Retirement! 12/12/12

After working for over 40 years, I'm punching out for the last time today.

I'm retiring to a slower pace of life, more time to exercise, and time to enjoy my family who are finally all in Portland.  It's a bittersweet day. I was raised to know that you work to earn what you want.  We were never given anything; we earned our first bicycles (mine was a one speed when everyone else had 10 speeds!), and bought most of our own clothes (except for what my Mom made for us).  So, earning a paycheck has always been a big part of my life and independence.  Luckily, I am married to a true partner who knows the value of other things in a marriage besides earning a paycheck.  I am looking forward to taking care of Mark.

What will I do?  The questions is what will I NOT do?  I have so many projects on my list, places to travel, and things I want to do with my husband, grandkids and kids. I will continue to volunteer my Thursday mornings with Meals on Wheels, manage our rentals, and I am looking forward to not being in a hurry to be anyplace.

Here's how I've earned my keep for the past 40 years:

Berry picking in Hillsboro: I think this was in 6th and 7th grade?  Earned less than $1 a flat and maybe picked 3 flats a day?  Best part was eating the berries and the berry fights.  And, my Mom had free child care!

Dairy Queen, West Slope:  First "real" job.  I earned $1.15 an hour.  Minimum wage was $1.25 but I was under age, so they were allowed to pay me less.  Best benefit was making "custom" sundaes  to eat. I lasted three months here.

Insurance Examinations Inc.: my Dad was a partner in this business and I did office work in the summer.

Meier and Frank: Senior year of high school I worked as a "floater".  Most memorable time is working in the Young Oregonian shop and listening to the Blazer game as they won the NBA championship in 1977.

Emporium: Summer job between years in college.  Worked with my buddy Kelly Mills.  She worked in the makeup department and I worked in Kids.

Standard Insurance:  http://www3.standard.com/
With the help of my Aunt Elizabeth I got this great summer job downtown.  The job involved data entry.  We were inputting all the insurance policy information into the NEW computer system.  Most vivid memory is the hangnails I got from filing when the system was down.

Instromedix:  Got this job through a temp agency and assisted the Production Manager.  Another great office job.  I met a great mentor here, Linda Ladd Harrington.  It was the summer after I graduated from college and was looking for a full time career job.  She was a great resource.

Oregon Business Magazine: www.oregonbusiness.com
My first job in my field after college.  I graduated from U of O with a Journalism degree.  This job was very entry level.  I was the office manager, circulation manager, sometime photographer, sometime layout assistant and advertising traffic manager.  Worked on my first "computer" here, a Compaq that was basically a CPU with a screen with orange type.  The office was located on Interstate Avenue back when prostitutes walked the streets there. A great learning experience!

Nike:  Landed a job in their temp pool and worked in the Employee Store for the winter.  This was back in the day (1984) when the store was in a non-heated warehouse in Beaverton.  I remember wearing three layers of clothing.  I also remember the dollar bins of rugby shirts!  Those were the days.

American Southwest Financial Services:  Moved to Phoenix and landed a job with this company that bundled home mortgages into bonds.  Sound familiar?  This was way before the sub prime mortgage crisis.  It was a cooperative of home builders who sold their mortgages to Wall Street and a CMO (Collateralized Mortgage Obligation) was born. Worked with a great "family" of young people, what a great time.  I worked in Operations and Marketing.

Consulting work for the RTC: I was on a "break" from ASF and spent three months doing consulting work at Bluebonnet Savings and Loan in Dallas, TX during the Savings and Loan crisis.  I lived in Dallas and commuted home every other weekend.  We audited the mortgage files.  Fascinating work!

Oregon Garden Products:  Moved back to Portland and got a job at this nursery in Hillsboro.  I worked in Marketing and handled our trade shows and catalog.  The best part of the job was getting in the company van and touring the farms to take pictures of the flowers, trees and shrubs.  I learned a lot about plants that still sticks with me today.

Dr. Martens:  www.drmartens.com
Worked for this awesome, cool, hip company starting in Customer Service, but soon moved to Marketing.  Worked with so many fun people.  My favorite position was the Website Content position that I held before I left.  It allowed me to use my love for writing and I also got to travel to England to tour the factory.  This also may be where my love for Las Vegas was born :)

Merrill Lynch: http://wealthmanagement.ml.com/wm/system/ViewFAPage.aspx?pageurl=SSG_TEAM Left full time work at Dr. Martens to be home more while my kids were in high school.  I assisted Mark at ML with his marketing and customer service efforts.

