[Artificial Disc Replacement / Lumbar] Lumbar L4/L5 & L5/L6 (S1) Prodisc-L - Cathy......Dr. Bertagnoli May 26, 2009

[treefrog]

So, I am headed to the airport in about 2 hours, to make the trip to Germany. I am scheduled to have 2-level ADR on L4/L5 and L5/L6 (S1), with Dr. Bertagnoli.

We are flying into Munich, and then Mr. Peter Hoch is going to drive us to Straubing and the Hotel Theresientor.

My first fear is the pain from such a long flight.

I will be documenting my surgical experience and recovery here. I hope that I can provide enough information to help others who are contemplating ADR surgery.

Time now to finish packing .

[Justin]

Yeah! Cathy, 80% of all of this is getting there. Once you are there, you're set. I'll be watching for updates. We'll be praying for you.

Your "new life" starts on the 26th--how exciting!

[trkdoc714]

Godspeed Cathy.

Don't forget your toothbrush.

Since you're not a guy, I guess I don't need to remind you to take clean underwear (like my mother called me to remind me the day before I left).

Bob

[New-disc]

Cathy,

Your in my prayers!!! Please keep us all posted.....

Todd

[Phylly]

Cathy,
Sending tons of good wishes your way. The flight is long but at least you can get up and walk a bit. I hope all goes very well.
Phylly

[Gilbert P]

Hi Cathy

You will be in my prayers and thoughts, I wish you the best and a speedy recovery. Hopefully I will be next

Keep us posted WHEN YOU CAN do not push yourself.

Bless you

Gilbert P

[Lynda]

Hi Kathy

What an exciting journey you're on. I hope your flight over wasn't too uncomfortable.
Wishing you every success with the surgery and look forward to your postings.

Thinking of you

Lynda

[SemperFi]

Kathy,
How exciting!!!!
re the flight.. yeah, I'd die in one seat or ask someone to shoot me. Just can't sit. If they ever came out with those seats that are standing tho slightly tilted to take the pressure off the feet I'd be *just fine*..
Wishing you the best!!!!

[treefrog]

Well, I survived, but barely. It was a very long night/day/whatever. Friday is gone, we were so wiped from the trip, that we didn't do much of anything.

When we arrived at Heathrow, for a layover, we didn’t end up waiting around to get a wheelchair (we weren’t sure how that was all supposed to work).

My recommendation for anyone traveling, wait when you get off the plane, for the wheelchairs to arrive.

The walking wasn’t bad, especially after the long flight, but waiting in the security line (which you have to do at Heathrow, when you go from one terminal to another), was very bad.

Peter Hoch was there to pick us up at the Munich airport. He drove through the countryside, and it is so beautiful. We got up to our room, and started unpacking, we were so tired, but I was also hungry.

You see, here’s another tip. Write out your medication schedule ahead of time. I wanted to adjust the timing of my meds, so I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night. And one of my pain meds requires me to not eat two hours before, and one hour after taking it, so with the 6 hour time difference I thought it would be better to slowly adjust the times. But, I was so tired when I was trying to figure out the new schedule, that some things got screwed up.

So we walked downstairs, inquired about the internet usage here, and asked about a place to eat. We were told that there were several places to eat, just outside the hotel. We started walking, and it started raining, but we didn't care, it felt good on our dirty, travel stained faces. ( am I getting too poetic?) It only rained for about 5 minutes and then it stopped.

We found the Italian place, I had heard about. They mostly serve ice cream and coffee. But they had some sandwiches, bruschetta, and panini. So, we sat down, trying to read the menu, with not much luck, but enough to figure out what we wanted. We gestured a lot with the staff, to communicate what we wanted, what we ended up with was one each of the sandwich my boyfriend wanted, they didn’t quite understand that I wanted something different. But it was food, and it was tasty.

We ran into Mark at the restaurant, and he sat down and proceeded to give us some tips about being her, and then went over what to expect when I get to the hospital. After that, we went back up to the room, to try and get some sleep. It was around 4:30-50 pm, local time. We slept until about midnight, got up for a little bit, enough time for me to realize why I was hurting so much, I had missed a dose of my pain med. Took that, and some extra, and went back to sleep, until around 60 am.

That is early for us to be awake, but we are now much more on German time. Except I still have to adjust my meds, so I am taking them at convenient times. I’ll be back to a normal schedule by Monday, just in time to go into the hospital.

We went down for the free breakfast, though I could only eat for about 20 min. I had to stop by 70, so I can take my pain med at 90. I could have gone back for a bit more food, but I was able to eat enough, so that I won’t fall over.

And now we are going to explore Straubing. Try to buy some soda’s and water to keep in the room, and maybe some snacks.

[KBear]

Cathy,
Glad you survived the flight and figured out the wheelchairs (that was a lifesaver for me). Praying for a great surgery and quick recovery for you.
Kathy