ACDF Neck-Spine surgery, artificial intelligence, and a poem
I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels
By Chuck Wiser, photo by Dan Jordan
Things have been a little slow on the writing, theme development, end of things this week as I have been winding down from my exciting week of surgery, and recovery from same, last week. As noted last week I had prepared my Wrambling ahead of time. Having had my surgery Wednesday, I was incarcerated at Arnot Ogden Medical Center until my escape Friday. What was typically a “same day” medical procedure ended up being a “two days and a wake up” adventure. That phrase comes from a military “short timers” mantra, as one awaits discharge from the service. The countdown often started within a month of the much-awaited date.
Without going into the gory details, my ACDF neck-spine surgery involved entry through the front (anterior) of the neck to operate on the *5th* thru 7th vertebrae and disc, which involved some “cutting and welding” in terms that I understand. Recovery and the start of healing from that process was pretty much straight forward but they wanted me to stay the first extra day for observation given the amount of work that was done. The second day stay was pretty much an accommodation to my needs regarding the 2 hour transportation home following my surgery.
This was my first experience with the Arnot Ogden hospital which wasn’t where I had thought it was. As you travel Rte. I86 west of Elmira you can observe a very nice-looking medical center, labeled Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Big Flats. This medical center is St. Joseph’s, which is a branch having combined older former facilities. The facility I was at is located in the outskirts of Elmira. I was very impressed with the facility and the operations process. The entire staff was friendly, courteous, knowledgeable, and readily accommodated my needs and wants. Two of the Nurses, Maddie and Steve, stood out, however, as they were my primary care givers. Steve and I hit it off right off the bat as he was slightly older than your typical nurse and we shared previous military duty experience, we both having been in the Navy. Their shifts put them in my care for most of my waking hours. This is a big shout out to Arnot Ogden Medical Center in general, and Steve in particular for making my short stay very enjoyable. My family thinks that I enjoy these hospital “adventures,” and to a degree, maybe I do. Without people like those mentioned herein, my acceptance and positive attitude that comes from the experience would not be as evident.
*5th* as noted above was a reminder to myself to mention how much I despise the automatic updating that recent software programs have forced on us even somewhat before Artificial Intelligence. Changing menu options, and finding out how to do things that you once knew how to do with the old system is very frustrating. Trying to type 5th without it showing up as 5th cost me about 45 minutes.
I started my writing on my office computer, as it provided easier access to some of the attachments I planned to use. Unfortunately, it had updated itself to the new Office 365. I had to give up on that and here I sit, laptop, lap top. Fortunately, despite the pain of the process, once again I learned how to do something else “editing wise” in Word. If I keep it up, when I get to my 90’s I will have learned enough about “word-processing” to make someone a pretty decent secretary/typist. I guess they are now called “keyboarders” as all they do is ride the key-board.
This ends the formal Wramblings ramblings, and I will insert a couple of my older poems, so as to honor those who once primarily wore the traditional white hospital outfits, and secondly to show my gratitude for the arrival of Spring. Thanks once again to Dan Jordan for his wonderful picture taking, and more importantly for his sharing them with us.
Please contact me if you have any questions, suggestions, comments or concerns at: IM.Wiserdad@gmail.com
