quote:

Originally posted by jeff h:
you guys sure its back surgery and not sex change???

I think he already had one. Dang, he was an ugly woman!



Wendell: Get your dad-gummed self well! Here's hoping your 110% when this is over!

quote:

Originally posted by jeff h:
you guys sure its back surgery and not sex change???

Get well soon Wendell what ever you getting fixed,tucked,or replaced

If it was a sex change from "less" to "more", he may be on to something!!!

Get well!

God! That kind of stuff makes me weak in the knees. Let's all hope Wendell has a full recovery.

Mark

Ge well soon Wendell. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers for a full and speedy recovery.

Wendell is doing well. Here is his new neck, 4 replacements not 5. Looks like they're in the right place anyway.

From the picture, that doesn't look like any kind of fun!!! Get well soon!!!

best wishes for a speedy recovery Wendell.

Sending my prayers for complete success and a speedy recovery.

after having my lower back done and all the nerve problems that occurred I just can't even imagine what wendell is going through now. I just wish i could do more than wish him the best

All the best for a speedy recovery mate!!!

Here is a message from Wendell's Sister Tori:

"Wendell is doing amazingly well!!!!!! He has walked a lot today and he came to another patients room where Anne and I were visiting another multiple disk replacement patient. He stood for a long time talking and was so happy and relaxed. We are sooooo excited. We couldn't believe how long he stood with no pain, except for the surgery site obviously:-)."

Sounds like it's going very well.

Wow, that's some serious hardware! Best wishes to you, Wendell!

Thanks Jerry for keeping us posted. Please tell Wendell and Anne I am thinking about them and pray Wendell finally gets some relief for all the pain he's had to endure.
David

That x-ray makes him look like the Terminator!!!

Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Arjun Reddy
www.huntersnetworks.com

He is going to need to keep a laminated copy of that x-ray with his 4457 form to get through security.

Wishing you a full and speedy recovery Wendell.

All these threads lately have been asking us "who got you to Africa? Capstick? Boddington? Ruark? Hemingway? Who? WHO???"

For me, it was Wendell! (All the other guys helped too).

My sincerest wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

John

Thanks for the report and great picture

and I also add my most sincere wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

Better Tomorrows WR.
MCR

Wendell, You are in our thoughts and prayers. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Get Well Soon,
Mark Hampton

quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Huffaker:
Here is a message from Wendell's Sister Tori:

"Wendell is doing amazingly well!!!!!! He has walked a lot today and he came to another patients room where Anne and I were visiting another multiple disk replacement patient. He stood for a long time talking and was so happy and relaxed. We are sooooo excited. We couldn't believe how long he stood with no pain, except for the surgery site obviously:-)."

Sounds like it's going very well.

This is real good news! I know he has been suffering for some time.
Good luck Wendell and I will share a hunting camp (not a tent) again with you are Mr. or Mrs.

Wendell, hope you heal quickly. Just spent a week with Ed and Sandra. They send regards. Get well. We may need you again.

That is a beautiful bionic C-spine! Great teeth and sinuses too, and even some near normal looking lordosis, spasm resolving.
Wendell has some miles left on him.
4 Titanium and plastic discs and some kind of suspension cable along the posterior elements?
Must have done some cleanup of the bone spurs too, that is so pretty!
Wow!

I don't know why it is still experimental to do those disc replacements in the USA.
Might have something to do with the expense and getting insurance to pay for it.
Still those dual titanium plates with the 6 lag screws I usually see on neck Xrays work pretty well, are a godsend for sufferers, and work better in the neck than they do in the low back.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Go easy on the recoil for a few months.

quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Huffaker:
Wendell is doing well. Here is his new neck, 4 replacements not 5. Looks like they're in the right place anyway.

Hope you recover quickly and are doing well.

Jerry, thanks for the updates. Wishing Wendell a full and speedy recovery.

quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Huffaker:
Here is a message from Wendell's Sister Tori:

"Wendell is doing amazingly well!!!!!! He has walked a lot today and he came to another patients room where Anne and I were visiting another multiple disk replacement patient. He stood for a long time talking and was so happy and relaxed. We are sooooo excited. We couldn't believe how long he stood with no pain, except for the surgery site obviously:-)."

Sounds like it's going very well.

Thats outstanding news! When he was out in CO last year he was in a lot of pain but he didnt complain about it. It hurt just to watch him

Prayers sent for a speedy recovery bud

Wendell,

Glad to hear you're up and around and I wish you the best on a quick recovery.

