As I was coming to full consciousness following spinal surgery, I asked the doctor, “How did it go?” He said, “Well all I can say is it was very unusual. I have done many of these surgeries, but this one was quite unique, a one of a kind.” I was intrigued to know more.
Two weeks before, my wife Carol and I along with our 2-year-old son Randy went to Mission Bay Park on a beautiful Saturday morning. There we joined many of our church friends for a barbeque and a day playing volleyball. We set up our chairs and a table in preparation for more of our friends to arrive.
Once settled in I joined some others to practice at the volleyball court. Ten minutes into our warmup I jumped high to spike the ball. When I landed, something happened. I didn’t really feel anything, but I knew I had landed funny.
I left the court and sat down on a lawn chair, and then it happened. Extreme pain in both my legs struck fear into me. With every move, the pain got worse. I realized I needed to get the hospital emergency room. Carol got one of our friends to take care of Randy and we made our way to my pickup truck. Every step I was in extreme agony, fear rising with every step. I eased my way into the truck and suddenly lost all feeling in my legs. Fear reached a crescendo. I urged Carol to drive as fast as she could to the emergency at Scripps Hospital a few miles away. Silently and I admit with some desperation, I prayed for help.
As we drove, I feared paralysis. I couldn’t feel anything in either leg. What was this going to do with my new job? How would I support my young family if I couldn’t walk? My head was whirling in circles. I prayed again.
We arrived at the emergency and to my surprise I was able to walk unaided. But even though I couldn’t feel my legs, they worked! I could walk! What in the world is going on? I was perplexed.
They asked me, “Who is your doctor?”
I said, “Doctor Thomas Laughlin.”
I was ushered to a waiting bed and waited for Dr. Laughlin, an orthopedic surgeon, to arrive.
We came to know Dr. Laughlin when he cared for Randy when he fell off a chair and broke his arm a few months earlier.
Dr. Laughlin examined me and sent me home to rest in bed. He asked me to contact him on Monday with my condition. On Sunday, I rested but by Monday morning the pain when walking was still intense. The doctor asked me to come back to the hospital.
I was admitted and put in traction to stretch my spine. My shoulders were restrained, and my legs were fitted with straps attached to heavy weights that hung over the end of the bed.
After a week in traction there was no improvement. The doctor said that he needed to do a myelogram in preparation for surgery.
A myelogram is a procedure where the patient is placed on a tiltable table. The room is outfitted with a fluoroscope that performs a dynamic X-ray of the spine. A dye is injected into the spinal column and the tabled is tilted slowly while the orthopedic surgeon and a radiologist analyze the images on the fluoroscope screen. They are watching for the anomalies that the dye would reveal, identifying the exact vertebrae affected.
I told Dr. Laughlin that I didn’t want to go through a myelogram.
He said, “Allan, I will not do the surgery without the myelogram.”
I said, “I will consent to you doing the surgery without the myelogram.”
He asked me why I was so adamant about not having the procedure. I explained that years ago, my father had a myelogram, and it was so painful he wanted to die. My doctor assured me he would do the myelogram himself and guaranteed I would have no pain. I acquiesced and prayed that God would guide my doctor so his promise would be realized.
Despite my trust in God and my doctor, I entered the room for my myelogram with great trepidation. I was wear a hospital gown and laid down on the cold table head down.
A nurse came in wheeling a cart with a large assortment of needles. My mistake was that I looked at those needles. They were varied sizes and thickness. The thickest ones sent a shiver up my spine. I lay there, deep concern seeping into my mind as each minute ticked by.
Dr Laughlin came in with a cheery hello. Then he looked at the assorted needles and chastised the nurse.
“Those are the wrong needles! Please get the needles I use.” He commanded.
The nurse replied, “Oh I am so sorry! You are the only doctor who uses the other needle set. I’ll be right back.”
We waited for the nurse to return, and the procedure began.
The doctor injected a numbing medication somewhere near my spine. Then he inserted a needle between two vertebrae. I felt warm spinal fluid flow down my back. He then injected the dye and left the room for the radiologist’s room.
Momentarily, the table began to slowly tilt. I could hear the two doctors conversing.
The I heard them say, “There it is! That’s it.”
