Jonathan's Got Back

Most of you already know that Jonathan had surgery on Thursday, June 28 for a herniated disk. His back became sore over Memorial Weekend while shingling a roof. Then we drove to Arkansas and did a lot of sitting which aggravated the problem. He was having numbness in his right big toe and sometimes up his shin. And his foot was weak. The pain was in his ankle and hip. So when we returned to Ames, Jonathan went to the doctor and they did an MRI. It showed a herniated/slipped disk, but not recommendation was made. So Jonathan did physical therapy for a little over 2 weeks, and nothing was improving. So our friend and physical therapist, Rob, asked a doctor to get Jonathan a referral to the neurosurgeon, Dr. Perera.

So we were off to the neurosurgeon on Wednesday, June 27, and he suggested surgery. And after we saw the MRI, we agreed. The disk had herniated out and had fallen down into where the nerve is supposed to be. Dr. Perera didn't want Jonathan to suffer permanent damage and said that surgery needed to be done as soon as possible and he had an opening tomorrow...Thursday. WOW! What a whirlwind!

Jonathan signed the consent, had his pre-op information taken care of and we were at the hospital at 7:30am on Thursday. At 11am Jonathan was taken to surgery. At 1:40pm the doctor came into the waiting room and told us that everything went well and that it was the biggest chunk of disk he and the staff had ever seen. He was surprised Jonathan wasn't having more pain or weakness. We were thankful that we caught it in time and that he won't have foot-drop.

He was released from the hospital on Friday afternoon and is now recuperating at home. He still has some numbness and weakness in his right leg, but we've already seen an improvement. We pray for continued blessings through the healing process and patience as Jonathan learns to let his body heal. We've also been praying for my strength as I'm taking care of Jonathan, Asher and a pregnant body. I know that God will give us the things that we need and we don't need to worry.

Jonathan will have some recovery time: no lifting greater than 10 pounds for 2-4 weeks; no driving for at least a week; no bending over; lying flat on his back most of the time, up to sit only for meals (because sitting is the hardest on his back), and up to walk several times a day; and he has a lifting restriction of 40 pounds for 3-4 months. He will be doing some physical therapy to help him get back into shape. His goal is to be ready to sign up for the next Hy-Vee Triathlon (June 22, 2008) by the December early-bird deadline. And I know he can do it!

Thank you for all your prayers...keep them coming!

This is a picture of a herniated disk. Jonathan's looked similar to this, but his disk had slipped way down (the pinkish stuff), almost to the next disk. We are thankful that he didn't suffer worse damage. The human body is an amazing thing!!