That's right, folks. My own Indiana is going to have surgery tomorrow. Seems he has two (of course he couldn't just have one!) ruptured disks in his back. The disks are pressing on nerves and have caused him excruciating pain for the past two months.
I watched the poor man as he went to various doctors and tried different treatments to take care of the problem. Each doctor referred him on until finally he ended up with an appointment with a neurosurgeon. At that point I decided I'd like to come along for the visit.
You see, typically my husband remembers about half of any conversation he has with medical personnel. I wanted to hear for myself all the options the doctor laid out. I wanted to know what the risks are.
Turns out the options are: have surgery or risk the nerves deadening and him losing some or all of the mobility in his hand and/or arm. His mobility is limited already, and his fingers are numb, but they think that will clear up once there's no longer a ruptured disk squashing the nerve. Makes sense to me.
In the meantime, we're talking neurosurgery. We talking about an operation around the spinal area. We're talking major surgery. (The only minor surgery is something that is happening to someone else.) Surprisingly enough, for all this back surgery, they're actually going to "go in" through the front. That's right. They're going to make a small incision in his neck and go at things from that direction. From the outside, that doesn't seem to make sense. But apparently it is less risky and invasive than say, operating on his back. Less recovery time. Better end results.
Someone who just heard about the impending operation protested that my husband shouldn't let them cut on is back that way. Indiana's response? "Don't worry. They're not cutting my back. They're cutting my throat."
I had no idea the amount of advice we would generate once we decided to go with surgery. Some people have made cautious advice with a lot of common sense. Others have taken the opportunity to share every horror story they've ever experienced or heard about. Those are fun people. Incidentally, none of them will be sitting with me in the waiting room tomorrow!
Yesterday Indiana went for pre-surgery testing. In spite of the fact that he doesn't do well with needles, he managed to complete the testing. Then they sent him home with a book on preparing for surgery. Yeah, you read it right. A book. I read the book last night (well I knew he wouldn't read it!) and discovered that we needed to purchase furniture before the big event. Seems for the next few weeks, when he's not lying on the bed, he needs to be sitting in a straight-backed chair with armrests. We don't have one of those. Fortunately, we've got several chairs that are going to be loaned to us from friends.
I do think, though, that if surgery was going to require the purchase of new furniture, they should tell you more than two days in advance. Just sayin'.
In the meantime I'm getting the guest room ready for him downstairs. And moving in the borrowed furniture. And making arrangements for the boys for the next few days.
There's one more thing I have to do before the surgery. I have to hide Indiana's hat and whip. As nervous as I am about the operation, I know my husband. Once he's feeling better, it's going to be hard to keep him from going full tilt before his body is ready. The next couple of days are going to be rough, but I think the recovery time will be the hardest.
For me.
Think I'm exaggerating? My husband goes to a shooting competition every month. This month he couldn't chamber a round or even load a magazine into his gun. So in the middle of each time sequence he had to hand his gun to someone standing next to him. They had to reload and chamber a round so my husband could finish that stage.
Indiana still came in second.
I'm telling you I have my work cut out for me.
NOTE: I'm treating this with humor, but this is fairly serious and I would appreciate your prayers for him before, during and after surgery.
