Surgery Update

Sorry, no birds today.

I don’t like using my blog as a vehicle for such pedestrian subjects as my health, especially devoting an entire post to them, but at this point that seems like the best option.

 

Image in public domain

Readers have known for some time that I have back surgery looming and that it will affect my blogging routine but until yesterday I had no firm date for the surgery so I couldn’t announce it. In private communications I’ve been getting multiple inquiries from readers about my surgical status so I’m relieved that I can finally confirm a date for my surgery.

Late last week I was told that I’d go under the knife on June 2nd but yesterday, during my preop visit with my orthopedic surgeon, I learned that it would be delayed by four days because of a scheduling conflict. So now it’s set for June 6th. D-Day will now have new meaning for me.

I’m scheduled to have two procedures done at two different locations during the same surgical session – a laminectomy at L1-L2 and a partial discectomy at L3-L4. Recovery will take six weeks. Positive results are far from guaranteed but I’m hopeful.

During recovery I’ll be able to walk and drive (as long as I’m not on pain meds) so I’m optimistic that I’ll still be able to photograph birds from my pickup (carefully) and resume my blogging routine at some point, even though it may be sporadic for a while. And I still have more red tape and hoops to jump through so between now and “D-Day” there may be days when I don’t post to my blog.

My primary restriction during recovery will be to strictly avoid “BLT”s (bending, lifting and twisting). As long as I don’t have to avoid my addiction to BLT sandwiches I think I can manage it. I didn’t make a point of getting my garden tomatoes planted before my surgery for nothing.

Ron

 

92 Comments

  1. Ron, Wishing you the best. Be selfish and take good care of yourself. Thanks for all the beautiful photos.

  2. Wishing you a successful surgery and recovery, Ron! I know you want to get better and motivation and determination do account for a lot in the healing process, hence I am confident you will do well.

  3. Charlotte Norton

    Wishing you a sucessful surgery with a speedy recovery!
    Charlotte Norton

  4. Good luck with your surgery. I wish you a speedy recovery and hope you’ll be back in your photo-truck in no time!

  5. Theresa Keller

    All the best on your surgery Ron, I am still recovering from foot surgery in late January! Swelling is the last to stop, I am told. I had my first B L T of the season last week with a first of the season SC tomato 🍅 it was soooo good. So something for you to look foreword too!

    Theresa Keller

  6. Mary Walton Mayshark-Stavely

    Bon courage and smooth healing wishes to you! Wish I was closer so I could help somehow. Lotsa appreciation and love to you!
    Mary

  7. Betty Sturdevant

    The best of wishes to you for your procedure. I had one similar in October and am doing fine.Even playes a round of golf yesterday. Avoiding BLT for me was a great concept because I have never liked tomatoes and never understood putting one on a sandwich. (:

  8. BLT now has new significance to me. I usually turn to you for bird info but now you have expanded your horizon. After my hemicolectomy in October which resulted in a semicolon I had to avoid LSD (Lifting, stretching and driving).

  9. Beatrice Barbakow

    Thank for the update Ron. Best outcome and speeding recovery. Sending you good vibes .

  10. Deedee (Edith) OBrien

    Sorry you have to go through this again. Fingers crossed for a good outcome. Keep us posted.

  11. Woo Hoo. And happy dances. Which sounds all wrong when someone says they are going under the knife/scalpel but is certainly true.
    I will cross everything I can while still ensuring that I remain (mostly) upright.

  12. Wishing you all the best for a successful surgery and a full and fast recovery, Ron. We’ll be thinking of you on D-Day! 🙂

  13. Ron..You have all the best wishes, clumsy but hearfelt prayers I csn muster…for a smooth, successful medical adventure,..Happy landings…👍🤞🍀, Patty

  14. Speedy recovery and hoping you have the best results.

  15. Thank you for the update, Ron. If the comments today are any indication, I think you’ll be going into your surgery and recovery surrounded by a wonderfully cozy, puffy cloud of good wishes and positive thoughts from all your followers. And the sheltering embrace of all the wings you’ve so beautifully shown us! Wishing you pain-free!

