Papa Greg is holding tightly to his marbles...

Papa Greg has had many back and neck surgeries.  I think this was number 7 in 11 years?  In his back fusion last year, the top screws had become loose and were grating whenever he moved--so painful!  But when we heard he had "a couple of screws loose," we couldn't contain the giggles.  My pre-surgery gift to him were his marbles, and he was instructed to hold on tightly to these!

I was happy to go spend the day with mom while he went under...we talked, prayed, and ate our way through his 2-hour surgery (this was just a little one!)  We were very happy to see Dr. Dietrich come out with this bag of HARDWARE that he'd taken out of Dad's back.  (Of course Dad wanted them as souvenirs!  Our latest idea is that he makes himself a BACK lamp for himself!)

I left that evening after staying to see Dad come out of recovery.  He'd been instructed to "stay positive," and he was teasing my mom with this phrase over and over.  The surgery was a complete success!  The pain in his upper back is completely gone, and we are so thankful.  Now about that hip pain...