Last Friday I went to see the orthopedic surgeon who had operated on my spine a year ago. I also wanted to check my chest x-ray to determine whether the pleural effusion that was there a month ago was resorbing.
First, the spine looks very good and the surgeon does not need to see me again unless I request his help. The bone grafts in the area of L4-L5 appear to have "taken" and so there is likely a good fusion. There is no evidence that the titanium screws that hold it all together have loosened. So should be good for another 76 years or so.
Second, the chest x-ray was perfectly clear and looks normal. You can still see the crack in the rib but I think everything is progressing fine. It has been six weeks and there is still some pain in the area of the break, but it is gradually improving. I can sleep on both sides, at least for a while. I think for a fracture as bad as this one was, it will probably take another couple of weeks. But I am happy with the progress.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Happy New Year
It is now well into the new year and much of the nation is coming out of the "polar Vortex". Yesterday we went and saw the film "Frozen" which was pretty good for a cartoon. But it was kind of like the cold that has been over much of the nation--even down to Houston where we had the first hard freeze for several years. I wrapped the pipes outside and hoped for the best. Fortunately, no disasters occurred here.
Now for some good news! Val and I are going to get married. We plan to do this around the end of March while we are on a trip to the Big Bend region of Texas. We will likely get married at the Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, Texas. We will have a private ceremony and are not inviting anyone to attend. We may try and have a party after we return to celebrate with family. At the end of April we are planning a trip to Paris (France not Texas) as a honeymoon. We are excited by all this.
My rib is still healing. I can now sleep pretty well on my right side, but the left side where the fracture is is still tender. I am scheduled to see my orthopedic surgeon, who operated on my back, for a 1 year followup and will get some followup films for my rib and chest then. I suspect the pleural effusion will be less or gone and that everything will look ok. It was a bad break and may take longer than the classical 6 weeks to get entirely well. I'll let you know on the blog after I see the doctor on Friday.
Now for some good news! Val and I are going to get married. We plan to do this around the end of March while we are on a trip to the Big Bend region of Texas. We will likely get married at the Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, Texas. We will have a private ceremony and are not inviting anyone to attend. We may try and have a party after we return to celebrate with family. At the end of April we are planning a trip to Paris (France not Texas) as a honeymoon. We are excited by all this.
My rib is still healing. I can now sleep pretty well on my right side, but the left side where the fracture is is still tender. I am scheduled to see my orthopedic surgeon, who operated on my back, for a 1 year followup and will get some followup films for my rib and chest then. I suspect the pleural effusion will be less or gone and that everything will look ok. It was a bad break and may take longer than the classical 6 weeks to get entirely well. I'll let you know on the blog after I see the doctor on Friday.
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