X-Ray-ted SAW

It was a good feeling getting home - being stuck on the lounge in your own house is way more comfy than hospitalisation. A few of my friends came around to see me that arvo, and it was good to catch up - I'd let most of them know that there was no point visitng me in hospital because I'd probably be doped up on morphine (how wrong I was!), so this was their first time to see me up and about.
I did have a very interesting talking point at that stage (apart form the bloody, swollen wound on the back of my neck and the brand new scar on my throat) - X-Rays. Between the cage, the plate protecting the cage, the two rods and the extremely large looking screws holding it all together, it is reminiscent of a torture contraption out of the SAW movies ( anyone know how to scan an x-ray film so I can put one up here?).

After a few days at my home, I headed up to the family home for some more rest and Christmas. Not much to talk about there. My first night back at the pub just before Christmas I had to go home after only a few schooners because I was tired from all the sitting/standing, and Christmas Eve I should've gone home early rather than drink a bit much. I probably over-indulged a bit for a few weeks there, but I'm easily led and between Christmas, New Years, a mate's bucks and my sister's 21st birthday I didn't really feel inclined to miss out on the fun - which I should've when I discovered the wound in my neck had an infection where the drain was.
It wasn't that a big a deal. After the op, I came out with a tube hanging out the back of my neck to let any fluid build up drain. This was because they couldn't be sure how things would heal where they cut into the old scar tissue. The drain (and it's disgusting pouch full of blood, pus and who knows what else) came out after a few days in hospital, but left a gaping crater in my neck. Somehow, two weeks after the op this got infected and I ended up on a course of antibiotics. I, of course, did the stupid young male thing and continued to party on despite this. Feel free to shake your head and "tsk tsk" here. It did heal up fine though, although I owe eternal gratitude to my mate who was changing the bandaging every morning considering what he was looking at and the hangover he must have had.

I went back to work pretty soon after that, and my first visit to the doctor was fine. There were no complications, and everything was still structurally correct. Two visits later and I've now got the OK to go back to normal life (i.e. play sport), and soon I'll start seeing a hand therapist to try and get the most out of my hands. My fist game of casual soccer gave me a bit of a scare - I had a collision with one of the boys. I staggered away, convinced that I was about to be in agony but then realised that I was fine, and that it just felt strange because I wasn't used to the movement in my new neck.

So that's pretty much the close of the story, for now at least. I'm healthy, trying to get fit and feel pretty good. The scar on the back of my neck isn't that much bigger than it used to be, and the scar on my thrat looks more like shaving rash than anything else. Which is slightly disappointing - I'm sure evidence of a cut throat would be a great way to intrigue girls at the pub.
The only thing I'd really like now is to get some improvement in the movement and strength in my hands - it'd make me pretty happy, but as long as things don't get worse I can live with things as they are now. It's not like I'm a brickie's labourer, jeweller, or surgeon or any other job requiring strength or motor skill.

Future updates? We'll see. I've got a CT in March to see how the bone is growing, and in the meantime there's the hand therapy. If anything of interest comes out of those I'll post.