Spinal Column Surgery
So brain surgery was done on January 25th, 2019. I was discharged from the hospital on the 27th and, after a rough first week home, started to enjoy some increased energy and overall better health. Friday, February 8th was my best day. I was able to get some laundry done, clean up in the kitchen a bit, and go shopping with Kim for a little while. That evening, after eating dinner, we cut my hair and I showered. After I finished my shower, I bent over to turn off the water. Once I stood up, I was hit with excruciating pain in my upper middle back. This was the same area that I'd struggled with from sleeping on the wedge, so I didn't think much of it. However, as I tried to move, the pain just got worse. I had to holler for Kim to come in and help dry me off and get me halfway dressed. Kim was able to get me into bed, but that didn't help. The pain was so bad that I started to have a difficult time breathing. About five minutes after being placed in bed, I began losing the ability to move my legs. I could still feel Kim touching them and my feet, but I couldn't move them. At this point, we knew it was serious...
Kim called 9-1-1 and an ambulance was sent over to the house. They loaded me up, which was a painful experience. Those back boards are rigid and uncomfortable. Being placed on one when your back is in terrible pain was not ideal. But, we got in the ambulance and made our way back to the ER. At this point, I can't move my legs or my toes and I'm slightly concerned as to what is taking place. My hope was that I was simply going into shock and this was how my body was responding to the shock.
Once we got to the ER, they did the usual stuff. They took my vitals, asked about what had gone on and about any existing illnesses and then had me wait for a little bit. When the ability to move my legs wasn't returning, the ER doctor eventually called up north to talk to the oncologist on call. After some lengthy discussions between my neurosurgery team and oncology team, it was determined that I needed to have an emergency MRI on my full spine in order to determine what was going on. Due to paralysis being in both legs, the assumption was that it had something to do with the spinal cord, not my legs.
Well, by this time I was starting to regain movement in both legs. It took about an hour and a half to be able to wiggle my toes and almost three hours to be able to move my legs. But, I was hopeful that there was improvement. Eventually, around 2 am on February 9th, the ambulance was ready to go. I arrived at the U of U hospital ER around 4 am. About 2 hours later I had my MRI done. It took an hour and a half. Luckily I slept through the first hour, but my body was very sore for the last half hour and it took forever to get through.
At about 7:30 am I was back in my room with my wife and my parents. My legs were doing better, but I was still weak and lacked balance and strength. Not only that, but I was having a hard time emptying my bladder. An all-around frustrating time. About half an hour later a doctor came in to inform me that I had a tumor in my spinal column that was compressing my spinal cord against my vertebrae. This is what was causing the lack of movement in my legs and the difficulty urinating. He said that I would need emergency surgery, what I believe is called a laminectomy, to rectify the situation. He informed me that one of the potential side effects of the surgery was paralysis, but that if I didn't have the surgery I would definitely end up paralyzed. So, we opted for surgery. I was told they would try to get me in that day, but they'd have to see. I was very anxious to get the surgery over with. More on this later...
As the day went on, I was provided with doses of dexamethasone, a steroid, to help with inflammation. Fortunately, this proved very helpful. By the end of the day, I had gained much more movement in my legs and was even able to stand up and be more stable. I still struggled to urinate, but under the threat of a straight catheter, I willed that urine out haha After my experience with the catheter during my brain surgery I was going to do everything I could to avoid it. Unfortunately, I was unable to get in for surgery on the 9th. I was quite disappointed. I was told I was scheduled for first thing in the morning with Dr. Mayhan, but that I may be bumped if an emergency comes in. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
On the morning of the 10th, I was woken up shortly after 6 am and was told that I would be taken for surgery prep in a little bit. I asked for a priesthood blessing and a couple of RN's were rounded up. I can't tell you the peace that came from that blessing. I'd been so concerned about the chance of ending up paralyzed that I received much peace from the words spoken during that blessing. I was taken down to the pre-op room and met with the anesthesiologists, who were great. I then met with Dr. Mayhan. Let me tell you... I was the only one in that room. It was such a peaceful and serene room. Dr. Mayhan was fresh for the day and just had this confidence about him. He assured me that the chances of me being paralyzed were practically 0%. After the blessing and the feeling of peace in that pre-op room, I felt assured everything would work out.
