Pre-surgical Consult

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Sketches drawn by Dr. Abel to help explain exact details of implanting
titanium rods onto a spine. This was drawn on the tissue paper they
put on examining tables. It will be torn off to prep for the next patient,
and we will be billed $129 for it.




The mighty mighty F150 was rolling south just as the sun was peeking over the trees this foggy morning. Ellen drove separately in order to stage her car at UVA Medical Center for next week. When we arrived at Kluge Children's Rehab Center, the joint was packed with kids in wheelchairs, kids in various braces, tired looking parents, and what appeared to be every proud parent shadowing every med student in the complex. We waited in a short line for our papers as a guy playing a guitar sang to anyone nearby in the waiting room.


Getting zee papers een order

Within a couple of minutes, we were handed a sheet of coded stickers and some paperwork. Just about every person we met from that point on peeled off one of the stickers and slapped it onto a different piece of paperwork. Throughout the entire process, systemic failure seemed imminent, but never happened. It was like being backstage at the circus. We sat in the Arts and Crafts area which was clearly designed for three year-olds, until we heard our name loudly mispronounced.

I built a Legagel.
It's a bagel made from Legos.
Eat it.

The meeting with the primary surgeon and a 3rd year resident commenced. Ellen had her notebook and pen out and was firing off questions and using correct medical terminology. Dr. Abel never broke eye contact with her, as I - once again the under-achieving student with the good head on his shoulders if he'd just apply himself more and at least bring a pencil to class - faded into the corner of the room. The doc said rather matter-of-factly that it's quite possible that this procedure could get done in one surgery. The one problem I have with this guy is that he's not much on emoting. He's so studious and scientifically minded that everything he says comes out with the same delivery:

"Instead of two surgeries, your child may very well only need one, thus eliminating the need for a week of ICU care with a halo bolted to her skull, followed by putting her under dangerous anaesthesia and cutting her wide open a second time."

Is said in exactly the same tone as:

"I had oatmeal this morning. It was good, probably because of the raisins I added in."

Nonetheless, it didn't get past us. Dr. Abel says that they reviewed the MRI, and he feels there is a fairly good chance that they can get the spine loosey-goosey enough in the first go. I could give you all the details, but as I stated above ... no pencil. IF this is the case - and this highly skilled surgeon threw in a lot of IFs - it means that Ro will go in hospital on Tuesday and be wheeled out of there FOUR DAYS LATER, instead of 12 to 14 days. So, if you're the praying type, do us a favor, will you please?

After this meeting, we floated out of the Kluge Building and drove to the surgical unit at UVA proper. There, we were processed all over again by a lady named Diedre who's sister and mother kept ringing her phone while we sat with her. See, her mom is very worried about money, and her sister thinks she's making mistakes in the way she's budgeting. One gets used to this. If you travel anywhere with Ellen, you'll find that everyone she meets tells her at least one intimate detail of their personal life. Again, I was happy to go unnoticed. We finished up the day with Ro giving up some bluh-bluh-BLOOD-duhhh mmwuhhhuhhuhhuhhhhh. We had a good interview with a nurse, who told us where to be and what to expect Tuesday morning, and we were gone. Well, not quite. Turns out Ellen and that nurse met at a meeting, literally 20 years ago, and remembered each other. I don't remember the name of my high school.

This weekend will be Normal. We will act Normal and live Normal and enjoy it as much as possible, because starting Tuesday morning, things get weird.

Halo measurement. JUST IN CASE

This is the woodshop, where they build the halos.



This is a Master Chief from
Halo 3. Awesome.








Here is an example of the rods. One of the 1 inch screws (left pic) is drilled into each side of each of the vertebrae. The rods shown here are outdated and not nearly as hip and cool as the newer rods. Ro's titanium rods will be 5.5mm in diameter and weigh a little more than your cell phone.




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