It's official! We are discharged!
Dave had an incredible Vertebroplasty procedure. It was evidently a very nasty fracture. That was the bad news. The good news is Dave's bones were so hard it made the surgeon's job difficult. HARD BONES!!!!! YAY! The other good news was that the surgeon was really good and he did an even better job than he thought possible and is VERY PLEASED with what he was able to accomplish. He fully agreed with our primary doc that Dave's rib pain was primarily coming from an assault on the nerve pathway source at the fractured vertebrae and radiated out over the ribs. In addition to fixing the fracture, removing the splintered bone, etc., he also did a nerve block at the site to give the area a chance to recover from months of inflammation and aggravation. This will handle Dave's pain immediately and he should be able to get off all pain meds as soon as he can taper safely down. The doc does not expect in 6 weeks when the block wears off for Dave to have anymore pain at all in its natural state. It will be a permanent and complete resolution. Additionally, Dave has FULL MOBILITY and NO RESTRICTIONS except as presented from his Myeloma, but not from the compression fracture. That is a done deal. What a great report!
We come back in a month and learned that it is in fact a 4 day chemo regimen. (bummer) However, Dave will go home directly to recover. Then April the second transplant. So nothing we do from now on will be as intensive as this has been. The worst is now finally over and Dave truly is on the fast road to a full recovery.
Thanks for all your continued great support, messages, etc. It has made dark days brighter and light days explode with rainbows.
