Upcoming Surgery

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I just found out that I am going back in on the 25th and it’s going to be very invasive.

A six hour procedure. They are going to open up both sides of my groin, take a large hollow spike with a removeable solid center and ram a tunnel through my lower belly so they can run a tube through from one side to the other. They jam through then pull the solid part out and thread the tubing through the hollow metal tube. Then they are going to connect the right side artery to the left side artery just below the blockage that she couldn’t dig out last December.

After that, she is going to take the same instrument and ram another tunnel from the left side down through my left thigh to just above the knee and put another tube in. Then she is going to connect just under the new tube on the left side to the femoral artery just above the knee to bypass the blockage in my left thigh.

All of this is to try and get more blood flow to my lower left leg to try and stop the 24/7 pain I have now in the muscle on the outside of my lower left leg. The one that is like having shin splints in all the time now. It’s been aching 24/7 for some time now and it hurts like a sonofabitch when I have to walk and I mean even ten or fifteen feet at this point.

I have a cane now to lean on because I have to stop and let the blood flow catch up all the damn time. This new shift I am on at work causes me to be on my feet 3 times as much as before because I am working alone

. She figures it’s going to be 2 months minimum to recover and I’m still not 100% healed up from the incision last December. Plus I have this giant wound on my left foot from trying to burn off a corn that is just killing me.

I haven’t had more than 3 hours of sleep a night for over a week at this point and my foot is fucking killing me as I sit here and type.

The surgeon changed up the pain meds I am on to 10 mg of Oxycontin which I am allergic to in higher doses along with 500 mg of Tylenol every six hours and it isn’t doing shit.

I am going to call her up and see about going back to what I was taking before but get a prescription for every 4 hours instead of twice a day because I am sick and tired of hurting all day and all night. If I can get enough in me to get it to let up then keeping it at bay is a lot easier. It’s just getting over that initial hump.

So I am hoping all this works and I can start being relatively pain free as much as possible and hopefully more mobile.

Next month will be 2 fucking years that I have been screwing around with the medical system over this and I am about fucking done.

I have my fingers crossed, this is going to be quite the procedure and all well wishes and prayers are going to be sincerely appreciated.

I haven’t even told all of my family about this yet and am just now putting it on the blog..

I just found out about all of this yesterday afternoon.

So as you can imagine, I’ll be Out Of Service for a couple of days at least right after the surgery, at least 4 or 5 days in the hospital and then bed ridden for a while at home until I heal up enough to be able to stand up and try walking.

I see morphine in my future.

69 thoughts on “Upcoming Surgery”

  1. Well Brother having had over 10 surgeries myself for my back and leg, I truly sympathize with your situation. You can bet your bottom dollar all of us here at the Hermit Cave will be Praying for a Successful Surgery and You being Pain Free at the end of it. 🙏

      • 5% lidocaine topical. It works on open sores like your foot and subcutaneous. It’s not a cure all, but it helps bring 6 or 7 level pain down 2 or three levels. The Va gives me 120 Vicodin a month for my back, it helps my shoulders and knees too. Rubbing on the topical lidocaine on areas that hurt internally helps remove more pain the just the pill. I also take 800mg of Ibuprofen. Nothing does it alone. Hot baths and massage can help circulation too.
        Sorry about running off at keyboard, I can’t tell you how bad I feel for you. My wife’s back is terribly painful too. She does all the above to take off enough layers of pain to get some rest.
        Prayers, your way.

  2. With her spending so much time around your groin, is she at least going to give you a kiss first?

  3. Prayers that the surgery is successful and that you have as quick a recovery as possible

    • Amen, amen, and amen!!

      Phil, we gentle readers wish you the best and most successful surgery, here’s hoping the Doc is correct in her procedure and all will work perfectly. I would spare you the pain if I could, believe me.

      We’ll all carry on and pray for the best, man.

  4. I too shall be praying for you. A friend went through that same surgery about six months ago. It’s quite an operation.
    All the best, Phil.

  5. Hopefully you will have an expeditious and complete recovery with the desired outcome. Pain sucks. Chronic pain sucks MORE. God bless. Prayers for all the best.

  6. Nice to know they’re going to do something: here in the UK under the Notional Health Service they seem to have a policy of “nothing we can do”. Son (51) has several displaced discs as has son of a friend (34). Both do skilled manual work and have been told to live with it!
    Above all, do as you’re told and just seethe quietly when you’re having to rely on others!

