Not dancing!!!then what do old married folks do for fun???
since you are feeling better I couldn't resist teasing you!!!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 10:02 PM
Subject: Re: About Me
> Rhonda,
>
> It wasn't dancing I was thinking about concerning celebrating.
>
> Phil.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rhonda Partain" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 7:46 PM
> Subject: Re: About Me
>
>
>> Wow! sounds scary indeed...being blind and not being able to feel
> anything
>> is being totally in the dark. I am so glad you are doing so much
>> better.
>> I agree you married the right lady....she's a keeper!!!
>>
>>
>> blessings!
>> Rhondadon't go dancing just yet though.........happy anniversery!!
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 8:41 PM
>> Subject: About Me
>>
>>
>> >I haven't been around lately and thought some might like to know
>> > why. If you don't wish to know, please delete now. The day
>> > before Christmas, I was shopping with my daughter and all was
>> > fine. Some of you know I have been having some tingling and
>> > numbness in my hands over the past year but otherwise, I was fine
>> > and my blood sugar has stayed in the normal range without
>> > medications and just dieting and exercise. The day or two after
>> > Christmas, I couldn't walk without assistance and my hands were
>> > about 50 percent numb. I could not read or write Braille or feel
>> > the keys on the keyboard well enough to type emails. Needless to
>> > say, I was big time freaked out. For a year and a half, about
>> > ever 3 to 4 months, just when I would be getting over a lower back
>> > pain episode, it would come back. Once it was so bad, I had to go
>> > to the emergency room via ambulance because I literally could not
>> > move. I got over that in about a week or so but then came the big
>> > one at Christmas. I went to our family doctor, he sent me to the
>> > emergency room, and they sent me home after telling me I need an
>> > MRI, as if I didn't already guess as much, but after a week of
>> > nobody getting the MRI scheduled, I entered the emergency room
>> > once again. They tried, and failed, God bless them, a lumbar
>> > puncture. It isn't as painful as it sounds, trying to shove a
>> > needle into your spinal cord for drawing fluid, but the
>> > psychological effect is beyond measure mentally and emotionally.
>> > No, I didn't cry as they tried killing me but I didn't win the
>> > patient of the month award either. Plus, I deliberately skipped
>> > giving the doctor a tip. Anyhow, that didn't work. Believe it or
>> > not, they finally did two MRI tests and when the right neurologist
>> > was called in, he figured out what was wrong. I was so weak below
>> > the waist, I couldn't walk without help and my hands, as I said,
>> > were like two useless numb clubs at the end of my arms. No pain.
>> > No fooling. I had no pain any place. amazing. It felt as if my
>> > whole body, however, was slowly getting weaker and weaker and I
>> > honestly figured I might be leaving this world for the next. To
>> > say I was scared would be an understatement. The last week I was
>> > at home, I refused going to my office where my computer and new
>> > ham gear was because I honestly thought I was never going to get
>> > to use any of it again. I was admitted on January the fourteenth
>> > for spinal stenosis surgery. I received to surgeries for the
>> > price of one because they had to open the front of my throat to
>> > put in a scope to see what they were doing when putting a titanium
>> > plate and screws to fuse two vertebra together. No, I can't feel
>> > it. Then, once that was done, I was turned over and the back of
>> > my neck was cut open to remove a disk only to be replaced with a
>> > synthetic bone mass material to lessen the compression it was
>> > creating on my entire spinal system. They waited to do the
>> > surgery because, they said, I was in no physical danger. If they
>> > could have only read my mind. I acted normal, though, so no one
>> > but my family new how spooked I was. I'm not kidding. I thought
>> > I was a goner. Not being able to tel that you are holding a
>> > tissue in your hand to blow your nose is right down scary as a
>> > blind person and I don't give a damn what the NFB says about it.
>> > For my sighted friends reading this, I'll explain about that some
>> > other time. By the way, I have been blind for 44 years and I
>> > still haven't adjusted to it. I mean, I have never recommended
>> > anybody go blind because it is so fun that they should try it for
>> > themselves. You know what I mean, Vern? Anyhow, I had to have a
>> > heart stress test but a chemical test since I couldn't stand to
>> > walk on the treadmill. That was an interesting experience and not
>> > as bad as I thought but as I said, I already thought I had one
>> > foot in the grave and the other on a banana peal in the first
>> > place so the heart stress test was more than a little scary. My
>> > heart is fine, fortunately, so on to the surgery two days later.
