Day 4 Post-Op

I still have no voice, but as I have written on here before, that can take a while.  I'm still not too worried about that.  It IS getting a little annoying for Kei however, because she likes to talk a lot, and I am not really responding to her with utterances - only nods and OK symbols with my hand.  I save the little bit of raspy mouse whisper of a voice I have to communicate with the doctors and nurses.  This is starting to piss Kei off.  She is reading this as I write it by the way, and fortunately she is laughing.

I am having some twitching, muscle spasms and pain from the raw nerves around the area where the discs were removed, but that is normal for this surgery, and considering it is only 4 days post-op, I think I am doing very well.  Compared to the outlook I had prior to surgery, the temporary discomforts from the surgery itself are a walk in the park (not Stanley Park - RIP Boner).

I knew this was a pretty serious operation before going in.  However, it is difficult to comprehend what a surgery like this will do to your body until you wake up and actually feel the aftermath.  I like what I read on Dr. Fabien Bitan's website.  He is a noted spine surgeon in NYC who I consulted with and whom I considered having do the deed until I surmised that my insurance company would not go for it (he's expensive and out of my network).  To paraphrase:  surgery is a scheduled injury.  When you have a surgery - practically any surgery - you are paying someone (hopefully with substantial help from insurance) to cut into you and invade your insides.  If some bum in Central Park (or Stanley Park...again props to Boner) does the same thing during a robbery for instance, you would probably die.   But in the confines of a controlled, technologically outfitted, sterile operating room and more importantly in the hands of a skilled and experienced surgeon, the injury inflicted by surgery is like magic - albeit painful magic.

Some pics:

Happy Mike.  

Sad Mike?

Kei - my personal massage therapist, and remarkably supportive wife...

People keep telling me they like the food pics so this is for ya'll...

Two day old baby - Kei was all over this...

The symbol behind me indicates that Fortis Hospital (formerly Wockhardt) in Bangalore is accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), a very important fact to know when traveling overseas for medical care. We found out the next day that we were not supposed to be taking photos in this area. 

More of Bangalore from the window - getting excited to see it for real in 4 to 5 days...

Fortis Hospital (formerly Wockhardt) from the outside...