Left Arm Bandit

Well the first surgery went really well. I went in on Friday and had to wait for a while or an OR to open up. I basically got to sit in a little room with a curtain and no cloths on and a blanket covering me up, read a lot ( shogun) talked with my dad and flirted with one of the cute nurses who was around.
Flirting wile totally naked and starting to get high off the pain killers is a little weird. The funny thing was that my anesthesiologist's name was Mike, he was a big guy with a Texas accent who looked and sounded gust like Cheryl's Dad who is also an anesthesiologist.

When the OR room finally opened up we went in. The last thing I remember was giving Mike crap about his "Honey Do" list. I woke up in the hospitable room on a morphine pump , stiff and groggy. I had my phone with me so after several hours trying to recover I spent a lot of time talking to Heather on the phone. It was nice to have some one to talk to at 3am.

Saturday afternoon I managed to get a pair of scrubs because the only cloths I had with me were jeans and a tee shirt. The wheeled me out of the hospital, over a walkway and to the Parkway Hotel where we are staying. Saturday evening I was up and walking around a little and by today I'm doing really well.

This evening I took a long walk back to the hospital through the over pass to the old hospital (there is a north and south complex) It's got to be around 3/4 of a mile round trip, maybe further. It's good to be up and about. Tomorrow morning is an early surgery so I'm headed off to bed.

This morning I had the pre-op testing. Basically the have you fill out paper work, Yes I know surgery is dangerous, I might die or be worse off, I'm not taking drugs, etc. Then there are height and weight measurements, blood tests and more paperwork.

The whole time they keep saying, this is for a Friday surgery and I kept telling them, my surgery is scheduled for Monday, I think I know when I'm going in. After pre-op testing I went back to Dr. Mackinnon's office where I found out that they want to have have me go in for surgery twice.

Here is the new plan:
Friday they will put me face down and do a scapular release surgery and possibly a spinal accessory to super-scapular nerve transfer if the nerves look viable.

Monday is the big one: Face up, medial and ulnar to Bicep and brachailas muscles respectively. Medial pectoral to axillary nerve transfer and intercoastal 5 and 6 (rib nerves) to long tharasic nerve.

Wow I have a lot to finish up before Friday morning. Hopefully I can get it all done. Back to work for Joel.

So its settled Dr MacKinnon is going to do my surgery!

Wow I am impressed by her. She and her whole team really know their stuff. Right from the moment she walked in it just felt right. Her knowledge and expertise we immediately apparent. I'm having some final X-rays done today, then pre-op screening Thursday morning and surgery Monday. We weren't really prepared to stay for surgery so I have no clothes and a ton of work to do. I'm planning on working all day Thursday, Friday and part of the weekend so that I can hand off things to fellow Jiver's while I recover from surgery.

Well off for x-rays. Dr MacKinnon wants to see if my scapula fracture might have damaged on of the nerves back there. Hopefully not. I guess we'll find out.

I made it to St. Louis.

Me and my day made it on this amazing, awesome, crazy, stressful trip out to St. Louis. After 2 standby flights, a 40 min taxi drive through rush hour traffic in Dallas and another flight that we almost missed we made it to St. Louis and man is it hot here. 75 Degrees in Portland to high 90's and low 100's is quite the change. It reminds me of living in Arizona. You just rush from one air conditioned shell to the next.

My cell phone is almost out of batteries and I'm trying to organize the trip back. In my hast I packed everything I might need except for a cell charger. It's sitting on my desk at work. One of the hassles about refusing to upgrade your phone is that all the chargers at any of the airport stores are too new. My Dad and I have been searching every convenience store and fake radio shack in all of the 34 airports we've been in for a charger. So far no luck. If I don't find one soon I'm going to be forced to make 1-800 calls to the airlines from a pay phone :(

We took the mass transit from the air port to the Washington University Medical center. The ticket dispenser to ride mass transit doesn't take credit cards and only 1's, 5's and 10's. Of course we only have 20's so Dad walks back to the airport to get some change while I sit in the shade watching all of our stuff. He gets back just as the train is leaving so we get to wait for the next one.

The mass transit is like a cheaper version of the MAX. I never thought I'd say this but, MAX, I miss your comfortable seats, nice bright yellow rails, folding benches and automated stop announcements.

We got to the medical center and checked in at about 10am. The appointment is at 1pm but we don't have a lot to do and thought, what the hell lets just go there see whats up. I left my bag there and we went to the mall to try to find a cell phone charger so it was back on the train and the a nice 15 min walk through the hot sun to the mall.

Even the Verizon store didn't have a charger for my phone are you kidding me? He recommends the Target or Office Max 4 miles down the road. Of course we don't have a way to there.

Frustrated and ready to give up we walk through the mall to find something to eat. Walking past one of those "customize my phone with crazy covers and random bling" cart in the middle of the mall places I decide to stop and ask the guy if he knows where I can get a charger. I show him the phone and he pulls out his phone which is identical the opens a drawer and, bamm there is the mythical phone charger I've been searching for high and low over the last 36 hours.

I'm back at Dr. MacKinnon's office now charging my phone and waiting to see her.

The last few days have been crazy. Well its been more like the last month. Today I am on my way to St. Louis to see Dr. Susan McKinnon. The goal is to get a third opinion.

Sunday night I was over at my parents house for dinner. Mom and dad have been looking up all kinds of Brachial Plexus reconstruction journal articles. We've been reading them trying to find out more about the procedures, whats effective, etc. Dr. Mckinnon's name came up as a reference over and over again. So I decided to contact her.

Monday morning I got a hold of her nurse, Dee. Dee agreed to show Dr. McKinnon my EMG tests and other reports. Tuesday morning we had some more contact and decided that it would be best if I was physically present fro Dr. McKinnon to examine. So I talked to my house mate Dan who works for Alaska and he got me two guest passes. One for me and one for my dad.

So we're flying stand by from Portland to Seattle (already done). Then Seattle to Dallas Fort Worth. From there we are going to take a taxi to Dallas Love Field. Then Fly to St. Louis. The light rail is going to take us to the Washington University in St. Louis Med School where Dr. McKinnon is at.

Wow thats some crazy travel. Hopefully we'll make it all in time.

Wow that was a harsh blow. I'm feeling really discouraged and apathetic after Seattle. Dr. Nath said that my shoulder would remain a long term problem and the only real solution was a shoulder fusion :( Also he said that the phrenic nerve transfer is not effective. Here is what He would do:

1) A 20% median nerve transfer to the bicep

2) Intercostal nerve transfer to the tricep

3) Maybe a spinal accessory nerve transfer to the deltoid but probably not

Well Jo and Ky's rehearsal dinner is tonight and their wedding is tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have a good time there.

If theres one thing you should always do it is get a second opinion. When the sales guy tells you that the used car is in great condition, take it the mechanic to find out for sure. Hell take it to two. When you are dealing with your health all the more so. That's the lessen that I learned from dealing with Dr. Soldiviela.

So I decided to go get a second opinion. This afternoon I'll be headed up to Seattle to see Dr. Nath. He has a clinic up there. Hopefully he'll confirm what Dr Solomon has said.