Hi all,

I’ve said for years…  The value of this used car isn’t adversely affected so much by its age - as it is by its mileage!  I’m sorry that I haven’t been available lately to help some of you but please know I’ll probably be “back in the saddle” come January.

As some are aware, I awoke on August 14th unable to feel my left hand and had what felt like electrical shocks running down the back of my left arm.  Since then, there had been more developments such as my back/neck “grinding” when my head turned, involuntary muscular convulsions affecting my whole body (pinched nerves in the spinal column), dizziness and an inability to sleep (due to pain).  The situation has gotten so bad I had almost completely stopped driving due to the dangers involved, which meant I’d also curtailed doing a lot of my automotive diagnostic work.

Tests ruled out other possible causes and the neuro surgeon I’m seeing agreed there were problems in my neck and back that required surgery. 

I had an operation on December 8th.  2 plates, 2 cadaver disks, 8 screws and a three-inch long scar on my neck later…..  I’m a new man!

At this point, the swelling in the front and the back of my neck is going down (as is the bruising, which I don’t do!), I already can FEEL things with my left hand (instead of just touch them), the electricity I was feeling running down both arms is MUCH less and those uncontrollable electrical jolts that ran through my whole body causing momentary convulsions are fewer and less intense. 

Doc says the nerves that I was crushing when the disks disintegrated will most likely heal completely over time.  The recovery time is only a few weeks (before I can return to work - I hope to get back to work in January) and they say I’ll have “full function” of the neck after about a month. 

So…  I’m optimistic about getting relief (finally) and returning to my not-so-grumpy self when this is all done.  Thank you for your patience and understanding of my limitations.

Thank you also for your prayers and good wishes.

Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, killer Kwanzaa, happy holidays, whatever is appropriate (lol).

Happy Holidays, Hannukah, Kwanzaa. Glad to hear you actually feel better.

Great to hear that went so well!  Scary stuff.  You are a brave man.  Guess you didn't have much choice though.....

Here is hoping you have a full and speedy recovery. 

The Car Whisperer - Autonerdz wrote on Dec 20^th, 2016 at 1:32pm:

I had an operation on December 8th.  2 plates, 2 cadaver disks, 8 screws and a three-inch long scar on my neck later…..

Great to hear your recovering at a rapid pace.

My I ask.... as up here in Canada it may be different.
Does ObamaCare cover this?

The Car Whisperer - Autonerdz wrote on Dec 20^th, 2016 at 1:32pm:

Doc says the nerves that I was crushing when the disks disintegrated will most likely heal completely over time.  The recovery time is only a few weeks (before I can return to work - I hope to get back to work in January) and they say I’ll have “full function” of the neck after about a month. So…  I’m optimistic about getting relief (finally) and returning to my not-so-grumpy self when this is all done.  Thank you for your patience and understanding of my limitations.

Good to hear things are looking up Jamie!

Hope you finish healing up quickly.

Sorry to hear about your troubles Jamie.  Glad your getting better. :)

Good to hear that you made it through Jamie, hope recovery goes well.

Now as to these electrical pulses you were feeling - you did take a capture right? We need to add that as a known good or bad to the database.

Glad you are feeling better and i hope to read your posts in January

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ray

Hi Jaime, glad to hear you are doing better! That is a rough road to go down.

Glad all is going well with your healing ;)

Hope to meet you at Automechanika next year. I see you are scheduled to give a few classes :)

Mick wrote on Dec 20^th, 2016 at 3:37pm:

The Car Whisperer - Autonerdz wrote on Dec 20th, 2016 at 1:32pm: I had an operation on December 8th.  2 plates, 2 cadaver disks, 8 screws and a three-inch long scar on my neck later…..  Great to hear your recovering at a rapid pace. My I ask.... as up here in Canada it may be different. Does ObamaCare cover this?

Don't know.  I have private insurance.

mikeadema wrote on Dec 21^st, 2016 at 9:20am:

Good to hear that you made it through Jamie, hope recovery goes well. Now as to these electrical pulses you were feeling - you did take a capture right? We need to add that as a known good or bad to the database.

  ;D

Abndanger wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2016 at 2:33am:

Hi Jaime, glad to hear you are doing better! That is a rough road to go down. Glad all is going well with your healing ;) Hope to meet you at Automechanika next year. I see you are scheduled to give a few classes :)

I'm more excited this time (I think).  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thank you everyone for the kind words and "get well wishes"!

