Surgery

I want to thank everyone for the prayers and good thoughts for us as we awaited the scheduling of Rick's surgery. We met with the surgeon this morning and he explained everything to us. We were told about the different techniques of spinal fusion and shown models of how it works and what it will look like. He was very supportive of our decision and thinks we made the right one. He feels that this will really help Rick to get back to his old self. That is definitely what we are praying for.

The technique that will be used is called ALIF. It stands for Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion. The surgeon will go in through the abdomen and remove the damaged disc. It will be replaced with a cage full of bone graft material and growth hormones that will stimulate bone growth and fuse the vertebrae together. There will also be a metal plate to stabilize the vertebrae. If the surgeon feels that the spine is unstable after all that he said that he will go in through the back and use screws and rods to stabilize the spine. That is hopefully not going to happen.

Surgery is scheduled for March 10. Check in at 7am for a 9am surgery. As long as everything goes smoothly it should only take 2 hours. We have a lot to do to get ready. I have already found tank tops for Rick to wear underneath the back brace. And some comfy pants to wear that shouldn't bother the incision. But that is the least of my concerns. I still have a ton of stuff to do around the house as well. It needs to be accessible for a walker and have things in convenient locations for Rick. So much to do, and only 18 days to go.

Until next time,
Jaime