I remember looking for a clock, which I finally did find. I was a little confused when I saw that it was around 2PM. My surgery was suppose to start at around 8:30AM and last 3-4 hours (which from what I had heard was a little long anyway). Somehow, someone padded at least 1.5 hours onto my surgery! I guess I wasn't too concerned, cause I made it through and I was feeling pretty OK.

The recovery room staff was wonderful - they kept me engaged in conversation (between nodding off) and were very pleasent. I received my first visitors a few minutes after I woke up - it was my wife and my sister Lisa. It was great to see them - I'm sure I was quite the fright but it was GREAT to see family! It was great that my sister was able to come into the city for my surgery - she lives another hour away from NY then we do, and she has kids to get off to school and stuff to do out there in the 'country'. She's also the only one of the three (wife, mother, sister) that is comfortable driving in NYC. So I was very glad to see her too!! I don't remember much of the conversation, but at least I knew that I was now on the road to recovery! Then I nodded off...

After what seemed like a couple of minutes, I woke up again, this time to see my wife and my Sister Lisa walk into recovery again! Same deal - we chatted for a minute or so then I must have fallen asleep again!

I remember little of the rest of the afternoon/evening - I have vague memories of being wheeled up to my room, but I have no idea when that happened. I was wheeled into a semi-private room, and as luck would have it I had a roommate. A young man who had broken his Radius bone SNOWBORDING! Turns out he had to have a metal plate inserted to help the bone grow back, so he had to stay in the hospital for a day or so. Nice enough fellow - we hardly exchanged a word. He was pretty quite (more on that later) so it really wasn't an issue with me.

Even though my bed lacked many of the luxeries of home, it had one thing that could not be duplicated anywhere else - a PCA self-administering pump feeding my IV with MORPHINE. From the very beginning, I don't remember being in any kind of serious pain from the surgery - as long as I could stay still. That caused me a problem though, as I am notorious for flipping side-to-side in my sleep. I absolutely can not sleep on my back. So - as you can imagine, flipping side-to-side with my IV, catheter, and thrombosis socks wired up to the bed was quite the adventure! I tried... and tried... but couldn't do it without help and without a truckload of self-induced pain! This was the single worse part of the whole ordeal for me.

My family left me around 8PM (to the best of my memory). My sister drove my Mom home, and my wifes car was at her house so she could drive home or to her Parents house the next town over. Then my Sister had an additional 1 hour ride home from there. I give her a lot of credit - it was a LONG day for her. I really, really appreciated her being there and helping Mom and my wife get home. Even without that, she's a great sister!

My nurse was a fantastic idea! To tell you the truth, I don't think I bothered her more then 4 or 5 times in her 8 hour shift, but when I needed her it was a GREAT relief to know that I had help! She took care of the blood pressure and temperature 4-hour readings, checked my IV and PCA pumps, and most imporantly she helped me when I need to roll over. She taught me how to use the bedrails, how to properly adjust the bed depending on what I was trying to accomplish (watch TV, roll over, sleep), and best of all she propped the pillows behind my back when I finally DID get comfortable on my side. Then, before her shift was over early Friday morning, she helped clean me up. She was WONDERFUL to have around, and made what would have been a VERY miserable first night only a SOMEWHAT miserable first night.

My only real complaint about the first night was my roommate and his TV. It was WAY too loud for me, as I'm used to sleeping in a very quiet house in a very quiet neighborhood. I think I used it as an excuse in my mind to stay awake most of the night, but part of me also knew it wasn't the TV, it was the pain. All in all, I think I got about 2+ hours of broken sleep this night.

Pain-wise, it's hard to say. The morphene helped as much as possible, I was groggy and tired all night. Every time I moved it hurt a lot - mostly in the front around the incision. I couldn't identify any distinctive back pain! That was a HUGE relief.

The parade of Doctors, Surgeons, and various other assorted medical professionals started early. Before 8AM, Dr Casden and one of the PA's came by to see me. This is the first time I received FIRST HAND information about my surgery. YES - they were successful. YES - I had my SB Charite III installed at L5S1. YES - there were no known complications. YES - they were very happy with the placement of the device. There was, however, an issue during the approch. Turns out I have a very large (a.k.a. 'monster') vein that lies directly in front of my L5S1 space. Dr Casden explained that the two branches of the vein come together there, and the vein was quite large. My General surgeon, Dr Hanan, worked on moving it out of the way for about 1.5 hours, and they actually were CONSIDERING ABORTING THE PROCEDURE. Thankfully for ALL involved, Dr Hanan was able to move and secure the vein and allow Drs Casden and Bitan the approch they needed to install the Charite. There was also some talk of moving me to I.C.U. after the surgery was completed so that they could better monitor me and my vein, but it was decided that the procedure went smooth enough that I was in very little danger.

