I Need Your Opinion (Very Serious)

[Kodos]

Don't ---- with the Duck!

Good luck, man!

[Franklinnoble]

It's naht a toomah.

[Eaglesfan27]

You'll be in my prayers.

[kcchief19]

Hang in there. My uncle didnt have a growth, but he had a serious back condition that recently required surgery and they gave him the same warnings about movement beforehand. You're not alone. Obviously the doctors want to be careful with you, and they had to play worst-case scenario. Stay positive -- people are thinking about you.

[digamma]

Good luck. I'll be thinking of you.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

I'm going to hell...

Yes, you are.

I almost choked on some soda when I saw this. YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!!!

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

It's naht a toomah.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Oh my cousing had one of those bony growth/tumor things removed once....it was actually his dead twin brother that he'd been carrying around inside him since before he was born. Wouldn't that be cool?

Yeah, I can asked them to put in a jar for me so I can him on top of my coffee table. I bet that would stimulate some conversation when I have company over.

[Fonzie]

Good luck, duckman. I'll be thinking of you.

[Tara]

I was really sad reading your latest news. I hope everithing will be fine. Good luck duckman! I'll be thinking of you.

[Peregrine]

Good luck duckman, we'll all be thinking of you, I'm sure everything's going to be fine.

[duckman]

It's been a long day, but I wanted to give an update before heading to bed.

I went to see the neurosurgeon for my pre-operative appointment. The CAT scan was very interesting. It's seems that my C1 and C2 vertebraes have formed a third joint that has grown into the spinal cord. He said it may had been my body compensating for numerous (3-4) injuries to those discs. It looks like it's solid bone, but he wants to have it tested to be sure it's cancer. It's mostly likely not.

The surgery will entail the removal of the backs to the C1 and C2 vertebraes. This will relieve the pressure from the spine and should allow my motor functions to return to normal. It will take approximately two hours and will involve a four inch incision from the base of the head to the center of the neck (I'll get some pictures of the scar). I'll be the hospital from two to five days depending on recovering. I will need another week (or less) at home before returning to school. I should only have to wear a soft collar for a day or so.

The main problem would be that my discs could slip out if my neck is not strong enough. However, he said that the location of the surgery and my thick layer of muscle should have no problem keeping them in place. Of course, there are the other risk factors (spinal cord damage, bleeding, infection, and death), but that's a .5% chance of happening.

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes. It has made it very easy to stay at ease about the whole thing. When I get back, I'll try to get some pictures of the scar for all to see.

[cthomer5000]

Best of luck man, and can't wait to see some cool scar photos.

You can make up some story about it being where you had your soul removed (Kodos makes that standard practice with all Lake Monster fans).

[Eaglesfan27]

Good luck man. I'm also looking forward to some cool scar photos.

[Flasch186]

good luck!!

[Tara]

Good Luck!!!

[Marc Vaughan]

Good luck

[Marc Vaughan]

Good luck

[Franklinnoble]

I'm praying for you.

[FrogMan]

a bit late, but best of luck dude, hope everything is going fine

FM

[oliegirl]

Good Luck - we'll all be thinking about you! Try and get some pics of the surgery too - those are always cool

[Kodos]

Hang in there and good luck, duck!

[JW]

Just read all this and duckman will be in my prayers.

[Cuckoo]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

I'm praying for you.

Ditto. I've told you privately but wanted to reiterate here. Hang in there buddy.

[MacroGuru]

Good Luck Duck-

[Chas in Cinti]

Good luck Duck... sorry you didnt get the girl in Pretty in Pink... but i thought Annie Potts was hotter anyway...

[terpkristin]

Yeah duckman, when you're back from your surgery, please let the entire group here know how you're doing. You've got a lot of people worrying/thinking about you!!

Hope it all went well.

/tk

[CraigSca]

Hey duckman, I just noticed this thread - good luck and get well soon.

[duckman]

Thanks for all the well wishes, guys!

I've been home from the hospital for a couple hours. I'm able to walk around with no problems, and I don't need a neck brace. I'm still very sore, but it's not so bad that I have to be on morphine. They gave me some Loritab for the pain. They also gave me some medication for nausea because I was very sick for about 12 hours after the surgery. I'm always tired from all the medications. I'm looking forward to not taking the medication. I feel like I'm walking around in a cloud.

I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to cut this off short. I'll get the pictures up as soon as I'm able to.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by duckman

Thanks for all the well wishes, guys!

I've been home from the hospital for a couple hours. I'm able to walk around with no problems, and I don't need a neck brace. I'm still very sore, but it's not so bad that I have to be on morphine. They gave me some Loritab for the pain. They also gave me some medication for nausea because I was very sick for about 12 hours after the surgery. I'm always tired from all the medications. I'm looking forward to not taking the medication. I feel like I'm walking around in a cloud.

I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to cut this off short. I'll get the pictures up as soon as I'm able to.

Glad to hear things went well. I hope you have a speedy recovery.

[terpkristin]

Ditto what EF said. All "normal" with it when they removed it? Anything other than rest to recover?

