I keep me in stiches

First picture is from yesterday October 8th 2009. Last day of bandages on the wound.
The next picture is the scar itself. Almost entirely healed. So today much to the relief of everyone, I can take a full shower, ha. Ok Ok I've been taking showers, just nothing above the breast bone. Above that mark I had to just do a washcloth.

Now I can go out in the sund and get a tan on that neck...after I shave.

I'll keep you posted
-the John

The first cut is the deepest

I haven't really posted anything since the operation so I apologize. Quick update is as follows. The operation was fantastic, best 7 hours of sleep I've had in months. No pain whatsoever. I didn't need any pain medication except for the general anesthesia of course. I spent the first night in the Intensive Care of Critical Care Unit as they called it. That was to make sure no blood clots formed or that the swelling in my throat and trachea didn't suffocate me. I got up 3 times that first night and got to walk around with the assistance of a nurse because I had all these wires and hoses and tubes hooked up to me. Next day the doc saw me and said I was doing amazingly well and if it kept up I could go home Thursday morning less than 48 hours after the operation was completed. That night I had trouble with breathing and choking due to lung congestion and a swollen trachea/throat/esophagus but I was still able to get up and walk for 15 minutes at a time, three times. So I was discharged Thursday and went home. Sleeping has been very difficult due to the swollen throat etc. but last night with the help of some sleeping drugs and decongestants I got 6 hours of sleep on and off. Still having trouble speaking because my wind pipe gets blocked and I have lung congestion as well. The images attached are from the operation. On the multi image picture, the upper left image is "before". You can see that my neck had an unnatural S curve in it from when I fractured a couple vertebrae as a kid. The new neck has a nice C curve to it. You can't tell from the images but there is a plate in there as well which holds the whole mess together and it enforces the proper curvature to the spine. For the first time in a very very very long time I don't have numbness, burning, and pins and needles throughout my arms, neck, legs etc. I am still lacking a normal pain system and I don't seem to have much feeling in some of my fingers and hands but I can use them without discomfort for the most part. I tire easily I think from anesthesia after effects but I am able to walk 2-4 miles a day at a 20 minute a mile pace. The doc said walking is good but not too fast (no problem) and keep my head and neck stable with a brace. I'm going to call it quits for now. I'll come back and add color commentary to the whole affair in my next post.

I'll keep you posted
-The John