It is day two after my ACDF neck surgery, and I am happy to report things are going much better than I thought they might. The back and neck pain (from previous) are gone. The feeling has mostly returned to my right-hand fingers as well. After a good night of sleep, I went for a two-kilometre walk first thing this morning, and it felt super to be out in the fresh air once again! As instructed by my doctors, and reminded of regularly by my family and crew, I will be spending the bulk of my day in my very comfy recliner. On my walk, I of course popped out to the shop and over to the Hazelnut Inn to check on things. As always, I am so grateful for a wonderful family and crew who continue to create the magic at full speed.
Dan's great neck adventure
Life is a never-ending adventure, it seems. Last year, just as I fully recovered from my heart adventure (open heart surgery with a six bypass), my neck started to give me trouble. As Christmas rolled around, it became unbearable. Massage, chiropractic treatments, and physical therapy were all tried without relief or improvement. Eventually, it was a trip to the emergency, x-rays, CT scans, and an MRI before being referred to a neurologist. While things had improved just enough for me to function under duress, it was determined that a permanent solution was a C5-C6 C6-C7 ACDF, which would fuse the three bottom vertebrae in my neck. That procedure was done yesterday and was a total success. Now, back home from the hospital, I am feeling great (better than before the surgery and am on to recovery over the next weeks. Far less onerous or invasive than the heart operation of last year, this should be a piece of cake. :)
Shoehorning the SHOPSabre into its new home
The new SHOPSabre CNC router was a tight fit into our router room. The machine had to be squeezed in with about three quarters of an inch of clearance above and about an inch and a half on each side. Since our forklift was too tall to fit through the door we had to get creative. The solution was to build a custom pallet with swivel wheels that lifted the machine a half inch off the floor. We used the forklift to place the machine on our pallet and provide a little oomph to get it up the slight incline to the garage door. Once we hit the smooth concrete we could easily maneuver the machine into place. We then jacked it up using some rolling car jacks and took out the pallet and installed the levelling bolts. Assembling the various bits was quick and easy. Tomorrow our electrician will do the hard part and then we will be ready to create MAGIC once more!