Linwood Elementary School:  I had thoughts of returning to school to get my teaching certificate, so I got this job as a teaching aide to see if I really did want to be a teacher!  I had the pleasure of working with awesome teachers, other aides, and parents during my time here.  Worked with Kindy's, 1st and 2nd graders.

Priority Footwear: www.priorityfootwear.com
 I was wooed here by a former Dr. Martens colleague and stayed for seven and 1/2 years! Three days a week allowed a flexible schedule and time to travel with Mark.  We provide shoes and inserts for diabetics and I did the insurance billing.  I will miss my "family" here.

A new phase begins!

Celebrating 13 at Timberline and the Silcox Hut Winemaker's Dinner

Our wedding day in the Raven's Nest at Timberline Lodge

The happy couple 13 years later!

 We were married at Timberline Lodge 13 years ago on a bright, sunny day in April.  Every year we celebrate that day by returning to the Lodge to spend the night and snowboard the following day.  Over the years, we have also combined it with David's birthday celebration and shared the weekend with him and some of his friends.  They got to stay in the dorm rooms on the first floor and we stayed up in our own room : )

This year it was just Mark and I and we timed our overnight stay with something new that Timberline Lodge started this year, the Winemaker's Dinner. www.timberlinelodge.com
 
We shared the unique and creative dinner paired with eight different wines with 20 other wine lovers  at 7,000 ft. at Silcox Hut.  The Silcox is an old historic hut that originally housed the chair lift at top of the original Magic Mile lift.  When the lift line was moved west to it's current position, the Hut fell into disrepair.  It was rescued by a group called The Friends of Silcox Hut, renovated, and listed on the National Historic Registry.  It was used as a warming hut for climbers for awhile, but as our host said "You can't make any money off of climbers".  Currently the Hut can be reserved for weddings, receptions, meetings, and overnight stays.  In fact, we celebrated Mark's 50th birthday there with 22 of our friends.  It is definitely a magical place.

The cat waits outside the Hut.

The evening began with a ride up to the Hut in a bright yellow snowcat.  It was stormy with white-out conditions, so there was no view. We arrived and mingled while tasting the first of eight featured wines by Chehalem Wines in Newberg. http://www.chehalemwines.com/

The first pairing was the 2009 Chehalem Wind Ridge Vineyard Gruner Veltliner.  It went perfectly with the Beet Juice Fed Kushi Oysters Raw on the Half Shell.  I am not a raw oyster fan, but I slurped one down, and it wasn't bad!   The wine was on the sweet side,  but yummy.

We took our seats at the long, rustic table in the main room of the Hut. Look at all the wine glasses! One of the best things about the dinner was meeting the others in the group.  There was a broad range of ages and backgrounds which made for interesting conversation.

The first course was Volcanic Salt Cured Oregon Rockfish.  It was served with the 2009 Chehalem Dry Riesling Reserve.  I'm not usually a big Riesling fan, but again, it tasted great with the food it was paired with.

 Second course was Torchon of Muscovy Duck Breast with Duck Gizzards Confit.  First, let me say I am not a Duck fan, (you know what I mean!), and most definitely, not a gizzards fan.  The way the Duck was presented was sausage-like and very tasty!  I was tricked into eating gizzard...I hadn't looked at the menu and I thought it was a mushroom.  It was delicious and buttery.  The two white wines served with this dish were the best yet.  2008 Chehalem INOX Chardonnay and the 2008 Chehalem Ian's Reserve Chardonnay (named after the winemaker's son who passed away).  The Reserve is one I will be looking for to buy for our wine rack.

 We sat across from the Wine Manager at Timberline Lodge, David.  The winery was represented by the owner, Harry Peterson-Nedry who has been making wine since the 1970's.  His winery was the first on the Ribbon Ridge.

 Next, we were served the main course, Applewood Bacon Wrapped Oregon Lamb Loin.  I usually avoid lamb on the menu, but gave this a try.  It was a little rare for me, but the bacon wrap gave it a good flavor.  My favorite part of the dish was the cute little Fava Bean Leek Croquette.  The winemaker paired this dish with two reds...2008 Chehalem Wind Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir and the 2008 Chehalem Stoller Vineyard Pinor Noir.  They were both excellent.  The side story here is that Timberline's Executive Chef, Jason Stoller Smith (who was preparing the dinner for us) is married to a Stoller daughter from the winemaking family.

