Charles sent this info: "I will enter Medical City Plano hospital tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 16) and have back surgery one week later (Wednesday, Feb. 23). It's a fairly routine surgery on (1) a herniated disk in my lower back that has left me wheelchair-bound for several weeks; and (2&3) on stenosis (narrowing) of two adjacent vertebrae. On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain in my upper left leg is about an 8 throughout the day, for which I take a couple of Tylenol. Although the surgery is routine, there is significant risk because I have been on a blood thinner (Brilinta) since receiving a stent last July. I can't be on a blood thinner during major surgery because I could bleed to death, but without the blood thinner, I have significant risk of a potentially fatal blood clot at the site of the stent. (I'm told a stent is a "magnet" for a blood clot -- thus the need of a blood thinner). So they will substitute a less powerful blood thinner (Heparin) over the week leading up to the surgery; stop the Heparin the day before surgery; then put me back on Heparin immediately after surgery. Then switch back to Brilinta. There's the possibility/probability of potent steroids along the way as part of the puzzle of how to minimize the bleeding and simultaneously guard against a deadly blood clot. My age (78) is an additional risk factor. So … I will be in Medical City Plano for a week before the surgery, with cardiologists involved, then the back surgery by world-renowned Dr. Theodore Belanger of the Texas Back Institute; and then back under the scrutiny of a cardiologist for "several" days as I get weaned back onto a blood thinner. Dr. Belanger was a colleague of Dr. Andrew Simpson, the Texas Back Institute doctor who performed life-saving neck surgery on me in August 2017, but who now is located in Boston. I will be in excellent hands from start to finish, and I know I have the prayers of family and friends, which I deeply appreciate."
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