Surgery Day

On Monday, April 9th, Jeff came home from work early complaining of chest pains. The pain progressed and he thought he was having a heart attack or stroke so he called 911. The ambulance picked him up and took him to Presbyterian Plano where tests were run and his heart was pumped. The results were negative. He was told the pain is most likely stemming from the neck and to contact his Neurosurgeon ASAP. An appointment was made that afternoon.

Le me back up, Jeff had surgery on his C5 and C6 in January, 2001. A part of his hip bone was removed to fuse C5 and C6. The pain has progressed since 2006. He is on prescriptions to relive the pain as well as seeing a pain management doctor for neck injections. Within the past year Jeff has had a hard time sleeping and even functioning day to day. His pain doctor decided it was time to see a Neurosurgeon. Per the doctor's request a myelogram was performed in February. (A myelogram uses x-rays and a special dye to make pictures of the bones and the fluid-filled space between the bones in your spine and neck. During the test, a dye is put into the fluid-filled space with a thin needle. The dye moves through the space so the nerve roots and spinal cord can be seen more clearly). Jeff hasn't had the time to review the results with his surgeon as he's been busy with work.

So, here we are Monday morning at the doctor’s office to go over the results. Jeff's C5 had deteriorated, C6 collapsed and C7 is herniated along with extreme nerve damage. The doctor leaves the room, comes back and tells us Jeff is having emergency neck surgery on Thursday! We knew at some point he needed surgery but for it to take place in the same week? We were not physically nor mentally prepared for this.

Jeff had pre-op Wednesday and we were to be at the hospital at 5:45 the next morning. The surgery took 3 hours with 1 hour in recovery. We were hoping to go home around 11:00 that Friday but Jeff had more than normal drainage coming from his neck. He was draining 12 oz. when it should be less than 10 oz. We were finally discharged Friday night. I was so ready to get home to get a good nights sleep and to see Landon as I have not been away from him for more than a night. Jeff will be at home up to 6 weeks and can only take his neck brace off when he showers and eats. He has a long road ahead of him and with everyone praying for him hopefully he will have a speedy recovery and back to his normal self.

Three of these plates were inserted into the neck.