P.S. - Sneezing sucks!  OUCH!  hahaha

Jaimie  I will be at Automekanica also. :)
Quite a few Nerdz are going this year.  It will be a Nerdz extravaganza! :D :)

Glad your feeling better, Merry Christmas :)

Hi Jaime, I glad things are looking up and hopefully recovery goes just as good or even better for you.
Happy Holidays and best wishes to you and your family.

busjockey wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2016 at 6:17pm:

Jaimie  I will be at Automekanica also. :) Quite a few Nerdz are going this year.  It will be a Nerdz extravaganza! :D :)

I'd love to attend an Autonerdz event, informal, of course, where we all might be able to put the face to the uh, voice here is incorrect, text (better ?). 

Hello again everyone!  Here is an update on my medical condition...

The good news is some of the worst symptoms I was experiencing because of my neck problems are GONE and all the others are improving!

However, I just returned from my first post-operative check-up.  I received news that didn’t sit well with me about the operation.  One of the screws used to hold the plates to my vertebra has backed out a little.  I’m told sometimes this happens and this is as far as it goes.  Other times it backs out completely.  In the x-ray I see - at most - 3 threads holding the screw (tried to attach an image but for some reason it wouldn't load correctly).  Maybe they should have used the red Loctite instead of the Chrysler blue?  Lol. 

I’ll beat to the “punch line” those who were going to reply with “We always knew you had a screw loose”.

I get new pics (x-rays) in a few weeks and we will compare those to the ones I got last Friday.  If more movement is noted the doctor will go back in.

Meanwhile, recovery progress is slower than I’d hoped (and was told by the surgeon).  I tried driving to a few customers last week, did some module programming, and by the time I got home I was ready to pass out from the pain.  I was exhausted just from a 2-hour round trip.  If last Thursday and Friday are any indication, it will be much longer before I’m ready to be back at it 100%.  You just don’t think how much neck muscle is involved with braking, accelerating and defensive driving!  (As always, I want to be fixed NOW!).

Thank you in advance for your prayers and good wishes.  I hope to update you in a few weeks with only good news!

I'll keep those interested posted as things happen.

P.S. - An RN relative had said "My gut feeling about the screw backing out in your neck is that all your activity is exacerbating it. The doc will surely blame you if you ask him, but I don't know enough to tell you for sure.".

My reply to him was "To say I may be the reason for the screw backing out is like saying the driver is the cause of his wheel coming off after the mechanic rotated them.  Sorry.  Properly torqued lug nuts don’t back off under any circumstance.  But I know what you’re saying (and I don’t mean to come across as shooting the messenger).".

I won't go into his reply and my subsequent pages-long diatribe how the medical field is so easy to place blame on the patient.  My question to you is, can you imagine ANYTHING I could have done (outside of the aforementioned sneeze that HURT), to cause one of the screws to back off - had it been properly installed to begin with?  I imagine if there WAS something I did, there would have been substantial pain involved too. 

Maybe I'm wrong.  Anyone else had similar circumstances?

AFM wrote on Dec 23^rd, 2016 at 4:31pm:

Hi Jaime, I glad things are looking up and hopefully recovery goes just as good or even better for you. Happy Holidays and best wishes to you and your family.

Many thanks and wishing the same to you and yours!

Jamey wrote on Dec 23^rd, 2016 at 12:51pm:

Glad your feeling better, Merry Christmas :)

Thank you Jamey!

If I missed thanking anyone I apologize.  Thanks everyone!

Jamie good to hear you are on the mend! The part of your recovery with the screw backing out... Ugh... The doctor says it happen a lot... Do I hear you right? If that's the case why haven't the changed procedure to address the issues people like you are going through instead of the option of more X-rays and "going back in". Hope you don't have to go through that!

I've been through some neck surgery recently and the pain can still let me know they were in there after 2 years. Nothing that puts me out of the game but me having an active life style doesn't always help matters.

Thanks for staying in touch and hope you continue to get better. Hang in there bud.

The Car Whisperer - Autonerdz wrote on Jan 8^th, 2017 at 1:15pm:

AFM wrote on Dec 23rd, 2016 at 4:31pm: Hi Jaime, I glad things are looking up and hopefully recovery goes just as good or even better for you. Happy Holidays and best wishes to you and your family. Many thanks and wishing the same to you and yours!

Jamie,

Are you saying that the screw has backed out or slipped out due to no grip?

ATB

Ian

I've had screws and pins galore. Some temporary. Some permanent. Some backed out. Most didn't.