Turns out everyone knew about this yesterday, including ME, but I had no recallection of that conversation. I guess I didn't need that extra stress on my system right after the surgery anyway. I guess my family was a little concerned when I didn't come out of the OR by 12:30 as they were told to expect (my procedure started at 8:30 and was to take 3-4 hours). This little 'bump in the road' caused me to stay on the table for almost 2 extra hours. Ouch!!

Later in the morning, Dr Bitan stopped by and I asked him about the ADR part of the procedure, and he said he couldn't be more pleased with their work. The device was sized perfectly for my anatomy (I'm a size 4 in the SB Charite III in case you're wondering what to get me for Christmas next year!!) and they were very happy with the placement. He told me that their work only took about 30 minutes, and the rest was opening and closing. Interesting stuff. Then, as quickly as he arrived, Dr Bitan was gone, off to the next patient.

It must have been about 10:15AM when the Physical Therapist showed up. I was VERY happy to see him, and I was ready (although a little apprehensive) to get out of that darn bed. It was time to get out of bed. This was a very difficult moment for me - emotionally and physically. Talk about having to 'suck it up', I knew how important it was to get up and move but mentally it was VERY difficult to even see myself doing it. But I did. Slowly, and with expert help, I worked my way to a sitting-up position, then to a standing position, and finally... walking! So up we went, and I was feeling very very steady and HAPPY to be able to function on my feet! We made it up and down the hall, about 50 yards total, and back to the room in about 10 minutes. Maybe not world record pace, but it felt SO reassuring to walk! I was still up on my feet a few minutes later when my Mom and Wife came strolling in. You should have seen the look of relief on their faces when they saw me up and walking around!! I was very happy to see them relax, and feel good about the surgery, as the day went on.

Another great event happened that evening - my roommate checked out! This was of course good news and bad news. The good news was that I had my quiet interruption-free environment, and that I had an unobstructed view out the window. The BAD news is that I had that nagging feeling that I was going to get another roommate - a WORSE roommate. One that moans, calls the nurses constantly, whines on the phone and to a never ending parade of visitors, etc. You know - the same feeling you get when the doors to the airplane are about to close, you have whole row of seats to yourself, and then you see 2 more people walk on the plane. You KNOW they are going to take up the empty seats in your row and make the flight miserable. That feeling. *LOL*

My pain levels were not too bad today - I was getting used to moving around and not causing more pain then necessary. I think meeting with the surgeons, taking a stroll, and having the whole room to myself made a HUGE difference in my outlook and mental strength. I was really slowing down the morphene - I didn't think the pain was that severe anymore. Things were starting to look good!!

Today was going to be another day of relax, recover, walk, and wait. I waited patiently for food (be careful what you ask for!), for my physical therepist (ouch!), and for, perhaps my exit papers. Originally, I was told either 2 or 3 nights, and I was pre-approved from my insurance company for 2 nights. So I didn't know if I'd be heading home today or not. That really complicated things, as coming home required some planning and coordination. Oh well - gonna have to see how the day unfolds.

I was feeling pretty human. I got myself out of bed and walked to the bathroom and managed to wash myself up pretty well. What a nice feeling THAT is!! I was given some real food for breakfast - warm oatmeal, cold cereal, coffee (!!!!!), bread and butter. Real food of substance. I was pleased!

It was mid-morning again when my Wife arrived. She thought I looked and sounded great which made me feel even better about my situation. By mid morning, all of the tubes and wires were off of me except for the thrombosis gear on my legs. There was more then a little concern about my vein problem and the possibility of a clot. I was told exactly what to watch for - sharp pain inside my gut and noticible swelling of my legs. So, of course, I was extra paranoid. Thankfully, no problems surfaced. What a relief!