  7. Hope it goes well for you Phil. My Mother-in-Law was in a bad way. They put in plastic tubes all over the place her arteries were so bad. Everyone expected her to only make it a year. She made it ten. Might have made more but she didn’t want more surgery, and she drank heavily every day, as she had for years before the surgery.

  8. Sir.
    Having worked in a top Cardiac Cath Lab in Houston and assisted in many such cases, if I may be so bold as to offer my nickel’s worth


    PRAY.
    intently and seriously.
    Trust the Dr and the Cath Lab Crew.
    Seek their advice and tips.
    Follow instructions diligently!
    Have the mindset from the get go that it will be a long haul just to get back to “better”.
    Try not to get in a rush. I am 70 and have noticed I don’t bounce back as quickly.
    Pain control- the fed bureaucrats have tremendous over-control on that and DO review MD and Pharmacists for non-compliance. Be patient, but firm with her. Her hands /options are much more limited than 10-15 years ago even.
    Also, to some extent, expect set backs here and there.
    Don’t be surprised if the procedure takes longer than planned (your description indicates a good chance it will. And the situation is continuous and on going, therefore a bit more complicated than when last imaged.
    Used to be, it was discretionary for them to provide you with some cushioning for lumbar support. I would talk to her ahead of time about that.
    It’s not for me to say, so I will. Don’t sweat the site. We All prefer you fully healed and to never experience such again.
    We will still be here if it’s a year from now.
    As for me, I will pray for you, your family, the crew, the regular hospital staff and if applicable, the rehab staff.

    Growing old aint for wimps,
    and no one ever confused for a wimp ( not without paying a price anyway. Thus my point).

    You got this man!

    Juan

    (it occurs to me, BRM/Peter Grant likely has good insights if you haven’t spoken with him)

    • I think talking with Peter Grant would be excellent idea. Other than that all we can do is offer of prayers for success.

  9. Being a man of “a certain age” I can fully empathize… I spend way more time in doctors’ offices than I would care to. Still, I believe that life is worth living, so this dude abides. Best of luck with all this, and prayers of course. When I went through cancer some years ago I adopted a saying from my engineering career: “Plan the work, and then work the plan.” I just kept doing the next right thing, even if that was simply waiting or lying flat on my back.

    • But if you do, make it pay-per-view – you might get enough to cover the cost of surgery.

  11. My friend: after my last work trainwreck, 27 ops, developed an allergy to moriphene which shut down the urinary system thusly damaging the smooth muscle bladder. Please be cognizant of keeping the piss flowing while relying on the pain meds no matter what the means to do so. Toughing that out is the wrong fork to take.
    Yes, prayers for thee, sir.
    Soapweed

  12. I see there are a number of insomniacs judging by the time stamps on the comments above.

    I pray for and wish for the best outcome of your pending procedure. Take it slow and easy. It’s harder to heal after a “certain age”.

  13. Best wishes for a full recovery. We Blue Collar guys beat the hell outta our bodies and the end result are usually some needful repair works as we age. Been there done that and offer my sincere sympathies for what you are enduring. God’s blessings on you.

  15. I wondered about bypass surgery. Also wondered where they’d get the blood vessels to use. Tubes, eh? Synthetic material which your existing tissue will bond to? That’s actually pretty cool.

    Best of luck to you, Phil.

  18. When going through hell just keep on going. Hope you have an expedient recovery.

  19. I know the routine all too well Phil … I’m with you in my thoughts … I hope it all goes as smoothly as it possibly can for ya and positive results begin to blossom quickly … You’re a tough old bastard ! … You’ll do this !!! …

  20. Prayers for a successful surgery and a smooth recovery (you’re going to be pretty sore for a bit.
    I went through this with my father – they were using cadaver veins (3x on each leg). I wished they had used what your docs did.
    Watch out for the oxy. He developed an allergy to it (apparently about 5% do), which was its own special hell. As Juan mentioned upthread, the degree of control the blob has over pain meds is ridiculous.
    Check back when you can. We’ll be here.

