Gary's new "Toy"

Here is a picture of a Bone Growth Stimulator. Gary has to put the little steering wheel like part behind his neck and set the timer for thirty minutes. The hope is that in 3 months time, using the bone growth stimulator 30 minutes a day, he will have bone fusion that would normally take six months. He just hates sitting still for the thirty minutes.

This afternoon, we drove to Leonardtown and walked along the wharf. It was a breezy day, but sitting by the water is relaxing. We just sat and talked for a while. It was a fun little date.

Two Weeks Post Surgery

After Gary's surgery, he had a recurring dream. In the dream everyone turned into tinfoil when the sun set each day and then the tin foil people went into these boxes. As the sun would rise in the morning, the tin foil people would come out of the boxes and return to their normal self. Of course, we all got a good chuckle out of the dream and got used to Gary waking up saying, "Those stupid tin foil people!" Fortunately he doesn't have those dreams anymore. Sarah and Tony couldn't resist dressing Abby up for Papa though.

Here she is getting ready for her grand entrance.

She even had a hat

Gary's face when Abby toddled into the living room in her "tin foil" outfit.

Papa and his tin foil girl

Enough with the hat.

We went to the doctor for Gary's two week follow up appointment. They are impressed with his recovery and took the steri-strips off of the incisions. He is healing well and feels better every day. We went to the Annapolis mall after the doctor appointment for lunch and Gary bought me a beautiful sapphire pendant with matching earrings for an early birthday present.

His incisions are healing well. 

He does have a very limited range of motion with his neck now, but it is worth it not to be in pain and not dropping things. 

One Week Post Surgery

It has been just a little more than a week since Gary's surgery. He is healing and every day gets a little better. He passed out in the bathroom on Wednesday morning and fell to the floor - that was scary! He is doing better. He had his collar on and his neck seems to be fine. He is sore from the fall though.

Here is Sarah trying out Gary's Miami - J collar and his walker. He doesn't need the walker much now, but for the first few days he did. He was doing laps around the house.


This morning, we went out for a walk.

He uses this collar when he is outside. He has another collar for showering too.

He really enjoyed being outside. We took Abby for a walk down the driveway. We went all the way to the first hill on the way into our place. Our drive is about a quarter mile long and he wasn't quite ready for the whole drive and return trip.

This is the collar he uses for sleeping and just inside the house. The surgeon says he doesn't have to wear it all the time in the house since his spine is bolted in place, but the collar allows him to rest his neck muscles.

This is the back incision.

The front incision

Gary resting - love the compression socks he has to wear for two weeks :-) We are grateful to all our family and friends who are helping us out. Thank you for all the prayers, food, watching my class at school, visits, etc. We are truly blessed!

Gary's Surgery

Gary loves holding his granddaughters. This was taken at Abby's first birthday party. Izzy and Abby love their Papa. Not being able to pick the girls up and carry them around will most likely be the most difficult part of Gary's recovery mentally, that is.

Gary had his surgery on Wednesday September 9. He had an anterior cervical disectomy and fusion and posterior cervical laminectomy and fusion with segmented fixation. The pain is severe especially in the back of the neck. They have to remove the muscle from the spine to do the procedure. Dr. Ducker says that the muscles are rebelling because they were moved and have to knit back together.


The procedure went well. Gary has already had feeling return to his left hand and the numbness in the bottom of his left foot is gone. Yeah! Now for a long and at the present, very painful recovery period. I am at home with Gary for another day, and then Liz and Sarah will take over while I am at school. The hope is that by the time I go back to work on Tuesday that he will be some what independent. He will still need help as he is not allowed to bend, lift, twist, or raise his arms above shoulder level. He needs help getting food, ice, drink, and up to the walker. He cannot look down and so we need to make sure his pathways are clear. Each day gets better. I am grateful that the girls are willing to help out and care for their Dad.


Swallowing and talking were awful for him the first two days. Swallowing his medications was torture. It is always hard to watch someone you love be in such pain. I am grateful that I was able to stay with him in the hospital. Nurses are overworked and overloaded. I was able to get Gary ice packs as needed, adjust his pillows and bed, and find the nurse when the pain started to climb.


On the day after surgery, the nurse wanted Gary to hold off on the pain meds because OT and PT were coming to work with him. He worked with PT and walked a little. He ended up in major pain and had to take a larger dose of the meds and then he missed his OT session. PT came again later in the day and he went for a longer walk. The night nurse was great. We got him alternating his pain med and anti-spasm med through the night and it was remarkable!


We came home on Saturday - Gary's birthday :-) No cake this year. I made chicken and noodles and mashed potatoes for dinner. Gary was able to eat some of everything for dinner. He had ice cream for dessert. At the hospital, the OT looked at his chart and realized it was his birthday. She came back after she worked with Gary and brought him a cup of vanilla ice cream with a candle in it. The OT and PT both sang Happy Birthday to him. A couple of other people joined in. Gary ate his ice cream and then we had to wait for his discharge papers and pain medication before we began the 90 minute drive home. I was worried that he would feel every bump in the road.

At least thanks to Mark Henderson, Tony, Clay, and our neighbors our road/driveway was much better. Last Saturday we had 80 tons of asphalt millings delivered. They spread it using Mark's bobcat. We rented a roller and rolled the millings smooth. The road/driveway still needs some more work, but Gary won't be able to do anything like that for at least 6 months.

He is moving on his own with a walker, can now feed himself (still mostly soft foods), and swallowing and talking get easier every day. He is sleeping in the recliner and I am sleeping on an air mattress on the living room floor so that I can be with him. Last night he got up and walked around several times. It is difficult to sit/recline in one position for so long. When he walks, his neck and shoulder muscles ache and burn. He uses ice packs over his shoulders and across the back of his neck to help with the swelling and pain.

The Relief Society from church is bringing in meals for us every other day for the next two weeks. Thank you RS sisters for your love and kindness to us.

We are truely grateful for all of our friends and family and all of the prayers in our behalf. The road to recovery is still at the beginning stages. The road is long. Gary will be recovering at home for about 8 weeks and then will most likely start back to work slowly. We have received many blessings. Gary's boss has arranged for him to do some telecommuting starting in a couple of weeks. Sarah and Tony living here is another blessing. Tony takes care of the yard work, trash, changing furnace filters, and anything else I need him to do. Sarah is here to help out during the day while I am gone. Abby always brings a smile to Papa's face. Since Liz and Clay live only 10 miles away, they will be over helping also. Liz is planning to be over here all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays and after Izzy's preschool on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Hopefully this recovery will go well for Gary.