Goodbye…For Now!

A year ago I would have never expected to find myself in the position I am today and that is to say good-bye…for now.  If you have followed me somewhat closely you likely know I have had two previous spine surgeries although they were somewhat unrelated.  The most recent one (14 months ago) was supposed to take care of a lower back issue that left me hunched over and often in extreme pain and unable to do anything comfortably but sit and sleep.  At that time I told my surgeon in New York I needed to be able to play and roll around with my then 3-year old grandson.

Well he’s now 4, my back is no better than it was a year ago and on top of that the surgery left me with neuropathy and partial drop-foot.  Not what I was hoping for and expecting.  On top of that arthritis in my right hip is adding to my daily pain and two cortisone shots did little to alieve that so I will likely need a replacement in the near future.

But that’s for another day.  Tomorrow I will undergo surgery at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank that will include lumber revision, decompression and fusion.  I’m not a doctor but it sounds like a lot.  The fact that it will likely end any beach plans and others for the remainder of summer is secondary.  I have not gone a day without pain in more than three years and am hoping and praying that the third time is the charm because alternative is not something I’m looking forward to. Not sure how long I will be out of work but it will be a while.  Once I can I will try and keep you posted on my progress…assuming it is progress.

I will leave you with a quote that I read a while ago from someone who was dealing with tough times.  In some way it applies to all of us.

“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore to decide to be happy.”