Under the Knife

June went by without a single blog post. I would say I haven't had the time, but as the people who follow me on Twitter can attest, that isn't true.

The largest reason is I have had back issues, alluded to previously on this blog. I finally decided to get that checked out after it flared up again in early June.

A rather unpleasant procedure called an electromyography (EMG) and a new MRI confirmed I have three, not one, herniated discs. My first consult with a neurosurgeon said I not only needed surgery, but emergency surgery.

I had a second opinion with the Stanford Orthopaedic Spine Center. Yes, that Stanford - which I hate with the intensity of a thousand burning suns. Seeing as how the weakness began during Cal football season and the first episode of pain hit on the day of the Big Game, this is only fitting.

Luckily, my surgeon is a Cal alum.

Anyway, I had a difficult choice to make. The first surgeon said I absolutely needed surgery to avoid permanent nerve damage. He recommended an open lumbar laminectomy. Dr. Ivan Cheng at Stanford recommended a microscope surgery, called a microdecompression/microdiscectomy.

The two surgeries are basically the same - cut away a piece of the lamina of the vertebrae to relive pressure, then temporary move the nerve out of the way to cut off the disc herniations. The open surgery meant a much longer recovery, but the micro surgery presents a higher risk of recurrence. Both surgeries might only give me about a 50/50 chance to regain strength in my right foot.

I decided to go with the micro surgery. When the chances of full recovery are that low, I don't see the point in getting the more invasive surgery. If I re-herniate, I'm not even sure I'd go back in for a second surgery. But I figure I have to give my 30-year-old body at least a coin flip at repairing itself.

So I go under the knife in less than twelve hours. I'm not extremely nervous, but I've never had major surgery or been in a hospital, so I've been anxious about this for weeks. Luckily, if all goes well, the micro surgery is outpatient and I could be writhing in pain in my own bed by lunchtime tomorrow.

I've decided to look at this as a wake-up call. I can't just sit at a desk all day, eating junk food and staying sedentary. I really can't do that if I expect to stay away from an operating table for a second time.

These are the steps I have taken:

1. I have built a playlist of music to motivate me and keep me focused.
   
2. I bought Giants Crocs so I won't slip and kill myself.
   
3. I bought a PikStik Pro. This is my favorite new toy in months.
   
4. I bought a pedometer to track my progress and make sure I don't push too hard. I wore it today to get a baseline and took 2072 steps so far. That is pathetic. It has USB so I can be a true geek and make charts and stuff.
   

These are my goals, in descending order of importance:

1. Re-gain strength in my right leg and foot.
   
2. After six months, don't be worse off than when I started.
   
3. Make it to my cousin's wedding in three weeks. I bought a plane ticket, so I fully intend to be there.
   
4. Get down to a reasonable weight by Christmas.
   
5. Try to be able to set comfortably enough to see "The Dark Knight". This is totally beyond my control.
   
6. Watch Battlestar Galactica, season one.
   

I'm sure I will be spending a lot of time online, in between episodes of Battlestar. If you want to keep tabs on my recovery (and I don't post anything here), try the following sources:

• My Facebook profile
  
• Follow me on Twitter
  
• FriendFeed - I'm new to this, but it should aggregate all the other sources.
  

Thanks everyone for their well wishes and concerns. I don't plan on being down for long.