..and Back

Well, it's done - or at least the first part's done. I'm now at B-day plus seven, and feeling a bit stiff but pleased at my progress. I managed to walk 3.5 miles today and we're off out for a pint and play some music tonight, so not bad for a cripple. 

The surgeon tells me that if he doesn't like what he sees on the next x-ray, he will insert some metalwork. That would not be good, since my clients have been very cooperative to this point, promising me work from home and allowing me this time off. Next appointment will probably be in a couple of weeks. 

I don't have any wonderful images of the operation or even of my transformed back, but hope to get those during the next consultation. Needless to say I'm very much looking forward to that. All this discomfort has to be for something. 

I seem to have escaped the procedure with a minimum of painkillers. One oral dose of morphine as soon as I woke up (I'm no hero). Sweet, delicious and extremely effective, but boy the resulting constipation was never, never to be repeated. I won't go into too much detail, but I know more about myself than I did last week, that's for sure. *shudders*. Now I can get by on paracetamol. 

I must say that Stepping Hill hospital, much maligned recently for obvious reasons, was excellent. The nurses were helpful and talkative, the ward was clean, modern and comfortable, the doctors were approachable. They also let me go home after only 24 hours from the operation, but I suspect the pressure for beds had a lot to do with that. Why can't they just keep a few more empty beds to cut down waiting time? Money I suppose. Here's my prospective reward to myself:

It's a mountain bike. 

I have arranged to do a coast-to-coast charity bike ride during the August bank holiday, and still hope to take part. My recovery will need to be positively meteoric (as it has been so far) and of course the second operation will have to not happen, for it to be possible, but here's hoping. Either way I'm very impatient to be back on a bike doing what I do. Here are some other things that have happened:

Sold this. The bike I mean. 

Had a holiday in Gambia. This is me with Gibril, our waiter and tour guide. 

..and this is wifey getting all cosy with Gibril's son when we visited his home. 

Dickensian xmas dinner at our place. 

Our lives were taken over by little boxes. lyn was commissioned to put an art installation into a medieval tower in Macclesfield for Barnaby festival. The result was Other Peoples Treasure. 

I updated my image with snazzy placky glasses. 

Later peeps, I'm off to bang my drum and moan about back pain..

Back

Back - not a good subject, but one I intend to discuss anyway.

(This is old news to those who have the misfortune to se me socially - I've been bending the ears of friends good and bad, relatives close and distant, and strangers in the street since these events transpired)

I finally got the NHS to give me an MRI scan, and it's gruesome.

Having said that, a lot of things fell into place when I saw the scan - for instance, I now know why I've had increasing discomfort when driving for the last few years. I now know why I've had bouts of sciatica every time I play my beloved game of squash. I now know why I was laid flat last year when wifey and I lifted some doors up three flights for an installation she did. Etc etc.

The official diagnosis is Scoliosis, probably genetic. It's nothing to do with the amount of exercise I've done - which is a relief.
The good news is, it's treatable, and even better, it's keyhole surgery. Two days in hozzy, six weeks rest and I'll be fine, I hope.

The treatment is called XLIF and there's a rather rose-tinted description of it here:

Rosy cosy xlif video

When I went recently to sign the consent forms, the surgeon was keen to manage my expectations - ie he made it plain that jumping around straight after the op is not an option, and probably won't be an option for quite a while - maybe never (sob). There's also a possibility that if the result isn't good enough there may be follow-up proceures to put rods and screws in. That's worst case. Best case is I get to be an inch taller and spend my late middle age on a squash court.

I got them to send me the actual MRI scan and the viewing software, and then I made this little animation which shows sections in sequence, from the side. It gives an impression of just how twisted I am:



I expect the surgery to be in March, and I'm very excited about it. More when I know it.

Laters.