There is no "torque" like you're a known material, with a quantifiable friction coefficient. Bone density and fastener grip, person to person, is as different as fingerprints.

I asked the same questions as you, and was told that with a permanent fastener, it takes time for the bone to heal and "grip" it. If you move around too much during this time, the fastener can back out. I've never had a pin or screw that was in a non mobile area (like a femur) migrate, but the ones that did were always in something like the hand.

Hope that helps a little. It's no fun to have to go back in and fix things, but it's not nearly as bad as the first time.

Super glad you're on the mend.

Matt

I called my neuro surgeon’s office this morning…  Pain in my back/neck, tingling and numbness down my whole right arm.  Dammit man!

Okie-Dokie!  Yes, it HAS been a while since everyone's heard from me (so sorry).  Here's an update of the past few months in my world...

The doc who operated on me in December TOTALLY disbelieved the "new" problems were caused by something in my neck (even though every test result indicated otherwise). 

After the third test, a Myelogram, indicated major neck problems, he wanted to treat the symptom(s) by having me get a NERVE BLOCK.  I wasn't going to do that and went back to my "regular" doctor for advice.  After she read the reports of the three tests (X-Rays, MRI & the Myelogram), she looked at me and said "he really doesn't want to work on you anymore, does he?".  We were both convinced of the same thing and she wrote a referral for me to see a neurosurgeon at the University of Florida Shands teaching hospital in Gainesville (FL).  She said if she ever needed any back/neck work done, that Dr. Hoh is who she'd see. 

It took 6-8 weeks of very painful waiting before he could get me in to see him but once he went over the test results he knew I was in DANGER!  He wanted to get me on the operating table as soon as possible and tried to schedule me for the following Friday (this was a Tuesday).  My wife and I could not make arrangements that quickly (many responsibilities at home) but we were able to "clear our plates" for the following week.

The original (pre-surgical) MRI, coupled with the post-surgical one, and the other two tests indicated to Dr. Hoh that my nerve bundle was being pinched and could be severed by the problems indicated in and near the spinal canal (more than one location).  If that happened I'd have been permanently paralyzed.

Without boring you with details, I'm now fused from C2 to T1.  He had a lot of bone work to do to each vertebra, repaired severe stenosis (C2-C5), removed bone spurs in the canal and pushed C5 (the center vertebrae that was fused in Dec.) back in place.  I was in the O.R. around 4 hours.

Well, just a bit past 4 weeks post op now... 

I expect a 100% recovery.  It's just going to take more time than I expected for my back muscles to relax. They have to get used to all the new hardware in there and to finish re-adhering to the bones from where they were detached. They're taking their time about doing it. When I touch the area between my shoulder blades, it feels like an overdone steak!

I now have a bit of paralysis in my left hand and 3 numb fingers on the right...  Wasn't present immediately after the 4-hour back operation so everyone's optimistic that when the back muscles FINALLY get used to being reattached and to the new hardware, that the nerves will be getting back to normal as well. 

Someone asked me to describe the paralysis and numbness in my hands. I used the example of combing my hair. I said it would be like them doing it with oven mitts on. They understood completely at that point.   ;)

During this recovery I have to be careful - because I know how badly damaged the nerve bundles were. I don't want to take any chances.  No gambling here.  It’s frustrating though. 

I'm hoping to resume driving in August...  That's when my gym membership suspension expires  ::).  I also hope the doc will let me get back to doing (at LEAST) water aerobics so I can get my strength and mobility back in my arms.  I see him again on 7/24.

Thanks for keeping tabs on me, thank you all for your prayers and your "well-wishes". 

P.S. Yes, I typed this mostly one-handed.  Determined?  Me? You betchya!

Good to hear from you! I hope your recovery goes well.

Glad your doing ok, know what it feels like to be a pin cushion for the doctors.  Take your time and get well my friend. :)

Good to hear that the doc now has you on the path to recovery.

You gotta be one tough MF.   [smiley=boxer.gif]

Thanks guys!  Here's what my back looked like about 2 weeks ago...

---

Tom Roberts wrote on Jul 13^th, 2017 at 7:59am:

Good to hear that the doc now has you on the path to recovery. You gotta be one tough MF.   [smiley=boxer.gif]

This was orthopaedic surgery #17...  I have bought more Mercedes' than anyone I know (but it was my doctors and their children who got to drive them).   ;)   Add those to the 3 skin cancer operations and I guess I'd have to agree with you Tom!  ;-)

My saying:  Heaven will NEVER take me and the Devil's afraid I'll take over!  That's why I'm still around!