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CONCHCOLORf l o r i d a k e y s p h o t o g r a p h i c c h r o n i c l e(305) 294-7566 OFFICE (305) 292-9955 FAXPUBLISHER/EDITORTom Oosterhoudt • tom@conchcolor.comPHOTOGRAPHERKristen Livengood kristen.livengood@gmail.comAD SALESKaren Lee Hirst (305) 304-7609 karterhirst@aol.com , Senior Sales PersonRaquel Crummitt (305) 414-8949 raquelc@jsapromos.com, Ad SalesJanet Wood (305) 395-0241 – fldesignerjw@aol.com, Ad sales Upper KeysAndy & Jodi Kirby (305) 509-0009 – ajkwf@aol.com , Delivery & SalesGregory A. Smith (305) 396-7805 – kywestlivin2@aol.com Ad SalesCREATIVE DESIGNDina Coyle, Dina Designs, Int’l (305) 741-7272 dinacoyle@me.comWEB MASTER:Computer Doctor (305) 292-4635 keywestcomputerdoctor@gmail.comCONCH COLOR, LLC • 314 simonton street key west FL 33040Published weekly and distributed every Friday from Key West to Key Largo.Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.DEADLINE 5 p.m. Friday for advertising and community newsThe Positive VoiceTHE FLORIDA KEYS NEED A POSITIVE VOICE to counteract negativity promoted by other localpapers. Conch Color greatly appreciates positive comments about the community you live in. Ifyou love your community and have something positive to say about it, email ooster@bellsouth.net.There are so many great Samaritans in the Keys and wonderful things happen every day. It’s time togive a voice to those who have great comments to say about the Keys.September 27 - October 3, 2013 • www.conchcolor.comediTORIALSurviving a Botched SurgeryWith Three More OperationsMost Conch Color readersare now well aware of my tortuousplight that began with a brokenback and collapsed spine not muchmore than a year ago. The fact thatI may not ever walk again hungover my head, leaving me feelinghelpless. First I went through aneight hour operation that resultedin heart failure, a blood clot, andkidneys stopping. On top of thatmy month long hospital stay wasbeyond morbid. My future seemedmorbid at best.I had to digest all thisknowing that I would never beable to ride my bike ten miles aday again, or enjoy deep sea divingagain. My active life had come toan abrupt end not to mention myhigh energy life style.So this past fall afterspending months of intensephysical therapy, I realized thatthe pain was increasing and myback was getting worse. I wentto see a new neurologist at theCleveland Clinic. X-rays and catscans immediately showed that myfirst operation had been botchedwith the new screws supportingmy re worked spine had eitherunscrewed, broken, or fallen out.The result meant more painfulpressure on my sacrum and lowerspine.This time I went to see arather young new neuro-surgeon,Dr. Michael Wang at the Universityof Miami who was up on some ofthe latest techniques.Dr. Wang is one of thefew advanced “revisionistneurosurgeons “ around today.Dr. Wang immediately sawbig problems in my x-rays andcat scans, seeing that my previousoperation was botched with loosescrews, rods, etc. He acknowledgedit would require a lot of work onmy part and his part, involvingIntense physical therapy andexercise.So in the past month, Dr.Wang started with a four-hourlaminectomy operation to totallyre-do the damage from my firstoperation and rebuild my upperspine(L1 – L5). A few days laterDr. Wang tackled my lower spine,S-1 and S2, my scrum and mycoccyx. In the second operation,Dr. Wang spliced me open from thefront, just like a woman having aCaesarian section. He opened myabdomen totally up, pushed myinternal organs to the side. Andfinally cleaned up my spine fromthe inside out, carefully removingthe stenosis from the inside out.Everything seemed greatfollowing the two operations untillast week when my body somehowwent toxic somehow with my medscreating a bad mixture internally,and I had to be flown to Miami ona helicopter in the middle of thenight. Once again the specialistsat the University of Miamimiraculously save meAnd two days ago I arrived backat home here in Key West, where Iwrote this editorial.This procedure was thetoughest challenge in my life. Ihave to thank bothmy mom, and niece Raquel, as wellas Conch Color’s amazing staff, Dina Coyle, Kristen Livengood,Judi, Karen, and especiallyMichelle. May God bless all of you!I also want to thank all ofyour readers for staying with us,with the most dedicated followingin the Keys. I feel lucky to be alive!conch color the florida keys 4 photographic chronicle