Tuesday, June 17, Jason had his back fusion surgery. He's healing very well, but still in the hospital as of Friday (which was expected). He's got to be able to climb up a flight of stairs before they will allow him to come home. A neurosurgeon and a general surgeon both performed the surgery. They cut a 4 inch or so incision in his abdomen, pulled aside his abdominal muscles and organs, and performed the surgery from the anterior side as there is a higher success rate & the muscles connected to the back of the spine are left undisturbed. They were able to place two cages around the spine in the affected area and place in some sort of material that contains a bone-growth stimulating compound so that the bones will fuse together. His expected recovery time will be 4-6 months before he's completely recovered. What a trooper! I've attached some pictures below so that you can get a better idea.
June Pyle, Jason's mother, came into town and assisted us with Jet and Kimber. She had these beautiful pictures taken at Target to mark Kimber's one year birthday, and to also get a shot or two of them together. Laura, Mariah's mother, will be arriving is Salt Lake to assist us the week after June leaves back to DFW, and then Breezy, Mariah's father, will be coming to assist us during the first week of July.
