Good news skel. Thanks for the update.

Thanks guys.

Nice update, glad to hear things went well.

Glad everything went well. I hope the flight home wasn't too uncomfortable for her, crazy to have spinal fusion surgery and then have to sit on an airplane.

Thank you guys.

Flights went well (1 from Dallas to Seattle, then Seattle to Anchorage), as did the drive home (another hour drive). She was a bit sore from moving around a lot, but we had the airport move her around in a wheelchair, which worked well. She is now taking up residence on our recliner as she is not allowed to lay flat for another week. Overall we are really happy with how things went and are continuing to go.

I will probably try and lift sometime between today and Saturday as I am now back home and back into the swing of things.

Haven't been lifting since before my wife's surgery. Plan on starting back up tomorrow. Plan is to Squat M/F and Deadlift on W. May try to press a little here and there, but no bench for a while.

Got my last real haircut in November 2014. In the 3.5 years since then I have only had 1 trim. Talked to my wife about wanting to cut it off. She was against it but said there is no time like the present so yesterday I got a haircut then went and got my beard trimmed. She was worried about what I would look like with short hair, but she really likes the outcome (I do too).

I kept the hair they cutoff and plan on donating it. The ponytail they cutoff was 16” long.

Before:




After:

Looking good

How's Sarah?

Thank you BustoRhymes!

Sarah is good and bad. Her neck is healing wonderfully. Her hip, where they took material from (bone marrow and cells for stem cells to use in her neck), has been hurting her from day 1 (no issues before the surgery). Just got word from the local doc that an MRI done this past Wednesday shows 2 tears in her hip area - not exactly sure what is torn or how bad as the doc called Sarah with the results and Sarah was dealing with food poisoning. We should find out more tomorrow (maybe) or at her appointment on Tuesday. Sarah thinks the doc said she will need another surgery to fix her hip.

Yikes. Sorry to hear that. Update us please when you get more news. We're pulling for you both.

So they used stem cells in her procedure? Was the procedure just an injection of those or did they do other things in her neck?

I'm surprised they went to the hip for the stem cells. My doc got them from my lower spine.

Hopefully the hip heals without surgery.

Cha: From my limited understanding: They removed the disc, put in a synthetic spacer, placed a little bit of cadaver bone on the ends of the spacer (that part is questionable, as he said they may do that before the procedure and I haven't read the full write up yet), and placed the stem cells on the ends of the spacer to help the fusion heal quicker. He said getting the cells from the hip (by the iliac crest) has been the best place to get them in his experience.

Sounds like a very serious surgery. Its amazing that her neck is better after all that. I bet the stem cells helped - they certainly helped me. Its too bad it messed her hip up though. Hope that heals up soon.

Her neck isn't 100% yet as it is still healing - they said about 6 weeks until she is fully healed. The neck isn't causing anymore issues though and does not hurt at all. It was pretty instantaneous fix for her pain. I think the stem cells have worked really well with the healing as she doesn't have any pain in that area.

I'm guessing that they may have torn something when they were moving her leg around into position for the drilling of her hip. Still not sure what is going on (muscle, tendon, or ligament issues) and most likely won't know until the appointment tomorrow.

yeah, my doc said it takes about 6 months for the full healing effects of the stem cells to finish working. Pretty amazing stuff.

Good luck tomorrow!

Saw the doc yesterday and got the scoop. Hopefully surgery won't be necessary, but may. There is only 1 tear, the second issue was her Glute (don't remember which) has tendinopathy. She explained that it is like tendinosis, which should be able to be fixed with a shot and rest. The tear is in her acetabular labrum. Most likely both were issues before the surgery that were not causing any pain until however they positioned her to get the hip material. Doc wasn't sure if she would need surgery for this or not. We will be seeing an ortho in the near future to see what their recommendation is to get her back to not being in pain.

Good luck. It will be good if she can at least not be in pain.

Do want this many gray hairs at this age. I think there is a couple on your beard but zero on your head!!

Today's workout

Deadlift: 315 lbs x 5
Rows
Shoulder work
Planks

First session in about a month. Deadlifts felt good today. Started at a fairly easy weight to make sure I get back into the swing of things appropriately. Probably need to adjust my head position in the future lifts.

I have a bit in my beard, but haven't seen any in my head yet. Not too bad at 40 IMO.

Today's workout

Squat: 315 lbs x 5; 325 lbs x 5; 335 lbs x 5
Shoulder work
Planks

First squat workout in a month. Planned on going fairly easy today and do 315 lbs x 5 x 3. The first 315 set was too easy so I just added 10 lbs for each of the next 2 sets. Probably shoot for 315 x 5, 335 x 5, 355 x 5 for the next squat session as these felt really good.

Those looked easy!

LOLd at the He-Man action figures on the rack

Thanks! I guess those weights should be fairly easy looking back at my last few squat sessions, but I like to take it easy after a break. I don't want to overshoot where I am at and either miss reps/form breakdown/crippling doms. I'd rather be a bit too light and get my body used to moving weights again and just make bigger jumps down the road.

Today's workout

Deadlift 335 lbs x 5
BB Rows
Shrugs
Shoulder work
Planks

Everything felt pretty good today. Not sure if you can hear the door open in the deadlift video (I watch/edit the videos without sound), but my wife came into the garage in the middle of that set to have me try some pico de gallo she made for dinner (tacos). She didn't say anything or make noise until after the set was done, which is sweet. Pretty nice having a chip and pico after a set of deadlifts!