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Radical Rebirth
Trad climber
Texas
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Topic Author's Original Post - May 18, 2019 - 01:12pm PT
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Sure thing, jay
Rough week, but hopefully it will be a window to climbing beyond 50.
I’ve have had severe sciatica since January; no idea how I made it to work most days. In bed on days off and lots of ibuprofen on work days. My own hospital neuros too busy and too conservative to treat me. Even with MRI’s we still weren’t sure what level was causing the pain. Foot drop, spinal injections, more MRIs and it was obvious it wasn’t working
I had been aware of Donald Hilton for four years, he is one the leading spinal surgeons in the world and he was only three hours away in San Antonio. Dr. Hilton invented and developed minimally invasive tubular microdiscectomy, which turned month long back surgery recovery into day long recovery; patients often go back to work the next day. He had done 18000 of these surgeries since the late 90’s. One of those special Docs you are lucky to meet once in a life and who could maybe have a movie made out of his character. Up to San Antonio I went three times and finally surgery last friday.
My recovering from surgery last friday felt about as serious as a tooth filing. Post Op friday and Saturday were bliss with my kids, my wife was in Puerto Rico having fun, and my daughters with me in a hotel in San Antonio. We had a starving kitten my wife had found by garbage cans at the Hospital a few days earlier to keep us company. We snuck her into the hotel in my daughter’s purse. We all ate well and watched part 1 and 2 of The Godfather. Megan is at UT Austin in film school now so we are literally doing homework. 🙈🙈 I was up till six am doing extra credit due to the next movie being The Departed - maybe the best movie ever in my opinion. I love movies and kitties and apparently turtles.
Saturday it went bad. We now know I had a secondary larger ejection of more disc material. A one in fifty complication with this surgery. After a trip to Target for kitty food I wasn’t able to make it back to my truck. I sat down, then crawled and hobled back to the truck and somehow made it back to the hotel where varieties of pain meds were waiting. Neurontin , Tramadol, Tylenol, robaxin, Ibuprofen and soon to be added high dose steroids. I was stuck in bed but my daughters and I played Scattergories, laughed constantly and enjoyed every moment of our time together. I reflected on how they were now,not just my children, but were becoming the greatest adult relationships of my life as well.
Sunday I called Hilton’s office and the on call NP figured I had probably had some rebound nerve swelling; so we loaded me up with pain meds on an empty stomach- kids picked up some food and the new steroid prescription and I crawled through the hotel to the truck and somehow drove back to Mcallen with Jenny, and Megan went back to UT Austin.
Jenny and I had the best conversation of my life. We talked for 5 hours in the deepest and most honest way. Stuff I would never talk about with my kids. Sex , drugs , popularity , her boyfriend and our own personal lives. Steroids mess with you but this was something else. It was the off label treatment for hard to treat anxiety that’s provided by Neurontin. I felt like Obama, never have I been this chill. Why was I scared of speeches again? It all seemed so easy,
The next week was rough and although I didn’t have the low back spasm that marked my first emergency back surgery 20 years ago, this was now the most acute sciatic pain I had ever experienced. Taking a step on my left leg turned the entire leg into lava. My leg and foot nerves were dying., I was bed ridden with Jenny bringing me food before and after school. The pee bottle I used was my best friend. And still, everyday, I continued to have the most wonderful conversations with family and friends all over the world.
But pain is subjective. On Wednesday the docs office thought I had developed a seroma. This made sense to me and so I took all my pain meds and crawled out the door to pick up higher dose steroids, pick up my check, deposit it, and then drop by my clinic for stronger pain meds. The clinic is filled with my best friends from previous jobs; I had worked there as an NP before my present ER job. They were all horrified. I was wasted and probably slurring words. My personality bolstered even more by neurontin and a week of acute trauma and pain. I demonstrated my now partially paralyzed left foot drop with medical fascination. I told jokes about Jenny and myself. I regaled the staff why my new found knowledge that boys ( couples) kiss all the time in the hallways of Jenny’s high school and a dozen other things I learned from my daughter-father conversation. I crawled out the clinic with a script for stronger meds, a dry mouth and a craving for Dairy Queen. My left leg was now working less and less.