 Then, of course, you have the cheese course!  Juniper Grove Creamery Tumalo Tomme with Landjaeger and Apple Salad.  So good with dried cherries and hazelnuts.  Served with another yummy pinot noir, the 2008 Reserve Pinot Noir.

 Finally, dessert!  Lemon Panna Cotta.  My favorite dish of the night!  Served with the 2010 Sext Riesling.  Perfect compliment to the soft lemon flavor of the dish.

So, now we have had wine poured into all eight of our wine glasses of all different shapes and sizes.  I paced myself and had just enough of each wine to get a good taste, yet still be able to stand at the end of dinner! The dinner was a great experience for me to try new tastes that I usually don't try.  And how can you beat the surroundings?

The amazing fireplace.

 The evening ended with a snowcat ride back down to Timberline Lodge where we had a room for the night.  The staff at Timberline always leaves us a small bottle of wine and shortbread cookies to share in honor of our anniversary.

 Morning dawned clear and blue with the new snow outside our window shimmering in the sunshine.

 We had brunch in the Cascade Dining Room at the Lodge.  I had great scrambled eggs, tasty potatoes, and always a must for me at brunch, BACON!

Mark headed out to snowboard with a couple we met at the dinner, and I rented snowshoes ( I left mine at the cabin).  The weather was absolutely perfect, just like the day after our wedding 13 years ago.  Look at how much more snow there is this year!

2011

1998

 Another great visit to Timberline.  Hopefully, they will have the Winemaker's Dinner Series next year and we can experience another great winery.

Green Light Means Go! Six Weeks Post Op...

Went to see Dr. Tatsumi for my six week post surgery appointment this past week.  One of the first things he asked me was "Do you have a blog?"  It seems that one of his patients had read my blog after a Google search and had told Dr. Tatsumi about it.  Wow.  He said that she wanted to make sure that when I came in again, that he told me how much she appreciated being able to read about someones experience with the Artificial Cervical Disc Replacement Surgery. 

We chatted about how I felt (which is pretty darn good), he tested my strength and feeling in my hands, and he showed me my X-rays.  I had had the X-rays taken right before this appointment. 

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The artificial disc is that bright white piece in the middle of my neck!

He said the device was sitting in the exact location it should be.  He assured me that it won't set off the airport metal detectors! He took his time with me and answered any questions I had.  I was given the green light to return to my normal activities.  I won't snowboard until next season, and I'll save my extreme downhill mountain biking for next summer, but other than that I'm going to back to my normal exercise routine.  This includes yoga, running and working out with a trainer once a week.  I know I'll be a little (or a lot) rusty, but am looking forward to using my muscles again!

I am feeling about 95% at this point.  Still have some muscle soreness and tightness in the left side of my neck and shoulder, but not as bad as pre-surgery.  This gets better as time goes by.  Also, I sometimes feel the burning in my left arm and hand that I had pre-surgery.  Again, this is SO much better than it was and is very infrequent.  I am taking an Aleve in the morning and nighttime to help with this soreness.  I did get a chair massage a week ago to help with some of the tightness in my neck and shoulders.  I have also scheduled an appointment with Tara Nikzi, Acupuncturist, http://www.therapiaclinic.com/practitioners.html, to help speed the muscle relaxation and promote the scar healing.

I have been prescribed six weeks of Physical Therapy, and I went to my first appointment the day after my appointment with Dr. Tatsumi.  I am seeing Matt Onderdonk, PT at OHSU Center for Health and Healing which is conveniently located two blocks from my condo. http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/providers/onderdom.cfm  He is being assisted by a PT intern named Laura.  They did an assessment and gave me some exercises to do a couple of times a day.
 
We were at the mountain this past weekend, and the snowboarding conditions were perfect.  Hated to miss out on a bluebird powder day on my board, but I strapped on the snowshoes and did a four mile snowshoe from Timberline Lodge to part of the Alpine Trail which leads down to Government Camp.  Coming uphill from the Alpine Trail at 5,500 ft. elevation was a good workout!

A gorgeous day for a snowshoe!

While I was waiting to meet up with Mark after my snowshoe, I chatted with Nick, the lift operator of the Mile Chair at Timberline.  We compared scars when I found out that he had a similar surgery a year or so ago.  His injury was much more exciting than mine though.  He was a Emergency Rescuer for the Army, and during a rescue, his rope snapped while he was dangling from a helicopter.  He dropped to the ground and broke his neck!  He is now retired and living the dream working at Timberline!