Glad you're home!
/tk

[FrogMan]

woohoo, great news! Glad to hear you're doing fine duckman
FM

[duckman]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Ditto what EF said. All "normal" with it when they removed it? Anything other than rest to recover?

Glad you're home!
/tk

I still have some mild numbness "off and on" numbness in my right hand. I should know in a few months if it is permanent. I also have some numbness on the back of th head. Most likely cause by the incision. I should get feeling back there in a few weeks. My head was wobbly for about a day, but it's sitting on my neck pretty good now that the muscles have adjusted.

The good news is that strength in my arms and legs have greatly improved. I accidently hurt my doctor by squeezing his fingers too hard few hours after surgery. I haven't had this type of strength in over a year.

I was told to take it easy for a least two weeks. I can probably returned to school on Monday if I can handle the pain. Right now, I'm still on a full dose of painkillers. I still can't drive and I can't lift over 10 lbs.

[terpkristin]

Yeah, the narcotics are fun.

Glad to hear all is mostly well, and that the recovery should be mostly quick (I mean, just a matter of getting over the pain of being cut open!). Hope your nausea gets better soon...between the anesthesia and the narcotics, I know it's never fun (after each surgery I've had I've puked for more or less the first 2-3 days while my body adjusted, sucky sucky).

Get better soon!!
/tk

[Telle]

Glad everything went ok. Best of luck with the recovery.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Yeah, the narcotics are fun.

Glad to hear all is mostly well, and that the recovery should be mostly quick (I mean, just a matter of getting over the pain of being cut open!). Hope your nausea gets better soon...between the anesthesia and the narcotics, I know it's never fun (after each surgery I've had I've puked for more or less the first 2-3 days while my body adjusted, sucky sucky).

Get better soon!!
/tk

I'm pretty much over the nausea. I had some motion sickness during the car ride home, but I have been pretty sturdy since then. I was dry heaving following th surgery, so I refused to eat until I actually had hunger pains. I was able to eat a clear liquid diet yesterday morning. Since then, I can eat pretty much anything. I just don't go overboard with the servings.

Found out an interesting fact from the surgeon: Generally, young adults (20-30) have the worst reactions to anesthesia than any other group.

[duckman]

A little update:

It's been over a week now, and I'm doing pretty good. I'm getting the full range of motion in my neck with very little pain. I'm still got some discomfort from time to time along with some stability lapses from the muscles learning to support the skull differently, but they're getting less frequent.

I went to school and work yesterday for the first time. I was pretty sore from the long day, but I recovered quickly after resting on the couch. I expect to be fully recovered by the time I get the stiches removed (July 18th).

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by duckman

A little update:

It's been over a week now, and I'm doing pretty good. I'm getting the full range of motion in my neck with very little pain. I'm still got some discomfort from time to time along with some stability lapses from the muscles learning to support the skull differently, but they're getting less frequent.

I went to school and work yesterday for the first time. I was pretty sore from the long day, but I recovered quickly after resting on the couch. I expect to be fully recovered by the time I get the stiches removed (July 18th).

Excellent news

Glad to hear that things are progressing well.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by duckman

...

The surgery will entail the removal of the backs to the C1 and C2 vertebraes. This will relieve the pressure from the spine and should allow my motor functions to return to normal. It will take approximately two hours and will involve a four inch incision from the base of the head to the center of the neck (I'll get some pictures of the scar). I'll be the hospital from two to five days depending on recovering. I will need another week (or less) at home before returning to school. I should only have to wear a soft collar for a day or so.
...

Hey we had this done for my Dog. He was back to walking again within a week. It was $2500 out the door. I can get ya the Doc's name if you want.

[CamEdwards]

awesome. glad to hear you're doing so well.

[Draft Dodger]

glad you are doing just ducky...

[Flasch186]

congrats...that sounds wierd but congrats.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

congrats...that sounds wierd but congrats.

What sounds weird, Flasch?

[Flasch186]

saying congrats for something liek this. Congrats is like for graduations and stuff, Im thinking there is a better word then congrats, thats all.

[duckman]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

saying congrats for something liek this. Congrats is like for graduations and stuff, Im thinking there is a better word then congrats, thats all.

Kick ass is a good response.

[SirFozzie]

How about a good ol.. HOOORAH!

[duckman]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

How about a good ol.. HOOORAH!

Somebody's been watching Scent of A Woman. For shame!

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by duckman

Somebody's been watching Scent of A Woman. For shame!

Nah, my dad (the SMSgt) would say that when I finally stopped screwin up and did somethin right )

[terpkristin]

Rock on duckman!
Glad that things are going well. Betcha can't wait to get those stitches out.

/tk

[duckman]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Rock on duckman!
Glad that things are going well. Betcha can't wait to get those stitches out.

/tk

My God, the stitches itch so bad right now. I also got these hideous scabs on my head where they drove metal spikes into my skull for stability (during the surgery). I'm looking forward to get completely heal up, so I can shave my head again and look like myself.