Dr. Laughlin returned and said, “You have shattered disc between vertebrae L5 and S1. We are now prepared to do the surgery.”
Now came the moment of trepidation. Removal of the dye from my spine. This was the moment in the procedure that gave my dad the excruciating pain. The doctor commenced the final step of the procedure. To my surprise I felt NO PAIN!
Afterward I asked Dr. Laughlin why there wasn’t any of pain I so feared. He explained that the needles he uses are so configured to preclude the fine nerve endings on the spinal cord from hitting the end of the inserted needle. Wow what a relief and blessing.
The next day I went into surgery to remove the shattered disc and fuse the L5-S1 vertebrae together.
As I lay on the gurney outside the operating room I prayed again for God’s Holy Spirit to guide my doctor and the medical staff assisting in the surgery and that His will be done.
To my surprise, a nurse approached me and began wrapping my legs in ace bandages.
I said, “Wait, they’re not operating on my legs!”
She responded, “Yes we know, but during this surgery you will be positioned with your legs vertically aligned and we need these to keep your blood pressure stable.”
Shortly I was wheeled into the operating room. I looked at the operating table. It was outfitted with a large black cushion that I would be laying my torso on during the surgery that gave perfect access to my spine.
After the surgery, the doctor came to my room. That’s when I asked my question.
I asked the doctor, “How did it go?”
He said, “Well all I can say is it was very unusual. I have done many of these surgeries, but this one was quite unique, a one of a kind.”
I was intrigued to know more.
He explained, “When I accessed your spine, I found a shattered calcified disc. You stretched your spine playing volleyball and sucked the disc partially out of its proper position. When your spine collapsed it shattered the disc into little pieces. I had to search for each piece and like a puzzle assemble the pieces until I completed the disc. I then cut two pieces of bone from your hip and fused them in place of the disc. Once done I was ready to close the incision. But suddenly I had this feeling that I wasn’t done yet. I paused and began to search. I looked around and found hidden under a muscle a complete calcified disc! It was hard with sharp edges and a complete disc shape. Apparently, the disc had calcified as two. And only one was shattered. It’s good we found it because had it been left behind it would have moved around and cut through nerves and blood vessels. We would have been at a loss to find it again. Be grateful!”
I was profoundly grateful, but more good things were waiting for me. Before the surgery, Dr. Laughlin warned, “It will take at least eight weeks to recover enough to go back to work.” That was very disconcerting as I had just started a new job earlier that year. It was hardly enough time to earn sufficient sick leave to cover eight more weeks after the two weeks already bedridden. My prayers expressing my profound gratitude were followed by a plea for a quick recovery. As was normal for me, my prayer was conditional upon the will of God.
I learned long before this experience to invoke Solomon’s Recipe when facing fearful prospects in life:
Proverbs 3:5–6 (MSG): Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.
It was obvious to me that the doctor knew what he was saying when he gave me the recovery time. This was not his first surgery. But I had other plans. I was determined to get back to work as soon as possible. I knew God would do His part but I had to do mine.
The morning after the surgery I had to relieve my bladder. The nurse brought me a bedpan. I respectfully said I wanted to walk to the restroom. She helped me out of bed and with the IV cart flowing me I did it! Later that morning the doctor visited and was surprised to hear that I was up and walking. That was just the beginning.
Each day I walked around the hospital wing. Twice I walked a lap on the first day and increased my trips each day. I was doing six laps by the fifth day.
The doctor was very pleased with my progress. On the sixth day following the surgery I was released to go home. Diligently I followed the instructions for exercises. Two weeks later, three weeks after surgery I was cleared to go back to work on a half day schedule. I did that for one week and then back full time.
The doctor was surprised at my fast recovery. I was not. I did my part, and I knew God would do His work. Prayer works! And a profound and authentic gratitude follows.
Since then, more than forty-six years have passed, and the surgery remains a huge success.
I am forever grateful to Dr. Laughlin and his team of medical professionals who served me throughout this ordeal. I am grateful for my Lord’s answering my prayers and guiding the medical teams for my blessing. He answered my prayers in ways unanticipated.
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TURNING POINT
Prayer works! Recognizing that God is good and has good intentions allows authentic trust, freeing me from worry and fear, and helping me focus on my future. Solomon’s Recipe is essential to facing and enduring challenges.