My next appointment with Dr. Tatsumi is in another six weeks.

I Love Bend, Oregon!

Mark and I made the trip to Bend (one of our favorite places!) to pick up David's bed and check on our rental.  Everytime we go we have a great time and this time was no exception.  We stayed at McMenamin's Old St. Francis hotel in downtown.  It is so warm and cozy, all done in beautiful warm wood and earth tones.  Of course, the artwork is fun and original.

 

We stayed in the Klondike Kate room.  Each room is named for either a student of the Old St. Francis Catholic school, or some colorful Bend character.  Kate was a former dance hall girl that moved to Bend and made a great impression on the locals!

Klondike Kate and LaMonkey.

The thing I like about this McMenamin's is that it has so many things to do right on the premises.  You can see a movie, soak in the soaking pool, have a cigar and whiskey at O'Kane's whiskey bar, have a beer (or two) at either of the two bars and restaurant.  They also deliver the local paper to your door in the morning along with a packet of their fresh ground coffee of your choice.  Unfortunately, this trip we were so busy we didn't make it to the movie or the pool.  Next time!  

Friday night, we had a great dinner in the restaurant and took a couple of baked goodies back to the room to enjoy.

Saturday, Mark had planned to snowboard at Mt. Bachelor, but it was raining and windy. We were woken up at 5 a.m. when a transformer blew outside and the electricity went out.  It came back on about 7:30, in time to make the coffee.  So, we just had a leisurely breakfast at Cafe Sintra downtown (excellent asparagus and goat cheese omelet!), then headed out for a walk.

One of the things I love about Bend is that it has the sophisticated, uniqueness of a big city, but still retains the charm of a small town.  Here a few things I found that make it what it is!

Bike rack with knitted cozies on the wheels!

On the Deschutes Trail, a sewer vent disguised as a colorful 

candy cane!

Drinking fountain on the trail which, of course, had a fountain for the dogs!

We parked our car at the First Street Falls Park and headed out on the Deschutes River Trail north along the river. 

Trailhead at First Street Rapids.

It's a great path that meanders along the river, a golf course, and by beautiful houses. Just as we started we spotted a kayaking class practicing in the rapids.

Kayakers practicing on the rapids on the Deschutes River at First Street Rapids.

The trail right by where I found a geocache.

I was pleased to see lots of birds!  Ducks, geese, Stellar Jays, and others singing in the trees. I also managed to snag two geocaches along the way.  I picked up a travel bug, Fat Guy, in one of them.  More on him later.  The weather was mostly sunny, but as we finished our 4.8 miles, it started to sprinkle on us.  Next time, we will take our bikes and go further on the trail.

We went back into town and had lunch at El Jimador (Mexican).  I had the best and chunkiest tortilla soup I have ever had.  I loved their tri-color chips too.  We took Mr. Fat Guy along.  Some travel bugs have special requests attached to them.  His was to have his picture taken with food.  I will post that picture on the Geocaching.com website so his owner can see : )

Fat Guy enjoys chips, salsa, a Margarita and Negra Modelo.

I had seen on the In Bend Facebook page that there was to be a comedy show at 10 Below at the Oxford Hotel downtown, on Saturday night.  It showcased local Central Oregon comedians.  A few were not so funny, there were a couple that kept me laughing non-stop.  Jacob Woodmansee was my favorite.  I also liked the guy that sang his jokes while playing the guitar.  They are doing a series of ComedyCore Underground shows in Bend throughout the summer.

Sunday was devoted to the rental.  Mark installed a Carbon Monoxide detector which is now the law in Oregon as of April 1.  I was pleased to see that the daffodils and other bulbs that Jenna had planted were coming up!  

Daffodils in bloom at the rental.

Then it was off to rent the UHaul and pick up David's bed to store for Amina to use when she moves here.  The final stop was the Olive Garden to visit with the Swaney family. 

Sarah and her beautiful daughters pose in front of the UHaul with me!

Sarah is a Tri-Delt sorority sister from the University of Oregon.  Soup, salad and breadsticks!

The drive home was so nice because it was sunny, warmer than it has been, and DRY!  We'll be back in the summer to enjoy some biking, hiking and paddle boarding!

