Pre-op assessment

I had my preoperative assessment appointment yesterday afternoon. They drew several vials of blood, took xrays and explained what would be happening the day of my admission. I have to be at the hospital at 7:00am on Wednesday morning, although I won't know the actual time of my surgery until Wednesday. They showed me around a bit. They hospital looked clean and in good order and the room looked comfortable.

I had a consultation with Mr. Boeree in which he explained the surgery steps, which I basically already knew. They make a horizontal incision a few inches below the belly button. Since the l5-s1 disc is not situated horizontally, but instead is sort of tipped downwards, they make the incision a bit lower than a higher disc so that they can approach back upwards to have strait on access to the disc. The rectus (aka ab muscles) is separated, the peritoneum and organs moved to the side, and the vessels are moved to the sides before removing the disc and replacing it. He had my mris on the screen and explained in detail what would need to be removed. I had him double check my facet joints as if these are fused, a disc replacement is not advisable, but mine looked fine.

He explained the risks or blood clots, dural tears, and nerve damage once again. He seemed very kind and intelligent and answered all of my questions. I feel very comfortable having him perform the operation after meeting him. I mentioned I had been in contact with some of his other patients via our blogs and said hi from Brett and Joey sue, which brought a big smile to his face and he said he thought it was great that we were all sharing our information to keep ourselves educated. I was given a special body wash soap I am to use on Tuesday and Wednesday morning while I shower. I am not supposed to eat anything after 2 am Wednesday morning, but can drink water until 6am.

I also got to see the m6 disc I will be getting as well as a pro- disc and a charite to compare. I was struck at how small the discs are and how little they actually move, but in the context of the models of the spine, they seemed to make sense. The height of the core of the m6 is probably no thicker than 2 quarters stacked on top of each other. It seemed pretty stiff to me, but mr. Boeree said the demonstration model was actually looser than the actual one. It is amazing that movements of only a few millimeters make such a big difference when dealing with such things. He also said I should take NSAIDs for a few weeks after the operation to prevent bone overgrowth and auto fusion, which he didn't expect in my case since my disc height is still pretty good. He also said I should wear compression socks for 6 weeks after the surgery to help prevent blood clots. He also said they would be giving me blood thinner injections while in the hospital and then pills once out to prevent blood clots on my flight home.

Today is a free day so we just took our time getting up and are wandering around eastleigh a bit. I have not gotten used to the time difference or sleeping in the same room as my mother so I haven't gotten very much sleep the past couple days. I plan to hit the fitness center in the hotel later and do some elliptical as my last bit of exercise before my surgery.