Howard, I'm quite sure that I can speak for all those on the list and others
that know you, we all hope for a speedy and complete recovery for you. We will
keep you in our prayers and expect to see you on the salt this year.
John Backus
Hi Guys and Gals,
This is windy and medically detailed so feel free to hit the delete key.
I asked Bryan if he would put this on the site so some of you who might
care can find out what is going on.
In 1983 I fell in a deep hole and crushed some discs and vertebrae in my
lower back I struggled with that for years and finally had surgery in 1987.
They took out four discs and part of three vertebrae. At that time, the
surgeon was not comfortable with any of the artificial discs so he just left
it bone on bone.
Over the years the bones wore uneven and began to displace laterally as well
as a couple of them rotating. This placed a shearing force on my spinal cord
and has been extremely painful for several years.
To complicate things, the vertebrae grew together in this hodgepodge mess
with curvature of the spine and every thing else.
It reached the point where I could no longer deal with it and the
neurosurgeon said I had two choices. 1. Let it deteriorate a little further
and put me on narcotics in a wheel chair. 2. Try and fix it enough to keep
me walking.
Obviously I chose #2 and he got started at 8:00 AM Nov.30.
He had estimated 4 hrs. but spent 5 1/2 hrs due to the difficulty of
separating the vertebrae without damaging the spinal cord. Of course I did
my part by stopping breathing during surgery and developing pneumonia in the
right lung. I asked if I had stopped breathing long enough to get any brain
damage and he said no more than I already had. He then had to cut some extra
muscles loose so he could rotate the vertebrae into radial alignment as well
as lateral alignment so he could screw some titanium fixtures onto the lower
2,3.4.&5 vertebrae.
People may think I'm not worth shit but I have $29,700 worth of medical
grade titanium in my lower back.
Right now I'm in more pain than when I went in there but the surgeon is
optimistic it will get better. Of course you sign a paper saying you agree
it may not work .
I don't quit easy so I'm looking forward to seeing you all on the salt
someday and the wheels will be either a race car or pickup truck.
Good luck to you all in 2002,
Howard Nafzger
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