The Osprey Choose the South Waterfront

The Osprey waits for his/her mate on the new nesting platform.  March 30, 2011

You may have seen my posts on my Facebook page regarding the Osprey and their nesting over the past few years.  There is quite a story behind their efforts (and my neighbors!) to nest by the Willamette in our neighborhood.  My neighbors Dr. Carol Otis and Roger Goldingay,  along with many other Portland and South Waterfront community residents, have dedicated countless hours advocating for this pair of Osprey and their desire to raise their young in our busy, noisy, bustling neighborhood on the Willamette.  I saw both Osprey sitting on the platform on top the pole this morning!

Here is an email sent out by Roger Goldingay outlining the journey over the past five years:

"Many of you have watched with wonder as the osprey pair have returned to the South Waterfront annually for the last five years and graced us with their presence. Their determined nest-building, fishing and chick-rearing was an inspiration to all who watched this "Citizen of the World" return after a perilous migration to Mexico of 3,000 miles. The story of the past four years of the osprey and its determination to be at this location is on this web site: http://www.zidell.com/Osprey/osprey_01.html  Many people saw with alarm that the hosts of the platform the past two years,  Zidell Marine ,  had to move the platform 50 feet back form the river in January, and then finally had to take down the entire nest platform Feb 28, 2011. There did not appear to be a location for the nest platform to go to in the vicinity. Scientists advised that any nest platform relocation should be within a maximum of 150 feet form the prior location.  The ten-ton specially fabricated steel nest platform had to taken down and  cut it into 3 pieces in order to perform environmental remediation for their property on the river bank this summer. The 40 foot steel pole was then designated to go to scrap. 

However many people in the community worked behind the scenes to try to find another solution. Ultimately a solution was found. The South Waterfront Dog Club (SWFDC) is pleased to announce we have been able to relocate the nest platform to a new location within 100 feet of the prior nest platform.

The osprey like this new location and have started building their nests here. In fact, as soon as the 65 ton crane from Hoffman Construction started putting the final pieces together on March 28, we saw the osprey circling and ready to make its home here.  On March 30, the male was seen doing an elaborate mating ritual called the Sky Dance.  In this behavior, after the male catches a fish, he flies up high in the air displaying the fish in his talons, then hovers. After a few seconds, he then plunges down toward the female (now waiting on the nest) with the fish held out toward her.  This tells her that he is a male worthy of mating. Watch closely and you may see this behavior repeated several more times in the next day or two.

Most osprey mate for life. The nest location is very important to them and they show a high degree of nest fidelity, meaning that they want to come back to the same nest site again and again each year. Although they migrate separately and live alone while in summer locations in Mexico, they reunite on the nest and this mating display is very important. So it was great news to see them successfully reunite on March 30, just two days after getting the nest platform in place.   Osprey eat only fish and are not a danger to mammals, dogs or people.

What is the-behind-the scene story about the nest relocation? Many individuals worked for months.  Finally it was determined that the legally incorporated South Waterfront dog club, which now occupies the adjacent land, could  accept the donation of the ten-ton specially fabricated platform from Zidell Marine.  This pole was  had been carefully designed by Jim Fox of Zidell Marine. He made it so that it did not have to be put into the ground, but rather rested on a base of steel.  Knowing that it might have to be removed someday, he designed it so that it could be cut apart and then reassembled.  SWFDC then  had to obtain a temporary permit from Portland Parks & Recreation for the relocation, get insurance liability, find a work crew and three large pieces of heavy duty construction equipment to relocate and reassemble the three pieces of the pole. 

The last step was to put a few sticks in the platform to assure the osprey pair that this indeed is home. 

It was truly a major community effort and was accomplished with the assistance, hard work and generosity of Zidell Marine, Hoffman Construction, Williams & Dame Development, South Waterfront Community Association, Nature and Greenspaces Committee, Banr Construction, Portland Parks Department, and South Waterfront Birders Association. It took a large flatbed truck, a 65-ton Crane, and a welding truck.  Twelve men worked for 5 hours to move the pieces form Zidell Marine and then put them together like large tinker toys in the current location .

Roger and helper dig post holes for the fence around the pole

This is a temporary relocation for this season only. There are currently no plans for a permanent osprey platform anywhere in the vicinity in the Central GreenwayMeriwether concierge. Or you can give it directly to any Board Member of the SWFDC (Betsy Russell, Michelle Cohen, Dr. Carol Otis, or myself, Roger Goldingay).

