Spinal Fusion and RV-8

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

Spinal fusion is in the near term, and that's the absolutely no fun back surgery. I won't meet with the doc for another three weeks to discuss the "magnitude" of the surgery, as his nurse put it, but the web suggests a few days in the hospital and six - eight weeks to heal (I just turned 65). Then, when I'm again able to do PT for my knees, each of them will get worked on arthroscopically, but the technology these days is good enough that the reasonable expectation is to walk out of each knee surgery without even needing crutches. I really don't know what these three surgeries, more or less back to back, will do to Humpty Dumpty's tailwheel skills, even though I plan to fly some between surgeries to minimize accumulated loss of flying skills.

So here's the deal -- I've got a really sweet RV-8 with O-320 and constant speed (N211JT if you want to find a gazillion pictures on the web), and I noticed when I got out of it this morning that I twist my torso a bit to get my hands on the canopy rails to get out. Don't know if that will be a problem post-surgery or not, or if there is some nifty way to lift myself up a little or what. This RV-8 absolutely does not wear the tires at all, and that alignment might be why it seems to like a little extra attention on rollout.

I've also got an immaculate straight tail Cessna with all the STCs that is so nice that it is hard to find a buyer for any reasonable price. It does anything you ask of it except cruise over 125 knots. I'd like to sell it and only lose one arm and one leg on the sale and then have an RV as my one and only airplane.

Questions and options:
* If anybody has had spinal fusion (L-3 ish area), how easy or hard is it to get in and out of an RV-7A, -8, or -9A? Those are the real questions. I haven't done a lot of aerobatics in the -8, so that's not a big issue.
* Does anybody have a feel for what these three surgeries might do to the coordination required for landing the RV-8? Landing a nose dragger post-surgery is not a concern.

Options:
1. Keep both planes, it won't be that big a deal to get back up to speed in the RV-8 post surgery.
2. Sell the RV-8 pre-surgery (immediately), enjoy having had this sweetheart, and move on.
3. Look for an RV-9A (slider & c/s, I'd do my own paint and panel) or RV-7A (second choice) because getting in and out won't be an issue
4. Downsize to just the Cessna
5. Something else

Thanks!

Ed

[flightlogic]

Ed, Steve Ritland in Flagstaff does these operations every week. He also flies lots of different airframes. Might ask him this question.
He invented "peek rods" which contribute to a somewhat flexible fusion result.
Good luck.

[Mike H]

Make sure you have spinal surgery performed by a neurosurgeon, not an orthopedic surgeon!

Ask about the possibility of disc replacement instead of fusion.

A fusion at the L3 level will not make a huge difference in flexibility.

Get rid of the C175 and keep the RV-8 and shim the axles for a little bit of toe in.

My 2 cents.

[BCP Boys]

Ed,
I'm a bit younger than you but had fusion on my L5-S1 2 years ago. I have sent 7 people to him and all results were unbelievable. Send me your email or PM me your phone number and I'm happy to speak to you about my experience. BTW, i'm currently training for a triathlon where prior to the surgery I had not been able to run or get on a bike for 11 years prior to my surgery. I have no issues getting in and out of my 7 . . . honestly never even gave it much thought. I will say that coming back from Oshkosh I did a non-stop trip to Atlanta in my 7 and my lower back was a little stiff when I got out but I didn't give it much thought. This guys changed my life . You may want to go talk to him before you get cut especially since you live in the Southeast.

[N15JB]

If you have significant back and/or leg pain, you probably already limit rotational movement in an effort to decrease your pain. You may, or may not, be consciously aware of doing this. Your post-op limitation of movement could actually be less that it is now. Be diligent about your post-op physical therapy. Slacking off is a good way to screw up your long term results.

I think it is unlikely that your surgeries will have any negative impact on your ability to get in/out of either plane, or your ability to fly/land them. I would defer any decision re selling either plane till you are at least 6 months post-op.

Jim Berry
RV-10

[rmartingt]

I'd vote for keep both airplanes for now (you can always decide to
sell one later if you want/have to), and as Jim says, do the physical therapy religiously.

The stuff they do with surgery now is amazing; my wife had a bulging disc (L5-S1) trimmed about a year and a half ago at Memorial, and she was home for dinner that night!

[db1yg]

Hi Ed,

Had it done to me -- twice--when you are young you think you are indestructible--but Mother Nature always evens things out!! First time in 1985--second in 2007--L3 thru S1. If you want to talk about the procedure and the recovery process, pm me your phone number and I would be happy to discuss. I had a very skilled surgeon and an excellent result--both times.

Cheers,

db

[gerrychuck]

Hi Ed; I'm a physical therapist and have worked with many people after both of these surgeries. I would not be too concerned with the effect of the fusion on your ability to get in and out of the 8, particularly if loss of rotation range of motion is your concern. Most trunk rotation occurs higher up (in the thoracic spine) and there are only a few degrees of rotation at each level in the lumbar spine. You won't miss it, and as others have noted, if the surgery does what it is supposed to, you will have significantly less pain with movement once you're recovered, so you should actually have an easier time than you do now. Consider the 6-8 week recovery time a fairly conservative estimate. You will minimize the recovery time by getting up and moving as soon as you're allowed, so do what your surgeon and PT's tell you!

The knees will be somewhat swollen and sore after being scoped, but again, getting moving quickly and using all tools available to quickly get the swelling and inflammation down really minimizes recovery time. I strongly recommend cryotherapy units like the Cryocuff or IceMan; they make a big difference in controlling swelling and pain and getting back on your feet quickly.

Good luck with your procedures! Oh, yeah?.keep the 8!

[DaveO]

I had the L5 fusion and there was not a noticeable limit on my ability to twist and bend. recovery was about 3 weeks, no fly for total 8 weeks? Go for it.
Knees are another matter, had scope on knee, it took a while for swelling to go down. But walked out of surgery. Little pain.
Best to you.
Dave

[greghughespdx]

I have an artificial disc (alternative to fusion) at L5/S1. It helps retain mobility, but in reality its likely with a fusion that your back will eventually relax and stop protecting itself. So, you could possibly end up with better range of motion than you do now. If artificial whole disc replacement is an option for you, I encourage you to at least ask about it. It gave me my life back.

And keep both planes until you're post-op for a while if you can. Then decide to keep the 8.