Today we made the trek back to Budapest. It is about a 5 1/2 hour drive and we made it in just at 7 hours. I’m amazed at how well my back did. I sat up in the front seat wearing my new brace. In the past few days, the brace has put pressure on my incision and caused me a lot of pain. Today, since I wasn’t moving or walking, it didn’t irritate the incision at all.

The main pain that I’m experiencing now is called “distraction pain.” It is because the doctor spread apart (distracted) my vertebrae in order to insert the disc. Even though they only spread them apart 10 milimeters or so above normal, it still has an impact on the nerves. Last night, I woke up with aching in my legs. This is classic distraction pain. Based upon things that I have read, this can last quite a while and show itself in different ways. It can be quite a distraction

It is great to be home. Nine days is a long time to be away from the kids. It was a wonderful reunion.

Now I want to tell you how awesome my wife is!! Here’s a summary of her day:
– Woke up at 6:30am, got dressed and ate breakfast. Then, she brought me breakfast in the room.
– 7:45 – off to find an ATM and get some more Euros
-8:00 – the pharmacy opened and she had to navigate the german pharmacy system to get my medications
-8:30 – returned to the hotel and packed and loaded the entire van. This killed me as I had to watch her lug the huge suitcases. I tried to just pack my own suitcase and it just about killed me.
– Paid the hotel bill, tipped the housekeepers
– found a German post office and mailed a letter
– Drove the entire way home
– Put the kids to bed (one of which has a fever and needed some extra TLC – Kirby Ann)
– Is now unpacking the van and putting things away.

This is just a little insight into what a wonderful wife I have. She has served me so well this week and I don’t think I could have made it without her. Unfortunately, days like today are going to be repeated many times over the course of the next days, weeks and months. I don’t deserve such a wonderful gift from the Lord. I love you sweetheart!!! Please keep her in your prayers as she has the harder road to recovery.

I can’t believe that these are really pictures of my back. I now have this thing that I think you can buy at Home Depot in my spine. I’ve had several people that have observed an Artificial Disc Replacement and it is similar to most home repair projects. Lots of hammering and twisting, etc . . . From what I understand, it is hardly a delicate process.

My body confirms that right now. Today we spent a couple of hours at the hosptial meeting with the doctor and our new friend Anita. Anita in an American that works for the doctor and helps International Patients through the process. She has been a big help. Then, we went downtown one last time and had some lunch. After all of that, I was dying. The big problem with being out is that the brace that I wear presses right on my incision. After wearing it for 3 or 4 hours today, my incision was killing me. I’m better now after a nap and no brace for a little while.

Tomorrow, we are headed home. I’m not sure how I will do since I need to wear the brace while riding in the car. That’s going to be 6 or 7 hours so I’m not really looking forward to it. We will take lots of stops and the doctor gave us a prescription for some good pain medication that we will get filled before we leave in the morning.

Pray for Valerie as she isn’t looking forward to the drive. Pray for me that I won’t be in too much pain.

Budapest . . . here we come!!!

[thumb:197:l]I’m back in the “comfort” of my hotel room. Valerie & I waited around this morning until they would let us go home. They seemed to be paying much less attention to me as they have other days. Every other day it was up at 6 or 6:30 and then a shower, then medicines, then breakfast. Many other visits for blood pressure, temperature, etc . . . This morning they didn’t come until 7:30 and it was just to deliver breakfast. Then, they didn’t come back. Weird. Valerie finally went and tracked someone down and asked when we could go home. They said “Now.” That is all it took. No paperwork, no debrief, no nothing. We just took our bags and walked out the door. We will have to go back tomorrow morning to meet with the doctor as no one really gave us any information on recovery like when I should try to do different things.

After checking out, we went by Burger King and had some lunch. I only had a cheesburger and a diet coke since I hadn’t had any meat for 6 days. We then walked across the street to a drug store and picked up a few things. I wasn’t in too much pain, but in the drug store I started feeling tired and a little lightheaded. So, we headed back to the hotel for a long nap. I’m feeling good now. The pain is minimal and I’m very encouraged!!!

Two more days and we head home!!!

Click the picture to see more of the hospital.

It’s me (Tom) again. I’m sitting in the lobby of the hospital typing this as it is the only place where you can get Internet access. It seems like they could make a lot more money if it was available in the room, but I guess that it American thinking.

Today has been much better. I’ve been up and around several times and the doctor said that I can leave the hospital TOMORROW!!! The physical therapist has been working with me to show me how to stand up, sit down, walk, etc . . . so that I don’t hurt my back. I have a great back-brace that I have to wear anytime that I’m up for the next 9-12 weeks. It really helps take the pressure off my back. I couldn’t be sitting here typing without it.

I still have some pain, but it is only where the incision is (just below my belly button about 6 inches). Basically my stomach hurts all the way across when I stand sit or roll-over in bed, but it isn’t too bad. I have had very little back pain which I’m very surprised about. I guess that new hardware is doing its job. Valerie has seen my post-op X-Rays with the “bionic implants” and I’m looking forward to seeing them soon. I’ll try to post an image so you can see my new hardware. They even gave me an insert for my passport in case I set off a metal detector (although they said that it should only set off the most senstive ones like in federal buildings, etc . . )

We will return to the hotel tomorrow for a couple of days and assuming everything goes well, we will drive home on Monday.

I’m so thankful for all of your encouragement and prayers through this part of the process. We still have a long way to go, but I’m thankful to have made it this far.

Everything is all set. We are checked into the hosptial. We met all the doctors. It is a go for surgery tomorrow at around 12pm here in Germany (6am Eastern, 5am Central, etc . . ).

I’m a little apprehensive because we’ve been talking about it all day. Although I did meet a guy that had two artificial discs put in less than a week ago and he was walking around and doing okay. That was encouraging.

They will give me something to help me sleep and then it will be over before we know it.

The internet connection isn’t as good here in the hosptial as I hoped (it doesn’t work in the room) so I’m not sure how well Valerie will be able to keep you up to date. If she can get it working here in the lobby tomorrow, she will give you an update.

[thumb:168:l]We had a good trip to Straubing. It was just under 6 hours of driving. We even stopped and did a little shopping in Vienna (no buying, just looking). I think the first Saturday in December must be like the day after Thanksgiving in the US because it was totally packed at the Mall.

As we drove into Straubing, it began to snow. We were so thankful that it didn’t snow the entire way. After checking into our hotel, we went downtown to the Christmas Market. It was beautiful in the snow. We wanted to sample all of the food. There was tons of different types of sausage, sweets and drinks. We also had dinner at a great Bierhaus on the Old Town Square. I had Wienersnitzel and Valerie had this wonderful turkey dish.

It was a wonderful day. We enjoyed being together and almost forgot the reason that we came here.