We have done our best to continue hosting this magnificent bird that has chosen this particular location"

Roger Goldingay, President, South Waterfront (Bird) Dog Club
email: goroger@earthlink.net

Carol L. Otis M.D.
www.sportsdoctor.com

This is the old location on the Zidell Property

Two Week Post-Surgery Update

Two weeks out from Artificial Cervical Disc replacement surgery and I have to say, I think it was a success!

After a few rough days right after surgery dealing with pain meds (and my body's dislike for them!), it has been a relatively smooth ride. The toughest part for me is acknowledging that my body needs time to heal and taking it easy. I returned to work this week for two days, about four and 1/2 hours each day. Next week I'm going to give it three days, hopefully full time. We'll see how the body feels : )

After trying both Vicodin and Tylenol 3, I have decided that I am sensitive to pain relievers and they don't work for me. Both worked OK for a day or two, then other symptoms kicked in like nausea, vomiting, migraine and insomnia. Sounds fun, huh? So, I have had to reduce the doses and take anti-nausea medication to help cut the pain.

19 days post surgery I don't have a lot of pain anymore. So, I'm not taking anything other than muscle relaxers. Mostly just discomfort in my neck when I have been "vertical" too long. My throat feels "thick". The soft tissues around the surgery site getting swollen. Also, the muscles in my shoulder and lower neck still have residual tightness from the years of guarding my pain and that will take a while to loosen up. And, it was re-traumatized with the surgery. I'm on muscle relaxers for that, as well as ice and heat, and in a week if it isn't better, may have to do a course of steroids. I would love to really stretch this part of my body, but can't do that for another month. I have been walking pretty much every other day since one week out from surgery. Walked 4.8 miles on Thursday and even found a geocache! I must be back :)

My first walk. Out with my friends Buddy and Bear from the 14th floor.

I had my two week post surgery check up with the Physicians Assistant to my Surgeon, Zach Knight-King. I have been impressed with his thoroughness and the time he takes with me at each appointment. I don't feel rushed like you sometimes do at Dr.'s offices. Talked to him about my insomnia and we came up with a plan. Hopefully it works! I will start PT at six weeks post surgery and at that time I can start back to yoga and weight work. Boy, that will feel good! I don't have to wear my bandage over the incision anymore, but until the steri-strips (and accompanying dried blood) fall off, I will be the chic scarf lady. No one needs to see that. I was able to give him some feedback on their office procedures. On the days when the Dr. is in surgery, there is no one in the office to "triage" patient calls. So, when I was reacting to the pain meds two days after surgery, we waited about 5-6 hours for a call back from the Dr.'s office after three calls from Mark.  He said that they had visited that issue already and had a new plan in place. I am the first person to avoid conflict, or tell someone something "bad", so I felt good about letting my feelings be known : )

Thought I would read a lot more and watch a bunch of T.V. Didn't really do that, but did watch Season Two of Mad Men, and am now totally addicted. Thanks Guido! And, the highlight of my recovery, I did our taxes.

I have been so lucky in this past few weeks to have friends and family check in on me with visits, phone calls, FB messages, e-mails, and food delivery! It really made the time go buy quicker and I feel loved. Thank you.

The view back to the 'hood on my second walk. I love where I live. Those blackberry bushes are where I see my hummingbirds.

Relief at Last! Cervical Artificial Disc Replacement Surgery

First a history...

I've suffered with neck, shoulder, and arm pain for the past four to five years. Burning, stinging, aching pain in the neck and shoulder that radiated down to my bicep, wrist and fingers. Two rear-enders in my car, numerous severe whiplash falls on my snowboard, and, I think, the final blow was riding headfirst into a metal crossbar on my bike. Through those years I have had numerous x-rays and one MRI to determine the source of my pain. Nothing ever showed up. So, I pressed on with physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, weight training, yoga, chiropractic care, cervical traction, a TENS unit, and a couple of steroid injections. All provided temporary relief, but I lived with constant nagging pain every minute of every day. I learned to push it to the back of my consciousness, and had almost accepted that it was my lot in life to live with pain. I continued to be active because really, it was when I was active that I was able to forget the pain. It was when I was still that it was worst.

Last summer a good friend of mine injured his neck in a motorbike accident and finally sought the opinion of a spine surgeon, Dr. Robert Tatsumi. He had surgery to replace a disc in his neck with an artificial disc. The surgery was successful and he is pain free.