  16. Wishing you the best and a speedy recovery. Listen to your doctors!!

  17. Diane Bricmont

    Thinking good thoughts, Ron, and looking forward to 12/6/22. That’s the post where you’ll celebrate being six months pain free, marveling that your life is back to normal, with back surgery just a distant memory. Until then, we will wander through your archives, enjoying every bird you’ve captured!

  18. So…your future is more tomatoes, less back pain. I know it will take awhile to get to the latter but hope the former will help ease the getting-there process.
    Wishing you all the best, Ron — and remember, we and the birds will wait as long as we need to for your full recovery! ♥️

    • “hope the former will help ease the getting-there process”

      That’s one of my solaces, Chris. I think I can rely on it, at least to some degree. Later this summer if I didn’t have garden tomatoes and the real BLT’s I’d really be kicking myself.

  19. As you can tell, you have a great support team. We hope for the greatest success and a long, more pain-free future to get out and continue documenting the nature you love.

    • “As you can tell, you have a great support team”

      Dan, this morning I’ve been thinking how wonderful it is to have so many friends, most of whom I’ve never even met.

  20. Sending love and healing vibes. And wishes that there will be only ONE kind of BLT adorning your summer. 🥓 🥗 🍅

    Love the scalpels — wouldn’t expect anything different for this post. 😉

  21. Nicole Haller-Wilson

    I have a teen and can come help plant tomatoes and make you BLT’s! Never been to SLC but an architect friend was working on the airport there a while ago! We love BLT’s too, although are fussy about which bacon and we don’t eat them that often!

    Seriously, I’m the non-working middle aged gal who helps people in my neighborhood, Xavier has no summer plans (his brother got a job at the karate dojo teaching karate and cleaning). Haydn (husband of 21 years – today!) is still mostly on zoom…

  22. Prayers for successful surgery and speedy recovery Ron. Agree with others please do all your PT – it makes a world of difference! My mouth waters everytime I read a reference to your BLTs! There is NOTHING that compares to the taste of a fresh picked tomato!

  23. Barbara Harley

    We do BLATs here, as we have an avocado tree! And the summers here in Laguna are too ‘iffy’ for good tomatoes…but Farmer’s Market tomatoes work! Best wishes for your surgery & speedy recovery!

    • Barbara, when we moved from MT to southern Cal when I was in grade school I was aghast when I saw some of my classmates eating sandwiches for lunch that had this weird green squishy stuff between the bread slices. Turned out they were avocado sandwiches but they didn’t look edible to me. In fact I thought they looked rotten.

  24. Barbara Gleason

    Wishing you the sharpest, most careful surgeon/carpenter, the gentlest, kindest nurses, the most effective pain remedies, and the easiest, fastest of recoveries! It is quite amazing what modern surgery can do these days, and I’ve been through 2 knee replacements, so been there.

    In the vein of Dan Weisz, I’m hoping you can get outside for some PB&Js for a while while enjoying BLT’s of the food kind, and that both can ease your recovery until you can do the BLT’s of the body kind! And, heck, if you need to post less, rerun older posts, etc. we’ll all be glad you’re able to do those things at least.

    • I appreciate the good wishes Barbara, all of them.

      And don’t be surprised, there probably will be some post reruns. And some older photos that I haven’t published before.

  25. Michael McNamara

    Keeping you in my prayers and meditations.

  26. I do so enjoy your photos. Best wishes for a full recovery.

  27. Positive thoughts for your surgery & recovery Ron 😊

  28. Prayers and good thoughts for all to go well leading up to, during, and post surgery!

  29. Vaya con suerte, my friend!

  30. Cheryl Anderson

    Take as much time as you need. Plug in old posts. Jabber about what you see out your window. Obey your doctor.

  31. Doctors are akin to miracle workers these days. I wish you good results and a speedy recovery and look forward to many more outstanding avian photos and the stories behind them.

  32. Good luck, Ron. We look forward to seeing more photos.

  33. Good luck and quick healing. D-day has a special meaning for us. This year it will be our 49th wedding anniversary.

  34. Everett F Sanborn

    Ron – best wishes for very successful surgeries. Just plug some old posts in and we will enjoy them just as we did the first time. Knock on wood – so far have been blessed with no back problems at 84. If I lived up there near you I would definitely come plant those tomatoes for you. Take it slow in recovery and follow those doctor’s orders to the T. God bless.

