Just a week prior to our departure for the Chesapeake Bay last September, Lilly was getting into one of her carpet cleaning vans and felt a weird sensation in the lumbar (lower) section of her back; nothing traumatic, but later she described it as "just a weird kind of feeling" and so she carried on. Throughout our September to November 1600 mile cruise from Jacksonville to Chesapeake Bay and back, she developed back / hip / leg pain and her condition steadily deteriorated. While sailing the Bay we communicated with her brother-in-law Dr. Rod Marcom, and on his advice we tried several different techniques to relieve her pain; from deep massage, to stretching, to inversion - Tom even hung her upside-down from the mains'l boom... Most of these modus operandi gave her some temporary relief, but we were just not making any significant progress. Once we got back to Jacksonville, Lilly was pretty much bed-ridden by her condition, and Dr Rod went to work on her with drugs and the osteopathic manipulation of her spine. (Rod is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.) She seemed to respond and get better; however just before Christmas her whole situation went south, and nothing seemed to relieve her excruciating pain. An MRI showed that she had blown out the L4-L5 disc in her back, and she needed an operation to repair her spinal column. Dr. Rod referred us to Dr. Mark Spatola, a neurosurgeon who practices in the Orange Park Medical Center, and Lilly - who had all the "right" symptoms was subsequently scheduled for an operation on 20 January. The method Dr. Spatola used was soooo kool - it is called minimally invasive spinal surgery, and it involves some remarkable technology from the MEDTRONIC Company. Once Dr. Spatola got inside her spinal column, he found a 4 inch wide mean streak that runs right up the middle of her back, and a rather large piece of cartilage-type material from the herniated disc pressing against a nerve bundle which ultimately runs down her left leg. He removed the debris from the blow-out and repaired the disc. When Tom's mom Grace had her back operated on several years ago, they used the then-standard invasive procedure of laying open the muscles and ligaments of the spine to gain access to the site of the repair, and this resulted in a 6 week convalescence. But in Lilly's case, immediately after Dr. Spatola and his team repaired Lilly's back, and while she was still in the recovery room, he told her to "lift your left leg" (she had not been able to lift this leg for over 6 weeks), and she did! Two and a half hours after the surgical procedure was over, she WALKED OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, pain-free, with a repaired disc. It was simply incredible! To see a really kool animation of the MEDTRONIC METRx System go to:
http://www.lessinvasivespine.com/metrx-system.html
and to read about the procedure itself go to:
http://www.lessinvasivespine.com/mis-lumbar-laminectomy.html
This is really amazing stuff!

Lilly sez: While Tommy Technology was oohing and aahing over the gadgets, I was thanking God for the relief I felt, I was praising God for wonderful men like Dr. Marcom and Dr. Spatola, and I was being grateful for having access to such effective health care - miracles do take place every day! I asked God's blessings on the superb team of medical pros who worked together to make me whole again: Dr. Rod Marcom and his nurse Kathy; Dr. Mark Spatola, his Physician's Assistant Dr. Effie Burke, and their surgical tech Catherine; The dedicated folks at the Orange Park Medical Center Day Surgery, intake RN's Irene and Louise, day surgery RN Tammi, and Operating Room RN Karen; The life support team which literally kept me alive during the surgery was lead by my anesthesiologist Dr. Zapp, Nurse Anesthetist Tracey watched over my life every minute, and Courtney monitored my central nervous system. In the recovery room RN Jason took such great care of me while I was coming back to the land of the living, and the friendly Haitian orderly Michelle was a ray of sunshine as he wheeled me out to my waiting truck and loving husband. OH MY GOSH! I truly was blessed by each and every one of these folks.

Tom sez: Looking back, we can see that Lilly had experienced the insidious, and gradually increasing symptoms of spinal column deterioration for at least the past 3 years - and probably much longer. Her many years of grueling physical activity in the carpet cleaning business had taken a heavy toll on her back; but she just peddled harder on her bike in an effort to overcome the inevitable. After all, Tough Chick is pretty tough. The situation with Lilly's back has given me a much greater appreciation for what vets do - I now know how difficult it is to understand someone with the communication skills of a stoic cocker spaniel... (Lilly sez: "What ever.") As she convalesces, of course she has some days which are better than others, but she is making great progress, and we (including her doctors) think that she has a great propensity for healing, and a restoration to a pain free life. As you can imagine keeping this gal within the bounds of "moderation" in her physical therapy program is quite a challenge - her philosophy of "just work harder" or "get me that bigger hammer" is what got her in trouble in the first place. I have made a living on the waterfront for much of my life, working with some pretty tough characters like US Navy deep sea divers, and I think that I know how to help my Tiger Lilly.

OK, that is what has been happening around the good ship Tiger Lilly. Lilly is on the mend and Tom is just going to have to get over taking a grizzly old neurosurgeon on his honey moon... We know how uninteresting it can be to listen to someone else go on and on about their aches and pains, but we hope that you can find the goodness in our experience with disease and technology, and most of all faith and healing.

If you navigate to our PICTURE GALLERY (the right-hand column of this blog) and traverse thusly: Crew, Family & Friends / LILLY's BACK! We have some interesting pictures which will enhance the explanation of Lilly's condition. Just click on each picture for some clever wittacizms and crittacizms...