Danger

 

Graphic x-rays with screws in my neck follow.

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If you’re squeamish about such stuff, don’t scroll down.

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I didn’t do my job well.

 

The surgeon did his job.  He fused four vertebrae together in my neck and screwed them all to a steel plate.

 

My job was to heal.  Of the three fusions, only the top one took.  The x-rays show the third vertebra down has moved and shifted a little.  The fourth vertebra has moved a lot.  Check out the bottom two screws.  They’re both totally bent!

 

No surprise.  My neck hasn’t felt right all along.

 

The surgeon says he can fix it with two more operations.  He’ll take out the steel plate and some of the lower bone grafts and start over on the ones that didn’t work.  He’ll fuse everything from the front again and screw another plate on.  Then for the second operation, he’ll go in from the back of the neck and put in some steel rods and screws to hold everything in place for sure.  That ought to do it.  The procedure will take a little longer, two to five days in the hospital, and the recovery will take a little longer.  Three months in the rack; maybe a year of recovery altogether.

 

We look forward to that adventure in a month or so.