Going to Mayo Clinic at Rochester, MN soon...

[DakotaDocMartin]

I have an appointment for a consultation with the #2 Neurosurgeon in the USA on February 14th. Dr. William E. Krauss is his name.

Last February, I had a new state of the art left hip installed and that's doing well for me. I went from barely able to drag myself across the room with a walker to walking pretty well without anything.

The next step I'm taking in the tune-up is to have a surgery done on my neck. From years of being rough on myself (snowmobile racing, several motorcycle crashes, whiplash twice and a nasty fall 8 years ago) I have some fairly large boney spurs that have developed on C4-C5-C6 in my cervical spine. This is causing my spinal cord to be compressed and all sorts of strange things happen because of it.

Both hands and most of my forearms feel mostly numb. I get a lot of muscle "ticks" and a lot of "charley horse" cramps from even doing the simplest of things such as holding a phone for several minutes.

I'd hoped to have one of the new micro surgeries but Dr. Krauss is thinking I'm not a good candidate for that type. I'm too buggered up for that. So... I'll know for sure come the 14th but I'll probably need a more radical surgery where he will remove the body of a vertebra and a couple of discs and then fuse them with a bone graft, metal plate and screws. Not really what I was hoping for at all. But, I need to do something.

Maybe if I get the full use of my hands and arms back again I can get back to making and doing stuff again.

I still have some of my under hood letters left but some items such as the 2003-2004 engine cover grilles are down to only one set left as of today.

I'm hoping I'll feel (literally) like making stuff again some day. Hopefully, the surgery (whenever that will be) will do the trick.

I don't post much anymore because I end up cramping up just with this amount of typing.

[BlueStreak]

They certainly have a great bunch of Docs over there at Mayo and accomplish some amazing things. Will keep you in my thoughts and hope to see production increase in the future.

[Meg in Carolina]

Got you in my prayers for a speedy recovery; we will all be waiting for an update.

[RUN ROD RUN]

Hope all works out in your favor Doc

Originally Posted by DakotaDocMartin

I don't post much anymore because I end up cramping up just with this amount of typing.

You should look into one of those voice recognition software.

[Greg Ducato]

Hope things go your way soon Doc

[gmac]

You could use a break there Doc!
The Mayo is amazing. They saved my kid brother when he was 14 with a brain tumor... that was almost 30 years ago and he is still doing great! Hope same goes for you (especially the 30 years! )

[jackatg450]

Remember Doc that "Good things happen to Good People". And you sure do qualify. So you should do well.

Jack

[Jgrden]

I believe you will come out AHEAD on this venture. WE will be watching.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Good luck. You know they'll do their best for another Doc.

[Tom Savini]

All good wishes going your way just follow doctors orders and all will go great. They always tell me keep your CHINS up

[Big Jon]

Best of luck @ Mayo, do you need me to exercise your R while you're gone?

[OP]

All the best to you...2 back surgeries later and I feel pretty darn good, except I believe something during the surgery caused me to gain weight.

Keep us updated Doc...

[Antique]

Good luck Doc!

[Beach potato]

Sounds like my resume', I had the fusions at c4 and c5 with bone from my hip and so glad I did! You will see a big difference in the pain, neuropathy and other things you dont realize right now...lol Keep us updated. There will be a day when you wake up smiling.

[MnMsToy]

Good luck Dov and May God Bless You and protect you during the surgery.

[HotRodGirl]

Sure hope what you are about to undergo will help relieve the cramping and numbness .....(damn you were hard on your body over the years) Kinda glad I haven't done any 4 wheelin in a couple of years.

My best to you and to a successful outcome

[Red Cat]

I hope you feel better soon Doc.

[Big Blue Ox]

I broke my back sometime between my 18th and 22nd year of life, and the 50% offset at the c-2 and c-3 had started to fuse together when I broke it apart during a fall in my 42nd year. They said stay on your feet, as surgery is not an option. Ouch...

I recommend going to the Mayo Museum at Heritage Hall to see the Transparent Man, the only exhibit from the original Mayo Museum that closed in 1988. The old museum was a wild place, with lots of weird recreations of farming accidents best left to your imagination.

If the Fisherman's Hall of Fame is still open, it is worth the trip, too.

Good luck to you, BTW.

[Beach potato]

I forgot to mention I got your Aluminum rear sill letters from the ebay store and here is the finish. Damn good looking I think, and for only $20.00 shipped. Thanks for your skills. My SSR has another classy addition!

[OP]

Originally Posted by Beach potato

I forgot to mention I got your Aluminium rear sill letters from the ebay store and here is the finish. Damn good looking I think, and for only $20.00 shipped. Thanks for your skills. My SSR has another classy addition!

That looks good.

[Johnny B]

Good luck Doc,your in my prayers

[James Dean]

Good luck Doc prayers with you !

[DakotaDocMartin]

Wow! Thanks all for the good wishes! I really do appreciate it. I'll find out what the plan is on February 14th. Hopefully, before spring sometime, I'll be healing up and getting back to using my hands to make stuff.

I've put a lot of nifty projects on hold for quite awhile because I need more precision with the hands and fingers, etc. I've been a jeweler (as one of my many hobbies) for 35+ years and a lot of that has been on hold. That also includes my hand engraving. I've also had a really nice damascus steel bowie knife blade a knifemaker friend from Israel forged for me that I need to finish. The handle will be done in a high quality imitation ivory called Tru-Ivory. It's so realistic it comes with a Certificate of Non-Authenticity to prove it's not the real thing. The guard, pins, and pommel will be done in nickel silver and all hand engraved with acanthus scroll...

And, I'd like to get back to flying radio controlled airplanes... riding my motorcycle...

You never realize how handy it is to have good hands until you go without them for awhile. Good thing I have good hand-eye coordination. It would be just so much better to be able to feel what I'm doing.

I'll be glad when it's all over... it does make me a big nervous...