aging and Covid

[Chukar60]

Turning 60 has brought some rude realities to light for me.
The body is wearing.
Last year it was two corneal replacements to allow my eyes to see properly again.
Surgery was very successful. But, I was very fortunate to get the second one done just before the second wave of Covid hit and shut down elective surgeries again.
Now it is the back. After 60 years of abuse it decided to teach me a lesson and lost the disc between L4 & S1. have no idea where it went, but now it is gone. I had no idea pain like what I experienced even existed.
This Friday I go under the knife to get it fixed. What was going to be a relatively simple procedure is now a complicated one.
The surgeon needs to access the spine through the abdomen to clean up the area where the is disc is gone and install a wedge to hold the vertebrae apart. then they go around the back and put two rods in to hold the vertebrae in place and maintain proper spacing.
The hospital will not allow both to be done in one day. they made them turn one surgery into two. By doing this I am now outpatient for both procedures. They do not want anyone staying at the hospital unless absolutely necessary due to Covid.
I would bet this is going to cost a bunch of extra money. double the procedures, anesthesia, staff, set up etc.
It also prolongs my recovery by two weeks as that is the time between procedures.
In this day and age you will takes what they gives and be happy with it.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Gives us something to talk about with our peers.

Sorry to read about the predicament, and pray you get relief.

 

[steelslaver]

Sorry you have to go under the knife. Best of luck.

 

[robvious]

please do and not do what they say during your recovery...

 

[Golddollar]

Here's to your swift recovery.

 

[robrossk]

sorry to hear about "both" surgeries. Take care and my best wishes for a successful outcome.

 

[tops]

I had back surgery several years ago and the doc said they were going to cut my stomach so I told the doc he needed to get a refresher course on anatomy. It would be closer to go in the back. He said they were going to cut front and back so they could put nuts on the bolts.
I hope your operation is as successful as mine was. Larry

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Now that the medical profession has given way to the medical industry, we will need a lot more expensive care then our fathers or grandfathers needed.

 

[Chukar60]

I had back surgery several years ago and the doc said they were going to cut my stomach so I told the doc he needed to get a refresher course on anatomy. It would be closer to go in the back. He said they were going to cut front and back so they could put nuts on the bolts.
I hope your operation is as successful as mine was. Larry

That is the same procedure or very similar to what they have to do with me. Front and back and two rods on the back of the spine to hold it all together.

 

[Chukar60]

Now that the medical profession has given way to the medical industry, we will need a lot more expensive care then our fathers or grandfathers needed.

Yes but 100 years ago I would have just been crippled and unable to work let alone pursue my outdoor recreations. I agree we seem to be getting softer but disease and injury do not have near the negative impact on our lives that they did even 50 years ago.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Yes but 100 years ago I would have just been crippled and unable to work let alone pursue my outdoor recreations. I agree we seem to be getting softer but disease and injury do not have near the negative impact on our lives that they did even 50 years ago.

Exactly right!

It has not been all that long ago that open heart surgery was a huge news event. Now they seem to do it on an assembly line basis.

Organ transplants? Fairly routine stuff now.

Torn knee cartilage, shoulder reconstruction, dozens of other procedures done with minimally invasive techniques on an outpatient basis, fantastic success rates.

When I was a child cataracts meant blindness. Now a half-hour for prep, ten minutes in an outpatient surgery, on the way home in under an hour with 20/20 vision and a new appreciation of colors and light.

The advances we have seen in our lifetimes are mind-boggling.

 

[LVSteve]

When I was a child cataracts meant blindness. Now a half-hour for prep, ten minutes in an outpatient surgery, on the way home in under an hour with 20/20 vision and a new appreciation of colors and light.

The advances we have seen in our lifetimes are mind-boggling.

When I was a child my cataracts were slowly making me blind. I was pretty much born with the damned things and looooong before it became an outpatient procedure. I won't bore/traumatize y'all with tales of 1960s pediatric eye surgery, but be assured that things were different back then.

 

[bearman49709]

November 23 2020 I had L2-L3, L3-L4 and L4-L5 done. Two screws without nuts hold everything together with the steel rods and a cage around everything. The same way a friend and the lady next doors BIL had theirs done, all by different DR's in different hospitals.
On mine he went through the side, 3" scar, one night stay in hospital. I just got the Medicare statement Tuesday, they paid $29,574.81 for that one night stay.

Good luck with your surgeries.

 

[ZGrand]

Good luck. I hope both surgeries go well and recovery time is short.