Well... I finally woke up in the post-op room. The first thing I did? Wriggle my toes! haha I wanted to make sure that I could still walk and function. I began sobbing. I was so grateful that God had seen me through this surgery and had protected me. I just couldn't handle the emotions of the moment. After a little bit, my family came back to see me and I was then moved to my hospital room. The surgery was, once again, a huge success. They removed the back portion (the little knobs you can feel on your spine) of my T-4, T-5, and T-6 vertabrae. After removing these, fortunately the tumor sort of popped out in one intact sack. The release of pressure allowed it to be removed quite easily. There was no damage to my spinal cord, my leg strength and movement was back, and my bladder function was improving. They placed a drain in my back to help remove fluid. After a couple of long days at the hospital, I was discharged once again about 48 hours after my surgery.
The recovery from this surgery has been a little bit more difficult physically than my brain surgery. The reason being that you don't have muscles in your brain that get used. The muscles in your back get used a lot. So it's been a gentle and, at times, painful process recovering from having my back cut open. It's been a couple of weeks and I'm just now getting to where I can stand up with minimal soreness. But, onward and upward and we will continue to fight.
I want to touch again on the Lord's timing. This happened only after I had regained sufficient strength from my brain surgery. A huge blessing. Also, I was so anxious to get that surgery done on February 9th, the day I arrived at the U of U hospital. But, over the course of 24 hours with an anti-inflammatory steroid being given to me, I was able to stand, have balance, and urinate the morning of my surgery. Additionally, as I mentioned, the feeling of peace in the pre-op room as well as the blessing of a fresh surgical team was a further testament to me of trusting in the Lord's timing. I could have had a surgical team exhausted from a long day of surgery and a spinal column still inflamed. Instead, things worked out perfectly and all in the Lord's time.
I am so grateful to the ER staff at Gunnison Valley Hospital for their help, the ambulance crew for getting me to the hospital safely, Dr. Mayhan and his team for taking such good care of me, my family once again for their love and support, and my wife for continually standing by my side and taking care of me when I have been so unable to do so myself. I'm grateful for God and for His love, mercy, and grace. I have felt of His love, I have felt His grace and enabling power in my life, and I have witnessed His hand in everything that I have been through. I testify that God lives and that if we put our faith and trust in Him, miracles can and will happen.
I also want to thank all of my ward members, neighbors, and friends who have so generously taken care of and looked after my family through all of this. It has been an incredibly humbling experience to be served so much.
Kim called 9-1-1 and an ambulance was sent over to the house. They loaded me up, which was a painful experience. Those back boards are rigid and uncomfortable. Being placed on one when your back is in terrible pain was not ideal. But, we got in the ambulance and made our way back to the ER. At this point, I can't move my legs or my toes and I'm slightly concerned as to what is taking place. My hope was that I was simply going into shock and this was how my body was responding to the shock.
Once we got to the ER, they did the usual stuff. They took my vitals, asked about what had gone on and about any existing illnesses and then had me wait for a little bit. When the ability to move my legs wasn't returning, the ER doctor eventually called up north to talk to the oncologist on call. After some lengthy discussions between my neurosurgery team and oncology team, it was determined that I needed to have an emergency MRI on my full spine in order to determine what was going on. Due to paralysis being in both legs, the assumption was that it had something to do with the spinal cord, not my legs.
Well, by this time I was starting to regain movement in both legs. It took about an hour and a half to be able to wiggle my toes and almost three hours to be able to move my legs. But, I was hopeful that there was improvement. Eventually, around 2 am on February 9th, the ambulance was ready to go. I arrived at the U of U hospital ER around 4 am. About 2 hours later I had my MRI done. It took an hour and a half. Luckily I slept through the first hour, but my body was very sore for the last half hour and it took forever to get through.
At about 7:30 am I was back in my room with my wife and my parents. My legs were doing better, but I was still weak and lacked balance and strength. Not only that, but I was having a hard time emptying my bladder. An all-around frustrating time. About half an hour later a doctor came in to inform me that I had a tumor in my spinal column that was compressing my spinal cord against my vertebrae. This is what was causing the lack of movement in my legs and the difficulty urinating. He said that I would need emergency surgery, what I believe is called a laminectomy, to rectify the situation. He informed me that one of the potential side effects of the surgery was paralysis, but that if I didn't have the surgery I would definitely end up paralyzed. So, we opted for surgery. I was told they would try to get me in that day, but they'd have to see. I was very anxious to get the surgery over with. More on this later...