  22. There is a way if your docs/insurance will do it. Tell her you want a referral to a pain management anesthesiologist. You want a epidural pain pump with a mixture of Marcaine and Fentanyl. We tunnel it from the center over the spine to your flank. The tube is very small and you won’t feel it. Simple terms think of dominoes (the nerve) all lined up and you tip the end one (the pain impulse) and all them start falling down (going to your brain that tells you it hurts). The epidural block is like taking away about 5 or 6 dominoes. The falling dominoes cannot bridge that gap so it stops the rest from falling. The epidural blocks that nerve from delivering that pain impulse to your brain, so you don’t know you have pain. They can be placed in a regular exam room so nothing not a big deal. Fentanyl is fat soluble not water soluble. It tends to remain where you place it. The nerve blocked is in a fatty space. It takes about 18 hours to even show up in your blood. Does not make you sleepy. One problem is crusty old shits go “Oh, pains gone I need to to change out the engine in the Sprite”. Epidurals can be that good. I have seen a lung taken out and 4 hours later they were up walking the halls without problems. The pump runs on a 9v battery and is very portable. Gives about a teaspoon/hour, but it can be increased or decreased as needed. Good until you have your surgery. When the juice runs low (about 3 days with our pumps) you just go in and they will change it out. The post above are very correct. I know of one case a doc at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center was arrested for giving oxiy to a woman with a tumor inside her spine! Dumbass DPS narc said she just wanted drugs. Judge through him out and bit the ass off the DA. Personally I think your days in the shop are over. Don’t tell work about anything, they will try to use it against you to get rid of you. Go out on your terms, not theirs. The company’s insurance co will push to get rid of you ASAP to minimize their cost. The company will want you gone to keep their med insurance rates down. CYA. Don’t talk to them. Don’t post on social media. They will use it against you.

    • Hot damn Phil, Listen to Ken!!! This vital info! When I was worse off, I went through some of what he explained. It’s worth the hassle of pursuing it!

  23. Good luck and hope you’ll be on the mend. We’re praying for you.

  24. I’m surprised they haven’t suggested fentanyl patches. They gave me them during cancer therapy. It was miserable when they wore out an has to be changed, but they worked ok.

  26. You might want to ask about Disassociative Ketamine Therapy. That’s my official medical opinion as degreed aeronautical engineer and licensed aircraft mechanic.
    Other than bad (but somewhat sarcastic) medical advice I offer hopes and prayers.
    One things for sure – getting old ain’t for sissies.
    PS – I like they way you describe it mechanical terms. You have a flair for speaking to your audience. Nicely done in the middle of a lot of pain.

  28. Had a tooth yarded out 6 months ago. Surgeon told me the jawbone was pretty much dead thanks to radiation 10 years ago for throat cancer. My jaw broke not long after the tooth was pulled, probably because the tooth was acting as a doubler to hold my bone together. The fix was remove the left half of my jaw & replace it with 6 inches of shin bone. 2 years, 20 plus surgeries and a whole heapin pile of bad after effects. Told ‘em to get hosed, I’m 65, don’t have that many summers left & I sure as hell ain’t giving up any to this nonsense. I’m living with a broken jaw and the feeling in my lower face like I’ve had a massive novocaine shot. It’s annoying. Nothing like what you’re goin thru tho ,brother. You’re gonna be a hurtin unit, but you’re also crotchety enough to beat this BFYTW. Ya gotta pay attention to the medicos tho. This is their job. We mechanics fix things, they fix people. We’ll all be here when ya get back.

  29. I will be praying for you and your family sir. I hope the procedure is wildly successful and results in a reduction of your pain and an increase in your mobility. I know you have been living with this for a while and the recovery will not happen overnight. (I know because I have survived the same) Patience and understanding will help conquer despair and provide your caregivers an incentive to keep you comfortable. Appreciate somehow the downtime and return when you are able.

  30. Prayers for you, your family, and your medical team. Oh, and do what they tell you to do, ya stubborn old coot!

  31. You know, this is how the Borg started… Next will be eye implants and the red HeNe laser pointer.

    I will man the helm again, you get better and stay crotchety but compliant to the surgeon and support staff. I am not conversant in these procedures but you know damn well I am going to research them and become more knowledgeable about them..