I connected the dots when he said that his symptoms had been similar to mine. Even though I had been told that x-rays and MRI's showed nothing, I gave it a shot and saw Dr. Tatsumi. I left his office kicking myself that I had not seen him earlier. It took him just minutes to give a probable diagnosis. Cervical disc degeneration. This degeneration was causing disc fluid to leak out on my nerve and irritate it, causing my symptoms. To prove this theory, however, I needed to undergo a test to pinpoint the source of the degeneration. The test is called a Cervical Discogram. Unfortunately, my insurance company Aetna, classified this test as "experimental", so would not cover it. I decided that no matter the cost, the test needed to be done.

The Cervical Discogram...

I scheduled the test for January 8, 2011. I had it done at Providence Portland Hospital very early in the morning. No food or drink after midnight was the only preparation needed. We showed up at the hospital and the nurses settled me in. Mark was there with me as well. I changed into my hospital gown and waited. Dr. Joseph Stapleton, the Dr. performing the test, came by to say hi. Turns out my Dad used to give his dogs shots when he was alive. I loved making that connection. He explained the test. They would sedate me (Versed), but not too much so that I could be conscience enough to answer questions. He would then inject fluid into each of my cervical discs and then ask me to express my pain level. The disc with the most pain that mimicked my symptoms would be the disc that had the degeneration. I remember chatting with the Dr. and his assistant in the procedure room, but not much else. The results of the test proved that it was my C5 C6 disc that was the problem. One side effect of this test was that the pain in the disc became worse ongoing afterwards.

So, now we knew the source of my pain. Dr. Tatsumi called me and said, "Well, the best thing to do is to get that disc out of there!" I know that major surgery is not something to wish for, but I was actually excited to have a solution to my pain. The next hurdle was to see if Aetna would pay for the surgery. I was not encouraged by their lack of payment for my Cervical Discogram. Also, my friend who had had the surgery done had had to pay for it himself because United Healthcare would not pay for it. "Experimental". This is ridiculous...The surgery was approved by the FDA in 2007 and in all research I came across, it states that the surgery is a much better alternative than the other surgery that has been done to alleviate this problem in the past, spinal fusion. Fusion is much more invasive and leaves the vertebrae on either side of the disc fused together, which doesn't allow for movement. Also, there is a much higher chance for additional degeneration as the bone grafts fuse. The artificial disc replacement mimics the actual disc in that it provides for full rotation just like a disc would. This video is an animation of the actual surgery:



After a few tense weeks of waiting, we got the notice that Aetna had approved the surgery! I scheduled it for Tuesday, March 8, 2011. The month of waiting for the surgery was the worst. My pain seemed to get worse each day.

I had several calls from Legacy Meridian Park Hospital prior to my surgery to pre-register me and ask if I had any questions. I have nothing but good things to say about the hospital and their staff. I also had a pre-op appointment with Dr. Tatsumi where we went over the surgery and any restrictions both pre and post-op. At this appointment I also met with a nurse at the hospital for detailed instructions on pre-op restrictions regarding medications, etc.

The weekend before surgery we went to Bend for my last hurrah of the winter on my snowboard. We stayed at the elegant Oxford Hotel in downtown Bend and boarded at Bachelor on Thursday and Saturday. On Friday, I met up with college friend Sarah Swaney for an afternoon of ski-o-caching at Meissner Sno Park. I went to work on Monday and went to bed Monday night knowing that the next day would bring me relief from the pain that had been my constant companion for too many years.

The Day of Surgery

I had stopped eating and drinking at midnight the night before. Luckily, I was the first surgery scheduled at 7:30, so I didn't have to suffer too long. I was able to take my Thyroid medication and a Zantac with a sip of water in the morning. I had also taken a Zantac the night before. This is a new requirement to help alleviate nausea caused by anesthesia. I typically have had a bad reaction in this area, so I was glad to take the Zantac! Up with the birds at 4:45 a.m. to dress in freshly laundered clothes (another new requirement) after a shower and disinfecting of the surgical area. We arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m. Bonus about getting there that early, is that you get the primo parking spot!

We checked in, I got my bracelet and then went to Day Surgery. My nurse, Jan, introduced herself. I changed into my Bear Paws gown. Another improvement since my last surgery! This gown hooks up to a hose and hot air is pumped in! Cocoon-like heaven on earth in a cold hospital. It has been shown that a warm body is easier to operate on. Who knew? I could even control the level of air being blown in. Nice. The nurse put in my IV and my Scopalamine patch behind my ear (for nausea) and I was ready to go.

