Saturday

Dr. Bertagnoli came in last night to check on us. I swear, his eyes actually twinkle. He told us that this had been a long week, he'd done 17 discs, including the four on Gary and my two. A very busy guy. From what I've heard, the surgeries are very physically demanding, and Bertagnoli is literally covered in sweat when he's done. There's a lot of work in this type of surgery - sawing bone, hammering, etc, that takes a lot of hard work to do.

The good part of all that hard work is that when they insert the implants, they're in to stay - it's a tight friction fit where they're hammered in, and they're not going anywhere. I had visions of them shifting around if I moved my head or something. The doctor explained that the implants are solid, the neck brace is for the soft tissues.

My roomie Gary is doing much better today, more mentally awake and physically stronger, he was able to walk to the bathroom with help, and didn't look like he really needed their support they way he did yesterday.

I have to remember to send Dr. Masyk a couple of boxes of Lucky Charms - he apparently really likes them, and they're not available in Germany.

We got rooms at the Hotel Seethaler, which is right in the center of town - and it had bathroom doors which work. Mom got the bags all packed and moved this morning. The Hotel Asam was very nice, but that suite with it's glass doors just had no privacy. The Hotel Seethaler is over 500 years old, should be a nice place.

One thing I don't know is whether there's internet access there - I bet there is, it's just not listed on their web site. But I bet there's a wireless hotspot in the area - T-Mobile seems to have those all around.