As the day went on, I was provided with doses of dexamethasone, a steroid, to help with inflammation. Fortunately, this proved very helpful. By the end of the day, I had gained much more movement in my legs and was even able to stand up and be more stable. I still struggled to urinate, but under the threat of a straight catheter, I willed that urine out haha After my experience with the catheter during my brain surgery I was going to do everything I could to avoid it. Unfortunately, I was unable to get in for surgery on the 9th. I was quite disappointed. I was told I was scheduled for first thing in the morning with Dr. Mayhan, but that I may be bumped if an emergency comes in. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
On the morning of the 10th, I was woken up shortly after 6 am and was told that I would be taken for surgery prep in a little bit. I asked for a priesthood blessing and a couple of RN's were rounded up. I can't tell you the peace that came from that blessing. I'd been so concerned about the chance of ending up paralyzed that I received much peace from the words spoken during that blessing. I was taken down to the pre-op room and met with the anesthesiologists, who were great. I then met with Dr. Mayhan. Let me tell you... I was the only one in that room. It was such a peaceful and serene room. Dr. Mayhan was fresh for the day and just had this confidence about him. He assured me that the chances of me being paralyzed were practically 0%. After the blessing and the feeling of peace in that pre-op room, I felt assured everything would work out.
Well... I finally woke up in the post-op room. The first thing I did? Wriggle my toes! haha I wanted to make sure that I could still walk and function. I began sobbing. I was so grateful that God had seen me through this surgery and had protected me. I just couldn't handle the emotions of the moment. After a little bit, my family came back to see me and I was then moved to my hospital room. The surgery was, once again, a huge success. They removed the back portion (the little knobs you can feel on your spine) of my T-4, T-5, and T-6 vertabrae. After removing these, fortunately the tumor sort of popped out in one intact sack. The release of pressure allowed it to be removed quite easily. There was no damage to my spinal cord, my leg strength and movement was back, and my bladder function was improving. They placed a drain in my back to help remove fluid. After a couple of long days at the hospital, I was discharged once again about 48 hours after my surgery.
The recovery from this surgery has been a little bit more difficult physically than my brain surgery. The reason being that you don't have muscles in your brain that get used. The muscles in your back get used a lot. So it's been a gentle and, at times, painful process recovering from having my back cut open. It's been a couple of weeks and I'm just now getting to where I can stand up with minimal soreness. But, onward and upward and we will continue to fight.
I want to touch again on the Lord's timing. This happened only after I had regained sufficient strength from my brain surgery. A huge blessing. Also, I was so anxious to get that surgery done on February 9th, the day I arrived at the U of U hospital. But, over the course of 24 hours with an anti-inflammatory steroid being given to me, I was able to stand, have balance, and urinate the morning of my surgery. Additionally, as I mentioned, the feeling of peace in the pre-op room as well as the blessing of a fresh surgical team was a further testament to me of trusting in the Lord's timing. I could have had a surgical team exhausted from a long day of surgery and a spinal column still inflamed. Instead, things worked out perfectly and all in the Lord's time.
I am so grateful to the ER staff at Gunnison Valley Hospital for their help, the ambulance crew for getting me to the hospital safely, Dr. Mayhan and his team for taking such good care of me, my family once again for their love and support, and my wife for continually standing by my side and taking care of me when I have been so unable to do so myself. I'm grateful for God and for His love, mercy, and grace. I have felt of His love, I have felt His grace and enabling power in my life, and I have witnessed His hand in everything that I have been through. I testify that God lives and that if we put our faith and trust in Him, miracles can and will happen.
I also want to thank all of my ward members, neighbors, and friends who have so generously taken care of and looked after my family through all of this. It has been an incredibly humbling experience to be served so much.
Ambulance Ride Up
Drain and Incision
Another picture of the drain and incision
This is the drain they placed in my back to keep fluid from pooling.
Hanging out in the hospital bed
Finally back home. No Super Bowl to worry about this time, but it was sure nice to be back in the comfort of our own home.
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