    • Thanks, Everett. My first rude awakening regarding my bad back came while I was water skiing in Montana at the ripe old age of 25. I’ve been on the downhill side of it ever since.

  35. I’m hoping that just about the same time the tomatoes ripen for the delicious
    BLT’s, you’ll also have “ripened” your physical ability to bend , lift, and twist
    to get them to your own “cutting board” for really ENJOYABLE slicing ! Now
    you’ll have 2 rewards to look forward to this summer–divine home-
    grown tomatoes, and the prospect of more comfort in which to savor them !

    • Kris, I hope both of those potential rewards come to fruition. At this point all I can do is be optimistic, something that doesn’t come naturally for this confirmed pessimist…

  36. Good Morning,

    I care about you and your health thus I appreciate updates.
    You have expanded my knowledge, educated me and brought beauty into my world.
    I wish you well and a speedy recovery,
    Kaye

  37. Wishing you a speedy recovery, and maybe feeling 10 years younger.

  38. Ron, I’ve had a laminectomy and partial discectomy as well. I think I know the pain you are in now and know some of the road to recovery you face. I hope it all goes well. Be sure to do all of the PT recommended faithfully and do PT forever to keep your back strong. And Unless your camera is mounted to your steering wheel and you shoot photos straight ahead through your windshield, I am not sure you can be taking bird photographs in your truck without any BLTs. I think all of your readers would prefer you stick to PB&Js for now (Park your rear on a Bench and Just share old photos with us)!! I would rather know you are working on rebuilding strength and flexibility at this time. Perhaps you could just drive the truck while Mia takes photos, and then share her photos. You can tell your own version of the story about the situation which I’m sure will differ from hers!! Be well, Dan

    • Dan, for my previous back surgery I had the same BLT restrictions. But I learned that I could twist my shoulders without twisting my lower back (as long as I didn’t try to turn too far) so I continued to photograph birds without any problem.

      But you’re right, I need to be very careful. I’ll clear it again with my surgeon.

  39. The scalpels: You’re sense of humor has taken a turn towards the macabre now that you have a firm date. I won’t suggest that you cut it out, but perhaps you should start self-medicating now to take the edge off. Enough with the double entendres, sharp as they are.
    Let me know when the ‘maters are ripe. I’ll send you a recipe for vegan bacon. The taste will take your mind off the pain better than any meds.
    And let’s all thank LBJ for Medicare. You think your camera was expensive…

    • I’ll give you credit, Lyle. Your first several sentences are a masterpiece of double entendre.

      Excellent point about LBJ. I don’t admire everything about him but I sure as hell give him a lot of credit for Medicare, and several other things.

      Sorry, but vegan bacon has no appeal for me. No way I’m going to diminish my garden tomatoes with fake bacon…

  40. Good to know you have a date set for the surgery. I will be thinking about you on the 6th and sending positive vibes your way.

  41. As a long time follower… I’ll miss the awesome posts butt totally understand the need to take care of self first <3 Sending many wishes/prayers that all goes well for you. "Take Care."

  42. All the best for a positive outcome. Will miss you and your birds.

  43. My best for a speedy recovery after your surgery on the 6th of June.
    I understand fully the ups and downs since my wife of almost 64 years is recovering from hip surgery which is keeping me home.

    Remember you have many, many friends that are praying for you and wishing you well!!

  44. The therapeutic qualities of summertime BLTs is well known. May your “other” BLT routine be as helpful in aiding a quick recovery!

  45. Glad to hear you have a date. Here’s hoping for a smooth and successful procedure and a bountiful crop of tomatoes!

  46. Glad you have your date and hope it holds! Major production and, hopefully it will yield good results for you as well as not keep you “hog tied” for long. Whole different meaning to BLT 😉 Glad the good ones are in the ground.

    This is a great place to catch as many of us as possible for the update IMO.

    • For me, going without the real BLT’s with garden tomatoes for the entire summer would be almost as bad as surgery recovery. And that’s no lie.

Comments are closed