Dr. Tatsumi came by to check on me. He was wearing the same Oregon Ducks Columbia jacket that Mark had on. He is a graduate of Sunset High School, and the University of Oregon. Can't go wrong with a local boy. Dr. Good, the anesthesiologist, came in and introduced himself. He wondered if Mark was my Dad. I am going to take that as a compliment to me, not a slam to Mark : ) He wheeled me over to the operating room and just as he was saying that he had slipped me a "cocktail" to relax me I instantly felt "relaxed". Next memory was the mask coming over my nose, then nothing....

I woke up in the Recovery Room after surgery. I say woke up loosely, because I could NOT keep my eyes open. And looking back, why did I think I needed to? Spent some time there and then they took me to my room at about 10:30 a.m. Don't remember getting into the bed. Spent the next four hours again, trying, to keep my eyes open. They brought me "lunch". I ate some of the cherry jello, but could NOT keep my eyes open long enough to eat : ) Finally, around 3 p.m. I seemed to snap out of it. The nurse helped me to the bathroom and then I took a stroll on the hospital floor with Mark. At this point, I was not feeling a lot of pain. One strange thing on the walk was my propensity to hiccup with a nice healthy burp at the end of it. Could not control it, so didn't fight it. My nurse, Meghan, was great. Dr. Tatsumi came by to check on me around 4 p.m. and I asked if I could go home. He said no problem! I was impressed with the speed of "checkout" at this hospital. Usually, it takes forever for all the paperwork to happen and you hurry up and wait to leave. I got dressed, again in another set of freshly laundered clothes that I brought in a plastic bag. I was escorted out in a wheelchair and Mark drove me home and promptly deposited me in bed in freshly laundered sheets (to fight infection). I don't remember much about that evening : )

Home:

My incision is on the front of my neck on the left side and should be about an inch long. Haven't seen the actual incision yet. The most painful part has been my throat for a few days after surgery where they put the tube down, and now swallowing. I think everything is swollen around my windpipe and esophagus, so I am having difficulty swallowing things. I do have pain in my neck and shoulders that the Dr. says are my muscles reacting the trauma of surgery.

So far recovery is better each day. The only setback I had was the Thursday after the surgery. Wednesday I felt great! Vicodin was working, muscle relaxer was working, I was resting comfortably. About 2 a.m. Thursday morning I got up with a horrible headache and feeling not so great and in pain. So, I took a Vicodin. Woke up in the morning and could barely open my eyes the headache was so bad. I'm thinking it was a migraine. Made myself a smoothie and sent Mark off to work and went back to bed. Darkness was good : ) Had to make a run for the bathroom when my smoothie came back up. It really is no fun throwing up when you have just had surgery on your neck. I texted Mark and he turned around and came home.

He spent morning trying to reach someone in Dr. Tatsumi's office who could possibly prescribe another pain med that wouldn't make me sick, or at least just to ask what other OTC pain relief I could take.  Finally Mark convinced me to take half a Vicodin. And of course, literally two minutes after that the Physician Assistant at Tatsumi's office called back. They prescribed Tylenol 3 and an anti nausea med. The Tylenol 3 did nothing for me, so I went back on the Vicodin (usually half a pill) with the anti nausea pill. This has worked as I wean myself off of the pain med.

Home care and Restrictions:

I was given a collar to wear at home when I am not laying down. This is to support my neck so there isn't so much pressure on the neck to be supportive. I have been pretty good about wearing it, but sometimes it feels so much better not to have it on. I need to keep the dressing on the incision until I go in on March 25 for a two week checkup. In the meantime, I am to change the dressing every other day after showering. During the shower I put a waterproof bandage on the site. We had gotten a new Tempurpedic bed a few months ago along with Tempurpedic pillows. Both the bed and the pillow have been heavenly in my recovery. I have taken two weeks off of work and I am glad I did. Sitting at a desk for 8 hours would be really painful at this point. I am sure I will go a little stir crazy during this time, but I hope to get out and start walking soon. Tonight may be my first walk with Mark : ) I am not to lift more than five pounds for the first two weeks and I am not allowed to drive during that period as well. I will post after my two week visit to the Dr. with a status report!

I have been so lucky to have Mark as my caretaker. He knows how I am about doing things I shouldn't do, so he has been on top of the housework so I am not tempted. He also doesn't take it personally when I snap. I also have great family and friends! Lots of goodies have been brought by so that Mark doesn't really have to think about what we will eat. And special thanks to my neighbor Carol for all the beta and the goodie bag. Buster has been a great nap companion too.