Frank Fusco
Member
- Messages
- 12,796
- Location
- Mountain Home, Arkansas
Long post coming to explain my absence. First, thanks to those who expressed concern about why I had vanished. This is truly a family gathering place. I missed my FW friends. A little background, last year, when I was still 'only' 77 years old and healthy, in early May I had two small heart attacks. Foolishly, I ignored the first one.
Typical male macho denial at work there. 24 hours later I had a second and went to the ER. A day later I was in the operating room with my chest opened and on a heart/lung machine, technically dead. Six hours later and a quintuple by-pass operation I was on the way to a great recovery. Not much later, in mid June, I began having serious back pains. That led to a steady stream of visits to doctors, ER and imaging clinics. In early December I got a call from the office of the Veterans Association neuro-surgeon in Little Rock. He instructed me to get there "right now". Being 150 miles away that was impossible but I did get there the next day, thanks to a dear friend who drove me. The day after arriving I had surgery to remove a tumor from inside my spine in the T10-T11 region. I have an eight inch scar on my back where he went through skin, muscle, connective tissue and bone to get to the tumor. The tumor (blessedly benign) was "about the size of a grape". It sent out many 'tentacles' that were wrapping around the main spinal nerve/cord. The surgery took four hours to remove tumor and tentacles. Now, two months later, I am home again. The worst I can say about my stay at the VA hospital is that it was boring and certainly not home. The care was the best and I am grateful to the entire staff. At home I am wobbling around with a cane or walker. That is huge news considering that before the surgery I was almost completely paralyzed from the waist down. I can now walk again and am improving slowly but steadily as the affected nerve recovers from being crushed. The doctor says I will regain 90% or more of my normal function. He is a great surgeon but I have no doubt that the thoughts and prayers of many friends played a big factor in my coming this far. As far as my woodworking is concerned, I haven't used my shop in months. In fact I had put all my tools up for sale before the surgery. They are no longer for sale. I hope to get back in there making sawdust within a month or so. And, here I am again. 
Y'all are just going to have to put up with my rantings a while longer.
And, not forgotten, I missed y'all and thank you for being part of my family. 
Typical male macho denial at work there. 24 hours later I had a second and went to the ER. A day later I was in the operating room with my chest opened and on a heart/lung machine, technically dead. Six hours later and a quintuple by-pass operation I was on the way to a great recovery. Not much later, in mid June, I began having serious back pains. That led to a steady stream of visits to doctors, ER and imaging clinics. In early December I got a call from the office of the Veterans Association neuro-surgeon in Little Rock. He instructed me to get there "right now". Being 150 miles away that was impossible but I did get there the next day, thanks to a dear friend who drove me. The day after arriving I had surgery to remove a tumor from inside my spine in the T10-T11 region. I have an eight inch scar on my back where he went through skin, muscle, connective tissue and bone to get to the tumor. The tumor (blessedly benign) was "about the size of a grape". It sent out many 'tentacles' that were wrapping around the main spinal nerve/cord. The surgery took four hours to remove tumor and tentacles. Now, two months later, I am home again. The worst I can say about my stay at the VA hospital is that it was boring and certainly not home. The care was the best and I am grateful to the entire staff. At home I am wobbling around with a cane or walker. That is huge news considering that before the surgery I was almost completely paralyzed from the waist down. I can now walk again and am improving slowly but steadily as the affected nerve recovers from being crushed. The doctor says I will regain 90% or more of my normal function. He is a great surgeon but I have no doubt that the thoughts and prayers of many friends played a big factor in my coming this far. As far as my woodworking is concerned, I haven't used my shop in months. In fact I had put all my tools up for sale before the surgery. They are no longer for sale. I hope to get back in there making sawdust within a month or so. And, here I am again. Y'all are just going to have to put up with my rantings a while longer. And, not forgotten, I missed y'all and thank you for being part of my family. 
Keep on improving! 
) and hoping that everything worked out OK. Glad you're on the mend!
