REPORT FROM SUSAN!

Family and Friends,

A BIG HELLO from the other side. So sorry for worrying some of you, but I did not have internet connection at the hospital, and as some of you know Tim is not very computer literate . Please accept my apologies for the mass emailing, I will respond separately when I am able to sit a little longer.

I was discharged this afternoon by Dr. Bertagnoli himself when Tim and I ran into him in the hallway when we were going for a walk. Which was by pure luck, cause all the doctors and ProSpine staff are gone for three days for the weekend and a German holiday on Monday. I was happy to be able to come back to the hotel. Will go back on Tuesday when Renate returns and take care of my check out and paper work.

The Big Question - was the surgery a success??? Well, as those of you have been through this know, it may be awhile until I know for sure.(Months, possibly a year before healing is complete) But I feel confident.........very confident. I have pain, but it is mostly different than before. Musle aches from what they call distraction pain. They probably added about an inch in height to me by inserting the two artificial discs. I have some nerve pain, but not alot. Very Good Sign. This is also to be expected though as the nerves were also stretched and have been irritated for 5 years.

I was in surgery and recovery from 7:30am Tues. morning until 3 pm. Dr. Bertagnoli said it was more complicated than he expected. He ended up using vertoplasty (sp) bone cement because my bones were softer than the bone density test had shown. He said it was a very long surgery for his first surgery of the day, but he has every confidence that he has resolved my pain issues. I cannot say enough about this doctor. He is absolutely wonderful, yet talks to you like a long time friend. Today he said that the bottom disc that was replaced in the US looks fine......problem was, as he said, you can't fix a 3 level problem by fixing one, just as you cant fix a car with 3 flat tires by fixing only one of them. He and Tim went on and on about Harleys. He is an avid Harley rider too. Such a skilled doctor and yet so down to earth and friendly !!!

I had two VERY rough days, which they determined was in part from withdrawal from the very strong pain meds I have been on. We had discussed this prior to surgery and they had even expected to have to send me to intensive care for awhile (but they didnt). They removed the fentanyl patches before surgery and they were not replaced. They reduced the fentanyl patch from essentially 150mcg (my original dose) down to 50 mcg and that seems to be enough to handle the withdrawal and take care of some of the pain. Then I have oral pain meds. Those were rough days for Tim and Ryan. When I finally came around, I felt so sorry for them as they had no clue what was going on with me. I did, as I have gone through it before ..........inadvertently.

To Chuck..........Dr. B. asked me to send you his best and say hello to you when I spoke to you. I told him what a huge help you were to me through planning all this and keeping my anxiety attacks in check.Hope the last of your pain is continuing to resolve.

To Cindy and Catherine .........continue healing yourselves. Anxious to hear how your recoveries are progressing.

So, now it's time for recovery, which may be slow...........but after five years of pain, I am pretty sure I can deal with it as long as things continue to improve.

Will write more later. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. We will be flying home on Friday, the 1st of June.


Susan