after sitting for a couple of hours my neck starts hurting again.

1/6/10
I couldn't get up and going until about 3:00pm. I tried watching TV, but kept falling asleep, which was the desired result. Once I got up and going I was OK. Don't know if it was the cumulative lack of sleep, or the cough medicine that I took that made me so drowsy all day, but today wasn't very productive - which can be said of every day for the last month.

1/7/10
I thought I was going to be OK last night. When I tried to go to sleep I had no cough. So I decided to move into the bedroom and try to sleep on a real bed for a change. Big mistake. That caused me to start coughing again, and it never ended - until about 7:30am. But I was able to get up and after taking an oxycodon, I felt OK. I took the dogs for a walk, and now I am typing away.

1/8 - 1/12/10
Not much happening for me to write every day. I am still coughing a lot, unable to sleep at night, and not having much energy. Some days I can take the dogs for a walk, but some days I'm just not up to it.

1/27/10
I'm feeling better, but still don't have the energy I used to have. I still get tired real easily. Last night was the first night I was able to sleep without taking anything. Before then I used to take cough medicine with codeine, a sleeping pill, a decongestant, and another type of cough syrup - Tussinex. I was able to gradually get off of them one at a time over a two week period. I can now sleep in bed, as opposed to sleeping on the couch in a sitting position. But like I said, I still don't have much energy.

I still can't talk any better. I'm hoping it will get better, but we are beginning to think it may be permanent. I see the doctor the first week in February, so I will know more then.

2/1/10
Went to see Dr. Mark today. Before the doctor's appointment, I had to get an x ray of my neck. Then I went to the appointment. I wa 5 minutes early, and they took me back to an exam room right away. But as normal, once I was in the exam room, I was a captive patient. So I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. Did I tell you I had to wait? Finally Dr. Mark made an appearance. He asked me how I was doing, and I told him I felt pretty good. He looked at the x ray, and I was able to look at it too. I saw a big plate that ran from the C4 to the T1 vertebrae. There were four screws attaching the plate to my spine. It was weird to see the actual screws. They looked like everyday common wood screws, in my neck.

He did some tests on my hands to determine if I had more strength in my left hand, which I did.

I asked him about my voice and he said that I should get it back, probably in a month or so. He also said that people who have a problem with the voice not coming back don't sound as good as I did. If it doesn't come back in a month, he will send me to an ENT to see what is going on.

So for now, I am feeling better. The pain in my shoulder is gone, but I still have minor pain periodically in my neck, but it is gradually getting better. I don't think it is any worse than what is normal for most people, so nothing to complain about. Now I just have to wait and hope that my voice will come back.