David

Wendell, I know you've been dealing with a lot of pain for the last few years. It's a horrible way to go through life. I hope this will make all the difference for you and you'll get back to enjoying life again.

I still think the problem goes back to the time when you were shooting the 450 Dakota in a prone position.

Godspeed my friend,
Forrest

Dang Jerry! So much for keeping this quiet!

Actually not sure who I was keeping it from. Anyone who saw me at the shows noticed something was wrong. Most
Clients and all the operators knew since I would be out for a while.

At least now this should clear up that it was physical and not a mental deficiency.

Want to keep it short today.

I want to thank Jerry (and another AR member who does not post much). These two guys talked with me at DSC and one of them called and made the appointment for me to see this Dr in Dallas.

He couldn't do anything for me, but he wrote down a name of a surgeon in Germany. When the pain got so bad that I could no longer walk, I contacted him and set it up.

Thanks to both of you.

Ok, more tomorrow. Thanks again everyone.

My very best wishes for a quick and complete recovery! May you be back on the trail soon with a big rifle that's fun to shoot ...

Wendell,
My best wishes for a speedy recovery.
John

Wendell, good to see you able to update us. I hope this procedure remedies your painful ailment and you make a full and complete recovery. I'm looking forward to seeing you this fall. All the best, David

Wendell, just catching up on AR....good for you for taking action and I hope and trust that soon this will be just a distant memory. All the best, Bill

I want to thank everyone again for their wishes,texts, prayers, posts and emails  While it may not seem like much, nice to read it. 

Ok, no sense in dragging this post on, Here is some final info for you guys.

I feel Better every day. While I will never be 20 again, at least I won't feel 90 anymore. This surgery was successful. I still have some healing, and should take it slower than I am, but I can already do more than I could before surgery. The before and after x-rays are just incredible. 

Forrest, yes, I think about that 450 Dakota prone shot occasionally. I even watched the video before I left. Never again! Probably never shoot prone again, but at least I can shoot now! 

JeffH - you just wish I was getting a sex change. Nuff said. 

RIP - the cable next to the vertebrae is a spinal cord Nerve stimulator installed last year.  An attempt to control the pain ... that failed. It works with some, but my condition deteriorated too much for it to be beneficial. 

For everyone - this pain and disk damage was from a bad horse wreck many years ago. I was raised on a horse farm, played a brief stint on the Texas Tech polo team, and have played around with horses most of my life. Been tossed a few times, bucked off a few and fallen off more than I can count. have a nice scar on top of my head from a horse kicking me as I fell past her hind legs after she bucked me off. But that wasn't what did it. 

I was working cattle on a friends ranch with a strange paint. He had the most bizarre gait of any horse I have ever ridden. It was like his back legs were too long ... Anyway, he threw me straight up in the air with just enough rotation to make sure I landed head first into the dirt. I hit head first, bent my head forward and then dislocated one shoulder and separated the other shoulder. A friend came out and helped me put my right arm back in place. 

Being young and tough, I got back on and finished the day, but that hurt!

So fast forward to April 2007. I climbed in the truck to get a friend and go to the ranch and one of the disks gave out. From that day on it's been downhill ... till now. 

Thanks to Jerry and the other AR member talking me into getting a 4th opinion, I was given this as an option. 

Finding a doctor who is experienced in multilevel artificial disk replacement (ADR) requires a trip to Europe since there are none here to my knowledge. It is not covered by insurance, it is not FDA approved in the USA. 

The doctor I used is the leading ADR Doctor in the world. He has done over 5000 ADR's. Dr Rudolph Bertagnoli. You can google him. 

Anyone who has multiple level disk damage and has run out of options in the USA, other than fusion can contact him without a dr referral. Even if you just have one disk that is damaged, you should consider them. You will need to obtain your records to upload to his site, but that is not too difficult. 

Most of the staff speaks English some better than others. All the doctors speak English. The only real problem I had was some of the nurses do not speak English very well, but they seemed to better looking than their American counterparts at least. 

I can say that if I have another disk that needs attention, I will go back to Dr Bertagnoli to have him fix it. 

Anyone seriously considering having him do their surgery can contact me as a reference. 

Once again, thanks to everyone for their concern. I have noticed every one of them and who they came from. 

Great news

Great to see when a medical procedure works and the patient finds the relief they have seeking for so long. The message here to me is never take "there are no options" as an answer.

Glad to hear you're recovering quickly!

Wendell - Glad you're doing better my friend! Now maybe you can shoot straight, when we chase deer together on the plains of eastern Colorado.

Wendell,

Good to hear you're recovering and hope it continues to go well for you.