1 day and a wake up

Howdy folks. Sorry I've been a little aloof the last day or two. There hasn't been all that much exciting to talk about. We've done a little sight seeing in some of the local cities, namely Hamburg and Bremerhaven.

I'm having issues at the hotel with Internet connection. They won't let me have both my iPad and my phone logged on at the same time without paying extra. So, I can't post pictures of some of the sites I've seen. I'm scheduled to be at the hospital tomorrow afternoon, so I'll use the free wi-fi there to transfer all my pics to the iPad.

As I was saying, tomorrow I will go back to the hospital for my final check-up. I expect a GLOWING report. Here's why: I feel fantastic!! I am not 100% yet, granted, but I feel better RIGHT NOW than I have in years. Every day is a little better than the last one. I'm just a little stronger; walk a little farther a little longer and feel a little less tired afterwards.

So, tomorrow they will tell me how great everything looks, and then I will come back to the hotel to pack. Early Friday morning, we'll board a plane, hitting the ground in the ATL sometime around 6 PM. After that, we'll boogie back to Montgomery where I will SLEEP IN MY OWN BED, for the first time in three weeks. Cannot wait for that biddness.

Anyway, this has not been one of my more exciting posts ... Sorry. Honestly, all I can think about right now is getting home. I am ready Freddy. Stay tuned to future updates though. I'm just kinda getting started with all this. I'm pretty sure there is a book in the future. People need to know about this, as well as other areas of German medicine. In some ways, they are just light years ahead of us. It's really shocking, particularly when you see it WITH YOUR OWN EYES.

By the way, while there have been a few folks before me who have had four artificial discs at the lumbar level (like a handful), I think it is true that I may be the first person ever to have it done with the new generation disc. At the very least, I am most likely the first one with this particular disc. I'm waiting to hear back from the manufacturer on the final word for that information.

So, that's about it tonight. If I can get the pics transferred tomorrow, I'll show you a little bit of what I have seen.

Later gator


- Posted by ADP

Location:Bürgerpark,Bremen,Germany

These here folks ain't Amuricun's

Happy Sunday! This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Is this somehow significant? I find it interesting that I had both life changing back surgery, and quit a 25 year habit of dipping snuff, all on April Fool's Day. Hmmm. This means something but I'm not sure what.

So, I went down to the whirlpool yesterday and was enjoying myself a good bit, when in walked another couple who seemed to want to get in with me. We exchanged smiles and then ... they proceeded to get butt naked and hop in the whirlpool with me. Now, a boy from Alabama is not used to seeing such as this and it's safe to say I was quite a bit uncomfortable. So me and my bathing suit hopped up on out of there and decided that maybe whirlpools in Germany weren't for us. Wow, that was weird.

Had a nice Bratwurst and Kraut dish last night at a place called the Ratskeller. It looks like this


Those are very large and very old wine vats along the right wall, some of them 700 years old I believe I was told. We are in the basement of a building that now houses city hall, which is above us. I think before that it was somebody's house.

Headed back into town this afternoon. Planning to buy a rail pass and tour Hamburg, Bremerhaven, and Berlin Monday through Wednesday. Thursday it's back to the hospital and Friday fly home.

5 days and a wake up. Partner, I am ready.

Bye for now ...

- Posted by ADP

Location:Bürgerpark,Bremen,Germany

Five Stars

Howdy from The Park Hotel. That's this place ...



It's pretty swanky let me tell you. Want a coke? Sure thing. 5 euros please. That's $7.10 or so in US dollars. Needless to say Dad and I journeyed to the market to grab a few basics.

We toured the town a little yesterday and ate at an Italian restaurant last night that was pretty decent. The Original Willie Nelson Fan will appreciate this; There was an acoustic act set up to play and he started about halfway through dinner. What was the first song? Glad you asked ... "Always On My Mind"

I bet I probably walked 5 miles or so yesterday, and adding the dinner out, I was pretty tired by the time we got back to the hotel. So, today I'm just kind of taking it easy. My legs are not used to walking correctly, so seldom used muscles are now in revolt over being asked to do things they haven't done in a while. My right calf is just on FIRE. But, you can bet your bippy I'm willing to go through a little muscle soreness.

Okay, so ... There you have it. I'm off to the whirl pool now. Life is rough.

