Procedure List

So, This is kinda a doozy too. I am not sure if anyone had a chance to read my injury list, but this one is also alot to take in. If you are one of the faint of heart, I totally understand if you stop reading now.

One of the hardest things that I have had to face throughout this entire injury are the aftermath and the repercussions of the injury, and the procedures that took place. Each day I have to live my life knowing that their is metal in me from something that I have no memory of.

It’s really surreal, to have had all of this happen. My family, all the trips across 3 states to get to me, and then trying to figure out everything that had went on. I was laying lifeless for so long. I was really just fighting for my life. It has been a kinda harrowing experience, having to hear from friends and family what they were all going thru jus to sit back and watch to see if I was going to make it.

I have no recollection of these procedures at all. I was a shell of my former self at this time. My mother put it into perspective for me, saying, “You had to re-learn how to swallow again, for them to let you out of the ICU” and it was at that time that it did really sink in for me how bad it had been. I really had alot to go thru. To see the look on my mother’s and father’s face, as well as all my siblings whenever I bring up asking “what had happened” should have said it, but it didn’t at the time. I was still Just Joe. I was just wondering too, what had happened.

I hope that this isn’t too alarming. I really was fortunate to have had the Neurosurgeon that I did. The doctor was an amazing person, whom I was able to meet many months later. having so much metal and so much work done on my body, to only have met the Neurosurgeon, and not even the emergency team that worked on me the day of, is pretty crazy of an experience.

You might wonder why there was a gap in time? well, that’s because I wasn’t stable, I contracted pneumonia, and I needed to be able to lay prone (on my belly) for up to 10hrs for the back surgery.

The team that was overseeing my care determined it was best for me to take the time to prioritize my health and overall well-being. I needed to get well enough to have had that surgery. I am really fortunate that it did turn around, and I was able to have the surgery, with no complications that I know of.

Well, here goes nothing, here’s the list that fused up my back and won’t let me bend over again.

5/18

• Right posterolateral thoracotomy
• Right lower lobe lobectomy
• Right upper lobe partial lobectomy
• Placement of 2 chest tubes

5/30

• T3-L5 decompression and fusion
• T6-T7 laminectomy and evacuation of epidural hematoma
• L1-L2 laminectomy with bilateral foraminotomies
• T3- L5 Partial thoracic 3 to lumbar 5 laminectomy

Definitions:

• A thoracotomy is the first step in thoracic surgeries including lobectomy or pneumonectomy for lung cancer or to gain thoracic access in major trauma.
• surgical removal of a lobe of an organ such as the thyroid gland, lung, or liver.
• Spinal fusion is surgery to connect two or more bones in any part of the spine. Connecting them prevents movement between them. Preventing movement helps to prevent pain. During spinal fusion, a surgeon places bone or a bonelike material in the space between two spinal bones.
• Laminectomy is a surgical operation to remove the back of one or more vertebrae, usually to give access to the spinal cord or to relieve pressure on nerves.
• Foraminotomy is surgery that widens the opening in your spine where nerve roots leave your spinal canal.