Not long after my wife arrived, my general surgeon Dr Hanan arrived. We had a very nice 10 minute conversation about the procedure in general and specifically about my 'giant vein' situation. Dr Hanan told us that I was his 2nd worst case he's ever had - the worst one they had to about the procedure and close up the patient. He said they were very concerned for quite a while, and it took so long on Thursday because they wanted to proceed extra carefully. I thanked him for not only being so careful, but also for NOT aborting the ADR. Boy - I can just imagine waking up after that surgery only to discover that they didn't do the ADR. Come to think of it, I CAN'T imagine how that would have felt. I would have been devistated. But Dr Hanan saved the day and so far there was no sign of any problems.

A short while later, the physical therapist came by. This was to be the 'big' visit - we were going to do the steps! I started things on a good note by getting myself out of bed and we all walked to the staircase. To my surprise - the steps were EASY! I wasn't exactly bounding up and down those concrete steps, but taken at the right pace it was quite manageable. What a relief that was - I have an expanded cape style home and have a nice flight of 13 steps to get up to my bedroom from the front door. Knowing I could do that was a huge lift - there was nothing else keeping me from wanting to go home!!

Shortly after my stroll, the PA from Dr Casden's office came by and we discussed when I should go home. They were still concerned about my vein work and the possiblilty of a clot, and we all agreed that we would be more comfortable spending one more night with the thrombosis socks under the watchful eyes of the nursing staff. And so it was!!!!

Had a pretty quiet night - pain levels were low. I was on all oral medications, and everything was managable. I was getting in and out of bed pretty well (considering) and was finally anxious to head home! And it happened!! My PA came by to check on me, gave me the final OK, and my Sister showed up with her cavernous mini-van and drove my wife and myself back to the best place on earth to recouperate - HOME!!

The BEST part of being home was seeing my kids. Made me cry!! They had made me wonderful 'Welcome Home Dad' posters and were on their absolute BEST behavior. It was wonderful to be home.

As you can imagine, the rest of the day was taken up with resting, eating, and figuring out how to get in and out of bed without those wonderful handles on the hospital bed. That had to be the roughest part - moving around without handles! Rolling over in bed is a BIG challenge as is getting in/out. Overall - it's still MUCH better to be home then any other option!!

Not like I ran a marathon or anything - yesterday we went to the mall for maybe 2 hours, much of which was spent sitting down eating or slowly strolling, and I felt fine afterwards. But this morning my son and I rushed out to another mall to pick up a new baseball glove and bat for the upcoming Little League season, and of course had to take a spin around 'Best Buy' while we were there. By the time I got home, I was done for. My energy had been Ok the last couple of days, but I think these back-to-back mall trips were too much!

Otherwise feeling fine. It continues to be painful to wear bluejeans on the wound, but the back is getting stronger every day. No distraction pain, no back pain, mild muscle aches in the back and legs.

I continue to minimize my medications, only taking 1.5 of my Hydrocodone/APAP 7.5/750 in the late evening. Takes the edge off getting to sleep.

Still taking my Hydrocodone at night only - helps to relax and wind down. I'm hoping to cut that out next week when I return to work!

Monday was a good day. I had energy, it was great to be back in the office, see my friends, catch up on office gossip, and just get out of the house. I lasted pretty well - worked a full day about 9-5:30 or so. Was pretty tired when I got home, but didn't feel like I needed any pain meds so I just relaxed and had a 'normal' evening!

Tuesday was a longer day. My energy was down from Monday, even after a good nights sleep. I felt like I should just relax in the morning, but thought if I pushed myself a little it would be better in the long run. Sure 'nuff, once I was in the office things went pretty well until late afternoon when I got really tired really quickly. I still stayed until a little after 5PM, then rushed home. I was tired and hurtin pretty good around the wound site. So I lied down, took my Hydrocodone, and rested the evening.

Wednesday was the longest day. Again, my energy was down in the morning and it took me longer to get ready and get to work. Once I was there, it was ok for the morning and through lunch, but by 1:30 or so the tiredness and wound pain got really bad. Again I stuck it out until almost 5PM, headed home for rest and meds.

Today (Thursday) I'm working from home. Seems like two things make the difference (so far) - (1) not having to wear real pants/slacks/jeans across my wound and (2) resting horizontal every couple of hours for 10-15 minutes. I feel human today and hopefully it will last the day.

I'm still having cold hands, but not as often or as bad. I believe that I'm getting stronger, but will only notice on a weekly basis. My stamina and wound pain need to improve.