A New Season

This morning I opened my eyes and knew immediately that something was very different. I lied there a minute or two trying to clear my head and figure out what it was. I sat up on the edge of the bed and looked around the room. Everything looked normal. Nothing was out of place, but something was different. I got up and went to the bathroom, wondering what it was. I came out and grabbed the hot cup of coffee that the nurse had just brought in and eased back the curtains, sipping my coffee and surveying the morning. As I stood there studying the the shapes and shadows of the garden outside my window, the shock was so severe I almost dropped my cup. I suddenly knew what was different ... I HAD NO PAIN. Nothing hurt. No stiffness. No aching. No burning. Nothing. I was standing there looking out of the window drinking coffee and enjoying it - like a normal person. It was a little surreal. I stood there trying to remember the last time I had done that, or the last time I had waked up and not immediately reached for the ibuprofen, or aleve, or something stronger. I could not.

It was a good day.


- Posted by ADP

Location:Im Bürgerpark,Bremen,Germany

I'm #3

Turns out I'm the third guy to have a four level ADR.

In other news ... Today was my best day yet. I spent most of the day either sitting or walking around. I walked about a mile and a half and dad was having just a little trouble (not too much) keeping up. Of course he had already walked about 20 miles so far today. Around here you either walk or ride a bike. Anyway, today was definitely my best day so far.

I met with Dr. Ritter-Lang this afternoon and even he was a little stunned. I think he is definitely proud of his work on this case. I don't blame him one bit. I'd be proud of it too.

We'll meet again in the morning sometime and work out my schedule for the next week. After that it's back to Sweet Home Alabama.

Don't really have anything all that exciting to talk about. Today I felt about as normal as I have in years. It's just surreal. I haven't had any pain medication whatsoever in about 8 hours, and I don't need any. What? Huh? I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all.

Thanks for praying for my new friend Margo. She felt much better after we left her last night and had a really good day as well. So, all's well that ends well.

Bedtime here. See you tomorrow.




- Posted by ADP

New Pics and Misc. Info

This is what it all looked like before the surgery. You can see that all of the vertebra below the fusion were very close together, some almost touching. Trust me, you can feel that buddy. I'm not crafty enough on this blog thingy yet to put the images side by side. Okay, wait a second ... Maybe I am that crafty ...





























Anyway, that's as good as I can do. You can see in the image on the left that my back begins to immediately start humping forward at the S-1 level (also known as your tail bone and the last vertebra). In the image on the right you can see that it is returning to the natural curve and continuing on through the original fusion. Honestly, I have no idea how he was able to manage that. Like I have said, in my mind it is a miracle.


Here is an image of the lovely porridge I was served for dinner this evening. In all honesty, this is one of the better things I have eaten at the hospital.











Dad has been working hard on his German. He can actually say a few things now.












I have no idea what she is saying, but she is right - there is no better way to fly across the big pond. Best flight I have ever been on in my life.









Well, anyway ... Today was a good day for me. I got a little stronger, walked a little farther (3/4 mile), and just felt better in general. We're still debating whether I will stay here for therapy on come on back home on 4/13 and just continue it there. I'm beginning to feel more confident about coming on back. Wow, who would have ever imagined I could travel half way around the world, have major back surgery, and be back home in less than two weeks? Not me.

Thanks as always for the prayers, emails, and comments. They keep my spirits up. Speaking of that, turn it up a notch for Margo. She came off the morphine pump and is just as miserable as she can be. I think she is going to be fine, but she's struggling. Dad and I, along with her daughter Sarah, put our hands on her and prayed over her to night. First time I have ever done that for anyone other than my little boy.

Okay, so that's all folks. Talk to you tomorrow. Somebody please record the Master's Tournament for me. I'd appreciate it a lot.

Location:Heilstättenweg,Ganderkesee,Germany

Photographic Evidence

This was right before surgery ...




This was right after - not quite so bright eyed. That's Mike from Colorado next to me. He had two ADRs.




This was just after I walked to the end of the hall and outside about 24 hours after surgery. I haven't stood that straight in a long, long time.




For those of you that actually saw my back before this, seeing the reverse lordosis or hump that I had in the lower back, here is the photographic proof that it is gone baby. Poof! If you never saw it just imagine Gollum from Lord of the Rings. It looked exactly like that. My son will think it is especially cool to see it gone.




For the curious cats, those things that look like Oreos are the artificial discs, or ADRs. In the X-Ray, the one that says "stehend" ignore the two parallel vertical lines and the horizontal one. That is metal in the post surgery brace that I wear. You can see some of the hardware from my 1997 fusion at the top of the image though. The photo below was taken from a fluoroscope during the operation.







That's about all I have for you tonight. I continue to improve and actually walked about a 1/4 mile this afternoon. I couldn't do that before I got here, so I'd say I'm off to a good start. I might try for 1/2 mile tomorrow.

If anybody can figure out how to mail a Big Mac, please do.

Oh yeah, thanks to those of you who added Margo to your prayer list. Keep it up. She was much better today. I don't think that was a coincidence.

P.S. Tomorrow I will show you the X-Rays before surgery so you can see the difference.

