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George Trapp
Dan, (Janet too )...... You are the man ! I was wondering when someone would open up about this craziness..... I needed another cervical discectomy and fusion so I chased down Dr Daniel Gelb who the Lord hooked me up with at Hershey in Dec of 98. I found him at the U of MD Medical Center where he both teaches and does various ortho surgeries. His special interest is the spine and as far as I am concerned there is none better...... Again the timing was perfect, so on March 6 Iwas under the knife. Went great. Of course I left the OR slightly more dead than I entered, this due to having the removed disc replaced by a chunk of cadaver bone. So my X-rays now show 12 screws, 2 rods, 1 plate and two wires twisted together. In all 5 of my 7 cervical vertebra and thoracic # 1 are involved. It's all titanium so no problem with magnetometers. I was back home the following afternoon. ...... Virtually pain free. .... Can't beat the combination of the great God and a fine surgeon at my back. Faith and science at work together.
So on March 23 I was back for my first post op check. I was sweating that a bit as I had exceeded my lifting restrictions x 10. I saw the X-rays before Dr Gelb got to me. I knew they were perfect which he shortly confirmed. Jan, and our older daughter were not permitted in the building. Between taking my temp on entry, taking BP and pulse, removing some metal staples, being x-rayed and meeting with Dr Gelb, 4 of the 5 persons I eyeballed in the office were within 2 feet of my face. But as I told my family and friends the app't was perfect.
On March 30 the letter came. The bottom line, you have likely had close contact with a person who tested positive for CV. This Sunday AM my quarantine ended. I, Jan and our daughter have been entirely asymptomatic. We Praise God for that and of course we adopted recommended health practices throughout..... One thing impressed on me is that I refuse to be governed by fear, so except for the period of self quarantine, I have gone about my business, albeit taking recommended precautions. ........
Living out in the country, we have space to operate, have been taking walks, doing yard work, etc. I put two bikes in shape to ride......My eyes are taking a hit from so much time messaging friends and family, and am eating too much. Obviously neither of you has trouble disciplining your eating. From your photos you look easily within 15 lbs of you HS weight as seniors at CHS, maybe closer.
A prayer I have repeated almost daily is that as in the original Passover, the blood of The Perfect Lamb is , figuratively speaking, on the door posts of family, friends, those who worship the only Awesome God,etc so that this misery passes by without causing harm to them and theirs. Obviously, I do not wish CV infection on any person, whether or not I particularly like or agree with them. In this we truly are all together because this virus cares nothing about any of the ways we all differ. Fighting it together is the only possibility to defeat it with as little loss of life as possible......
As you realize, I have followed your posts since 2013, enjoying the fact that you and so many of our classmates are so accomplished. My emphasis has always been people, but I admit to a good degree of selfishness. That has slowly changed since the first neck event in 1998. In this crisis I have been contacting friends and family by the means I use attempting to encourage them with jokes, memes, spiritual insights from various sources, phone calls, etc.......
I wish you both , and all our surviving classmates, health and safety as this crisis runs its course. ----- Blessings, George
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for the back at ya, Marilyn...I must of picked up on your wave lenghts