Thursday morning I knew time was running out. The weekend was coming and I would have no options. I posted a climbing photo that made me cry and I knew I needed to act. After talking with Doctor Hilton I hung up and crawled out the door and drove back up to SA. He admitted me for emergent MRI and surgery which I had last night
Today I have no pain at all - I hope it doesn’t come back- I’m scared and I want to go back to work.
But as well , when you get touched by fire it changes you and it’s been an amazing week.
Adding a dying Supertopo to the recovery of my partially dead left foot seems appropriate and I feel like I’m laying here in the hospital healing both. I’m very happy.
Drain they pulled from my back 5 minutes ago - wtf.
Few more photos in a bit
Face looks swollen from steroids; ever patient spirt in my shoulder.
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L
climber
Just livin' the dream
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May 18, 2019 - 01:18pm PT
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Hey Riley,
Sorry to hear about your health challenges, but it sure is good to see you posting again.
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Radical Rebirth
Trad climber
Texas
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Topic Author's Reply - May 18, 2019 - 01:26pm PT
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L - it’s so nice to hear you are doing well.
Been reading again the last few days .
Yes, nice to be here for final days.
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Bobbleseth
Trad climber
Utah
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May 18, 2019 - 01:30pm PT
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Hey man!!!...
:-)
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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May 18, 2019 - 02:11pm PT
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Yikes!
I hope you have better results with the second surgery.
Even Tiger Woods had a couple of ineffective back surgeries before he finally got the right one.
I feel fortunate that I only had one, 41 years ago, and it's been holding up well (fusion of 5 vertebrae after breaking T12 in a big fall, spinal cord injury).
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Radical Rebirth
Trad climber
Texas
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Topic Author's Reply - May 18, 2019 - 03:18pm PT
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Yeah, I’ve been wondering what Tiger had done . He had four total I think ., he has had multiple fusions I think and his back receives so much torque. One of the most insane things ever to overcome that and win The Masters again.
This is my 3rd surgery now . Had a big disc blow out 20 years ago that was bad but I recovered from 100 percent -.then these two !!
All micro and minimally invasive surgery for soft tissue disc radicular pain.
You’ve done very well, Clint , wish fusion but if you stay active and strong and keep pressure off nerves you are good, I think. I just can’t think how fortunate we all are to receive this help.
My dad had lumbar fusion in his 40s and is building houses by himself for fun at 73 years old.
Nut job..,
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Radical Rebirth
Trad climber
Texas
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Topic Author's Reply - May 18, 2019 - 03:19pm PT
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Hi that you Locker ?
Hi !!
So nice to see you .
We have fun till the end here now
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Bobbleseth
Trad climber
Utah
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May 18, 2019 - 03:28pm PT
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Yep, it be me...
and yep!!!...
Fun to the end...
What's to lose???...
:-)
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, Bozeman, the ocean, or ?
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May 18, 2019 - 07:06pm PT
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Oh man. That is some really agonizing stuff to read about, let alone experience. May it all right itself. Lovely kids, adorable kitty. May this all be in the rear view mirror... SOON!
Susan
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Radical Rebirth
Trad climber
Texas
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Topic Author's Reply - May 18, 2019 - 11:21pm PT
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Susan, thank you!
How are you? Hope you are feeling 100 percent.,
Please write me , Rileywyna@hotmail.com
So we can chat more .
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Radical Rebirth
Trad climber
Texas
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Topic Author's Reply - May 24, 2019 - 04:49pm PT
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My left leg 7 days out
Pretty wild.
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SC seagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, Bozeman, the ocean, or ?
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May 25, 2019 - 11:57am PT
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Oh no. That is quite frightening!
You really have been hit broadside by this mess.
I hope next steps are aggressive and potent...to get you out of this mess.
Susan
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Radical Rebirth
Trad climber
Texas
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Topic Author's Reply - May 25, 2019 - 03:33pm PT
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Back at work today - 7 days post op !!
Doing better than expected
Thought I was in urgent caret today and ended up in main ER. which is much worse ..
Half way done the shift already .
Life is good
I can’t believe how long at music thread of TRs went .
Wonder how she is doing ?
Working as a social worker?
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