Location:Heilstättenweg,Ganderkesee,Germany

Walking Tall

ThIngs took a little turn for the worse after bedtime, as I fought a fever all night. I didn't feel well Sunday at all. So, I spent most of Sunday and the better part of Monday sleeping. I'm feeling a good bit better tonight and I hope that continues into tomorrow. There's a chance that I will be coming home early based on how well my body has responded to the artificial discs. I may or may not be going to the special rehab clinic for two weeks. We'll make that decision Friday.

All in all, my recuperation continues to be outstanding and the docs here continue to be pleasantly surprised. I guess they haven't operated on many South Alabama boys! :-)

I want y'all to add another person to the prayer list. Her name is Margo and she is not doing nearly as well as I am. She has terrible pain in one of her legs and may have to be operated on again. Let's all pray that she will not have to do that.

Thanks friends for all the thoughts and prayers. See you soon. Can't wait.

David

P. S. I'm trying to figure out how to get pics and videos uploaded here but I'm having issues. I may move this to another site that is more friendly.

PRAISE GOD!!!!! IT IS A MIRACLE!!!!!!

Hey everybody. GOD IS THE GREAT HEALER! JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE! THE HOLY SPIRIT MOVES AMONG US, AND HE WAS IN THE SURGERY ROOM TODAY MAKING SURE ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS, AND MY PRAYERS, WERE ANSWERED!!!! Thank you Lord for taking care of me! Thank you for leading me to this wonderful place. Thank you Lord for guiding the hands of my doctor to perform the perfect surgery.

Many of you have seen me walking these last two years or so. I've been using a cane and just could not stand up straight no matter what I tried. The stenosis in my back had made it physically impossible to stand erect, much less arch my back. As the stenosis got worse and worse, the more hunched over I became. It was awful and I was unbelievably miserable. The only way I could get around was humped over. And then there was the pain; day and night, constant and completely agonizing.

So, yesterday a man named Dr. Karsten Ritter-Lang changed my life as I know it. YES, I CAN ALREADY TELL!! Here is what happened:

After Dr. Ritter-Lang got me opened up, he discovered that my original fusion, the one from when I broke my back in 1997, was solid as a rock so there was no need to re-fusion at that location. Additionally, he thought vertebrae L3 looked to be in pretty good shape too. So, he decided that there would be no fusion at all. Instead, he would install one more artificial disc, bringing the total to four. I was asleep when this decision was made, but I'm glad it was. I wanted to avoid any fusion of any kind anywhere. Interestingly, I may be the only man in the world with four. We are trying to find out. Needless to say, if I'm not the only one in the world, I am one of the very few.

Beyond that, the procedure itself was pretty straight ahead; take the old discs out and put the new ones in. I'll include a link to the demonstration video tomorrow maybe. It's pretty cool.

But that's not the good news ... The nurse came to my room and said it's time to stand up and walk. I was ready because I was feeling pretty good. What happened next SHOCKED me. I STOOD STRAIGHT UP. I DID NOT LEAN TO ONE SIDE. MY BACK HAD THE CORRECT ARCH IN IT!!! We walked to the end of the hall. I'm not embarrassed one little bit to say I cried like a baby and hugged every nurse I could find. For the first time in TWO YEARS I can walk like a normal person. You know, my dad cried too. It was just that awesome.

In my mind it is a miracle without a doubt. Praise God for this miracle in my life.

The Final Count Down

Well, here we go. It's 10:17 A.M. here, 3:17 A.M. back home in Montgomery. I'm here in my hospital room hanging out and talking with Darrin, who is moving on to rehab today, and to my new roommate Mike. I'm sure he and I are going to get to know each other QUITE well over the next few days.

So, Mike has the first surgery, then it's my turn. I'll mostly just be hanging around until then. I was fairly nervous about it all last night, but amazingly I'm pretty relaxed this morning.

11:00AM Mike just went back for his surgery. I guess they will come for me in about three hours. I don't really feel very chatty right now, mainly because there isn't all that much to say at this point. I will say that I have found the German people to be very friendly. I had always heard the opposite. Maybe that's true for some other part of the country, but not here.

12:05 It's time to get my gown and stuff on now. I'm signing off at this point. Wish me luck everybody, and keep praying for me. I really appreciate it!

Oh yeah, PRAY FOR THE DOCTOR TOO! :-)

P.S. I wish you could see the "panty" the nurse just told me to put on. The first thing I said was, "Hey lady, I don't wear a panty. At least call it underwear." You should see them though. They are see through gauze that gives them a kind of fish net look. Good grief! I can't wear these things! Although, I think there are certain nightclubs in Berlin where I would be quite popular. Ha ha!