Mud Duck Aviation Forums

Hi Everyone,

  I just updated the main website's "News" page to reflect that I will not be taking orders for a couple of weeks due to an invasive surgery.  I also mentioned that I will be posting more information here and I will provide updates here as I am able.  My surgery is scheduled for October 9th 2008, so I won't be taking any orders after the 7th.  I really do not know for sure how long I will be out of commission and unable to get back online or fill orders.

  My wife has stated that she will ship out orders for items that I have pre-packed for shipping, so I will pre-pack several sets of plans and hardware kits, etc. and I will adjust the store to show only those inventories and prevent orders for anything but what I have "in-stock" during my recovery.

  I am going to completely lock down the store on the 8th for two weeks, I know I will be unable to probalby even check emails for the first week and just throwing in another week for good measure.  My wife will probably be extremely busy with me and our 3 yr old daughter, to think about mailing stuff for at least the first couple weeks anyway.

Thanks for your understanding ,
Greg

Okay, so you read the first post.  I didn't get into any specifics about the surgery so you are curious what can possibly lay me up for this long, right?  I have had a long time back injury from about 20 years ago that was surgically corrected Sept 6 2001.  Back then I had two bad disks in my back; in fact they were the very last two in everyones spine.  The disks were between L4 (Lumbar 4), L5, and my Sacrum.  The disks were so damaged by the time I finally persued medical attention (again) that the disks were basically gone (yes I said gone), I was almost bone on bone.

Unfortunately for me, there were FDA clinical trials going on for replacement disks (new to the USA) and because I had two bad disks I didn't qualify for the trial (they only accepted single location replacements).  This was unfortunate because the alternative was either live with it (I couldn't hardly walk anymore) or Spinal Fusion surgery.  Spinal fusion is were they take your disk away and take little blocks of bone from your hip and stick them where your disk used to be.  Your body sees the bone in your spine ad a fracture and calcifies the area, thus "fusing" your vertabrea together like a broken bone.  The remedy locks down your spine so you can't injure the nerves along the spine (which were causing all that pain).

Here is why fusion is less appealing than a replacement disk, for every fusion location you have about 10% reduction in mobility (I had 2 so I had 20% reduction); the disk next to the fusion(s) has to work harder and is usually stretched farther than it ever had and takes more abuse because of the new fusion(s).  It is common that that disk gets damaged and then you require another fusion (rise, repeat, rinse; you see where I'm going).

Well, silly me, I pushed myself too much and damaged the disk between L-3 and L-4.  I really needed this surgery last year but I definitely DID NOT want another fusion.  A year ago a couple versions of artificial disks got the FDA approval (they have been in common use in Europe for over a decade prior), but my surgeon didn't want to do a prostetic, he said it was the fusion or live with it.  I tried to get to second opinios from other surgeons in the field but I hit a lot of brick walls just trying to get appointments .  My back eased up a bit (or my pain tolerance grew again) until recently when I tried my surgeon again.  This time he was more receptive and was more confident in a newer disk that he is going to use . 

So I am scheduled to have my surgery on October 9th.  The recovery time is slated to be 2-3 months (the fusion is 4-6 months) although I will get more mobile everyday.  I just do not know when, for sure, I will be capable of moving about well enough to start filling new orders and I reserve the right to post that when feel ready.  Like I said in the first post, I will pre-pack commonly ordered things, and when I am capable of managing my email and my wife is capable of mailing out orders, I will open up the store to orders for pre-packed stuff.

