Some of you know, but most don't, so I will back peddle a bit.
A year ago, after many years of constant pain and heavy narcotics, a neurosurgeon was finally able to do something with my wife's low back herniated disc.
Relatively new in Canada, a discectomy was performed and a prosthetic disc was inserted in lieu of an old bad one.
They had to go in through the front in the abdomen (you can imagine what is involved here) before getting to the spine.
What was left of the old disc was removed and drilled clean ( she was bone on bone at this point) and a disc made of two titanium plates sandwiching a hard plastic ball was inserted into grooves they drilled upward into the top vertebrae, and downward into the lower vertebrae to keep it in place.
This procedure was all done in an hour and a half.
More amazing yet, is she walked out of the hospital 2 days later.
Several visits over the past year all with positive results.
This last visit was anxiously awaited by the surgeon to see how his patient was doing a year post op.
He was thrilled (as have I been) with her recovery, and how her lifestyle and ours has resumed to how it was years ago.
No more visits to the doctor are required.
It was also her birthday two days prior, so we spent a few days hitting all the tack stores in the Vancouver area.
There was also a day of cattle sorting up island yesterday that I told her we would go to for her birthday as well.
It was truly a joy watching her ride like that again. Its been about 5 years since we've done this due to her back.
In the first jackpot sort we placed 2nd, and she placed 3rd with another partner in the same jackpot. No pain for her, and nothing but smiles from us both.
Needless to say, we will return at the end of October for the final day of sorting for another fun filled day!
A year ago, after many years of constant pain and heavy narcotics, a neurosurgeon was finally able to do something with my wife's low back herniated disc.
Relatively new in Canada, a discectomy was performed and a prosthetic disc was inserted in lieu of an old bad one.
They had to go in through the front in the abdomen (you can imagine what is involved here) before getting to the spine.
What was left of the old disc was removed and drilled clean ( she was bone on bone at this point) and a disc made of two titanium plates sandwiching a hard plastic ball was inserted into grooves they drilled upward into the top vertebrae, and downward into the lower vertebrae to keep it in place.
This procedure was all done in an hour and a half.
More amazing yet, is she walked out of the hospital 2 days later.
Several visits over the past year all with positive results.
This last visit was anxiously awaited by the surgeon to see how his patient was doing a year post op.
He was thrilled (as have I been) with her recovery, and how her lifestyle and ours has resumed to how it was years ago.
No more visits to the doctor are required.
It was also her birthday two days prior, so we spent a few days hitting all the tack stores in the Vancouver area.
There was also a day of cattle sorting up island yesterday that I told her we would go to for her birthday as well.
It was truly a joy watching her ride like that again. Its been about 5 years since we've done this due to her back.
In the first jackpot sort we placed 2nd, and she placed 3rd with another partner in the same jackpot. No pain for her, and nothing but smiles from us both.
Needless to say, we will return at the end of October for the final day of sorting for another fun filled day!
