Hey, PharmaCan, thanks so much for the responses. You know, you don't actually have to requote my posts in order for me to recognize that you're responding to them since you've conveniently used BG. Just a space-saving thought!

I'll ask about the history of the length of surgery and all the other questions I have. Yes, I'd like to hear who's working on minimally invasive spinal surgery in Arkansas. I'm guessing that's in Little Rock at the medical center, but perhaps I'm wrong. The sad thing is I have network restrictions just like everyone else. Our insurance is unlikely to pay for an out-of-area hospital stay unless it'd be markedly cheaper there. I'm sure they'd balk at any extra expense involved with the newer technology, the cheap turkeys. I'd still be interested to know.

I expect they did retract your esophagus laterally. That's pretty much the only option with that structure. It's anchored at the top by the throat and mouth and at the bottom by the diaphragm and is held in place along its length by various muscles and tendons and the surrounding anatomy. There's almost no vertical movement to be had there. It executes vertical movement with peristalsis, but the tube itself doesn't have much up-and-down give.

My apologies, Mr. D, for totally hijacking your chronic pain thread, but this has been such an informative side-discussion for me. PharmaCan, they said it'll be about a three-month timeframe until full recovery and bone fusion are complete. Was that what they told you? And how long were you on driving/car-riding restrictions? I'll stop bugging you after this, I promise!