  32. We’ll be praying for ya Brudder and a successful outcome and less pain on the other side
    God Blesd

  34. Remind yourself, Phil, that it’s only going to be a period of pain before you are BETTER than before and (almost) new. You won’t always be suffering like this but your recovery is going to wear your nerves and test your patience. You’re tough enough to withstand it. Prayers daily until you’re past this.
    ~ mississloppigarro

  35. be careful with the morphine. it more like being drunk really, you just don’t care about the pain. I hurt myself a few times on that shit. doing stuff I should not have done. anyway. I hope it works out for you.
    pain sucks bigtime. I haven’t slept more than 2 hours in years now. you do get kind of used to it. well, you lay down whenever you can really.
    one of the many fun things about being on pain meds is the fact that people tend to think you having “fun” on them. yeah. right. kind of like how at the VA they keep saying “if I quit smoking , I live another 10 years” like I really want another 10 years of this ? the trick is to find the dose that makes life sort of livable is possible. one where you don’t wake up everyday and pray for a massive heart attack.
    but, really. I do hope things turn out well for you. I say some prayers to hope they do.

  37. I’m not a medicine man so all I can say is Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry.
    I could never figure out what the worrying did, so don’t do it.
    All the Best
    bob

  38. We’re both going to be praying for your quick and total recovery. In the mean time we’ll be hoping that the pain med change will be successful and you can get around without so much problem. Praying for healing on your foot too.

  43. As someone who just got out of the hospital last week (emergency nephrostomy to prevent a pinched off ureter from killing a kidney) I pray that you receive the same level of excellent care that I received. Praying for a smooth, uncomplicated procedure and a swift and full recovery for you, Phil!

    • Owwee! Did they pass a probe up to clear the blockage and spread the ureter, or did you go the wussy way and had it surgically opened? Did your kidney function return to normal?

      • Yeah, that was definitely no fun at all.

        They couldn’t spread the ureter open because there was a mass in the pelvis that was pinching it off. They did snake a wire down the ureter into the bladder that they will use to pull a tube through in a month or so when all of the inflammation has calmed down.

        The real suckage part came when they did a biopsy of the mass and found that it was a form of liver cancer that had spread from a sarcoma on a bile duct and had spread from there to that mass and to the lungs. If the oncologist’s estimate is correct then all of this will become a moot point in less than a year. And for extra bad luck points, I’ve spent the last 18 months being treated for metastatic prostate cancer and finally beat that one. I didn’t realize that, just like your phone or computer, that cancer was doing an upgrade in the background without my knowledge.Sneaky little bastard!!!
        Oh well…none of us gets out of here alive, right?

  44. Buddy, most of us are scattered and too far away to offer physical assistance but whatever you need, pretty sure if you blast it out, somebody will come.

  45. Dammit Brudder! 1st, don’t worry ’bout the bleg. We’ll be here when ya get healed up!!

    Being ‘of a certain age’, I can understand what yer gonna have to deal with post surgery. Then again (as has been said above), gettin less young ain’t for wusses – last birfday was my 52nd 18th birfday (Dick Clark said I could be the Official Oldest Living Teenager after he retired when I met him)! No spring chickens here ’bouts! Specially when there’s surgery involved. I’ve – so far – *mostly* avoided the surgery part, but it would take a 1/2 page to list the injuries.

    Prayers fer you, the surgery team, and yer full recovery. If’n I wasn’t 3000 miles away, I’d come visit yer ornery ole ass! An ornery-ness convention!! BFYTWđŸ„ƒđŸ„‚ Us mech-a-nics gotta stick to-gedder! At any rate, best wishes!!!!

    Mike in FLA.

    PS: Don’t go pinching the (female) nurses on the ass (or anywhere else), either!

  50. Pingback: Prayer Request for Phil @ Bustednuckles

  53. Hold Fast and Keep the Faith. (Stolen from The Tactical Hermit)
    Wish you all the best!

  54. Well, I’m not any good at this, having undergone life-changing surgery myself, (though nowhere near the scope of what they’ve got planned for you), but rest assured you have my best wishes and hopes during the ordeal.

  55. Phil,

    Have heard of you and read your blogs. Good writing that is Spot On!

    I will pray for you in my Combat Veterans Bible Group… even though I am a poor Christian just trying to do the right thing now in my life.

    Keep the Faith!

    Jack Lawson

  59. I hope the medical procedures go without any mistakes or long term effects that harm or cause you pain. Hoping that relief from your daily pains are remedied and you feel much better.

  60. Mr. Knuckles:

    Prayers for the wisdom and skill of your Doctors. Good fortunes on everything else.

    Spin

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