>> > The surgery was scheduled for 7 hours but it went so well, it
>> > lasted 5 hours. I had been wearing a dumb neck brace for two
>> > weeks already and another week after surgery. He had said I
>> > would wear it for six more weeks but after my appointment Monday,
>> > he took the neck brace off, told me to be careful, and sent me
>> > home. I am using a walker about 50 percent of the time now and
>> > also having physical therapy at home a couple of times each week.
>> > My hands have returned to about where they were before this all
>> > began and the doctor said to be patient concerning my hands
>> > because it will take awhile. As you can see, I am typing, but
>> > slower than normal but thank God I am typing. Writing is very
>> > important to me. I sit around watching TV with an egg shaped
>> > vibrator in my hand to stimulate nerve development, which drives
>> > me crazy, but I am more than just a little thankful for the
>> > progress made so far. When I awakened in the recovery room, My
>> > lower back pain was totally gone and I could feel the strength
>> > already in my body from the waist down. Boy, was I thankful for
>> > that. I came home after only two and a half days. I think I'll
>> > write and ask our insurance company for a partial refund since I
>> > came home sooner. I asked the doctor what I did to cause the
>> > whole thing because I've never been in an accident or anything
>> > that would have caused it. He said I did nothing but rather it
>> > was a degenerative type think that started showing itself a year
>> > and a half ago until it suddenly popped out full blown. Weird. I
>> > have a six inch scar incision down the back of my neck and about a
>> > 2 inch incision on the front right of my neck which my
>> > grandchildren think are cool. No, they don't hurt now but did a
>> > little for two days in the hospital. The staples are all taken
>> > out already, too. No, that didn't hurt either when they removed
>> > them Monday. Did I learn anything? Yes. Mostly importantly I
>> > learned just how dad blamed important your family is. My
>> > daughter, she is 30 years old, stayed every night with me in the
>> > hospital, which was more helpful than you can imagine, and
>> > especially the two different nights I couldn't sleep at all the
>> > whole night. Nurses are very helpful but it ain't like having
>> > your own family with you. Coming home was interesting. I
>> > couldn't shower by myself so my son had to help me. I sat on a
>> > chair in the shower stall and shaving was a trip, let me tell you.
>> > Plus, I had a water proof neck brace I had to wear and the other
>> > brace I had to wear even when sleeping. I felt like a turtle. I
>> > probably smelled like one, too, by this stage of the game. My son
>> > put up various grab bars around the bathroom and down the four
>> > stairs leading down into my office built on the side of the house.
>> > My 2 year old grandson, when I use the walker, likes to hold on to
>> > the front to guide me through the house. He is a better driver
>> > than I am, too. My wife waited on me hand and foot at home at
>> > first and believe me, when you cannot take care of yourself as a
>> > blind person, it really does a whammy on your personal pride. My
>> > wife is blind, too, of course, and works full time from a computer
>> > station at home for the same hospital I was in but she was always
>> > there for me. We just had our thirty-seventh wedding anniversary
>> > a week before the surgery. We'll have to celebrate later when I'm
>> > more back to normal, whatever normal is. I'm glad I married the
>> > right woman; that's for sure. By the way, I had to be fed for a
>> > couple of three days unless the food was something I could pick up
>> > but even that was difficult. For a couple of days after the
>> > surgery, my wife even had to put the pills in my mouth and the
>> > glass of water in both hands because I couldn't feel when the
>> > medication was in my hands. Talk about humbling. Did I learn
>> > anything? I now know what it feels like to think you are going to
>> > die and it is no picnic and I even know where my picnic is going
>> > to be, if you get my drift. Plus, I thought I was stronger than
>> > that but believe me, when you can't walk without falling, which I
>> > did a couple of times, and as a blind person, you can't feel what
>> > you are touching, all sorts of weird thoughts pass through your
>> > thoughts and emotions. I know some of you reading this don't know
>> > me so I'm sorry for the dribble but I just thoughts some might
>> > like to hear what has been happening the last month or so in my
>> > life.
>> >
>> > There is a website my neurosurgeon recommended which has a lot of
>> > textual information about this surgery but for those of you
>> > receiving this who can see, it has video, too, and shows the
>> > entire surgical procedure I had. Click on the link below if
>> > interested. Otherwise, live long and prosper, as Spoc used to
>> > say. Is he still alive?
>> >
>> > Phil.
>> >
>> > http://www.spineuniverse.com/videos/spinal-stenosis/
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG.
>> Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.10.15/1921 - Release Date: 1/28/09
> 6:37 AM
>>
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