Greg

HOLY MOLY....BUMMER.....I FEEL THE PAIN ALREADY...LEO 

Bummer is right, It kind of sucks that this is my second spinal surgery in 7 years and I haven't even hit my 40's yet.  I miss doing a lot of things I used to do before my first surgery, now with a 3 year old I can't keep up with her any better than my 70+ year old parents can

In case anyone has the same kind of curiosity I typically do, here are a couple links:

A 2005 article about the exact disc that I am getting (written while it was still in FDA trials):
http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/artificial-disc-replacement/total-disc-replacement%E2%80%94prodisc

A 2006 article after the FDA approved the ProDisc:
http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/artificial-disc-replacement/fda-approves-prodisc-lumbar-artificial-disc

A short animation of artificial disc replacement.  Same concept, but a different style disc:
http://www.spine-health.com/video/total-disc-replacement-back-surgery-video

Another short animation explaning degenerative disc disease:
http://www.spine-health.com/video/degenerative-disc-disease-interactive-video

The current surgical brochure for the ProDisc:
http://products.synthes.com/prod_support/Product%20Support%20Materials/Brochures/SPINE/SPBROProDiscLJ7321C.pdf

October 8th 2008

Just getting prepared for the surgery in another day.  I have basically stopped the store from taking orders until I am able to get around well enough to take orders again:

All inventories have been set to zero in the store so an order can not be placed, until I am able to get around and begin taking orders again.  Setting the inventories to zero allows customers to still view the store and even add items to their cart.  You will have a cookie added to your computer that will remember what you put in your cart during your visit.  Next time you log in, and if I am taking orders again, you can just checkout; no need to add all the items to your cart again (if you regularly erase your internet history you probably delete your cookies too and will lose the order memory).

I am not able to predict when I can begin taking orders again until I get through the surgery and see how fast I heal.  I will be back online and adding updates as soon as I can but it may be 2-3 weeks (~ Oct 23rd) before I can handle sitting in front of a computer, we'll see...  The full recovery is estimated 2-3 months but that is to about 100% recovery, I should be mobile sooner and able to begin filling orders well before then.

Greg

Take your time.  No need to rush back, thats definently something not to take lightly. 

My mother had surgery a year or so ago and a week or so later was feeling pretty good.  Needless to say me and my father weren't quite good enough at the housekeeping (shes picky that way lol).  She did some vacuuming and dusting and pulled something where she had been operated on.  Doc told her no strenuous activity for a month.  Well after house cleaning she was down for almost twice as long.

If it takes longer to recover take the time, and best of luck!

Hey thanks Matthew!

Well, the surgery went off very well last Thursday and I feel 1000% better than I did at this time than when I had my fusion surgery 7 years ago!  My biggest challenge is to pace myself, to not "push it", which I am always prone to doing.  I feel very good; one week from the surgery and I can get around the house by myself with nothing other than a cane for moral support.  I can't pick anything up, lift, bend at the waist more than a few degrees, etc. but actually can sleep,stand, walk, eat, sleep without much more pain than I was in before the surgery which is much better than I had anticipated.

I have been able to check email for a few days now but refrained from posting an update on my website yet so I didn't begin overdoing it.  I can sit at the computer for limited intervals before I get too uncomfortable, but It is getting better daily and can see getting some work done sooner than I had even hoped.

I had packed up several sets of plans for each design prior to going in for the surgery so all my wife would have to do is pop in the packing list tape the end of the tube and pop on the shipping label.  I think all the stress of my surgery and also taking care of our 3 year old without my help, made her resistance drop and she has been fighting a bug for the last few days.  She also took the week off work to take care of me this week and she will be returning to work next week, adding even more to her plate (although hopelully I will exponentially be requiring less help from her daily).  So once she gets her bearings and is feeling better and she says she can drop off plans at the Post Office, I will open the store back up.

When I open the store back up, it will be set up as it currently is: it will not allow you to order anything out of stock (currently all inventory stock has been set to zero).  I will add only what is on hand and available to be shipped out; this way no one will be expecting something to come that they ordered in case I can't fill the order after my stock runs out.

Thanks for everything!
Greg 

Greg take your time in the recovery process.It will be getting cold soon and the white stuff will be falling.The cold will not help.In january my mom goes under the knife for a total knee replacement.Hope you feel better soon.
stefanP