2005 and later—Ailments!

knees for several days. But time and rest have always restored something like normal mobility until quite recently, and the great miracle has been that I’ve been able to ride Hepzibah extensively, in between episodes of crippling back pain and referred neurological dysfunction.

Bike miles, by year

Dr Bob Svagr

Fiftyish years later, they’d learned a lot. We met Dr. Bohus (Bob) Svagr, a charming young neurosurgeon from Slovakia, practicing at Davis Hospital in Layton; under his direction and as my symptoms have become increasingly disabling, we have initiated a continuing series of interventions which have relieved discomfort and extended my period of unassisted mobility.

In April and May of this year (2005), just before setting out for Boston in Eleanor, I followed a course of physical therapy treatments at Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy in Layton (and later in Syracuse and Farmington).
In August, after we returned from the East, we tried an epidural steroid injection.
The next year (December, 2006), noticing a lot of arthritis in my right hip, we replaced it.
In January, 2008, Dr Svagr performed a lumbar fusion, bolting together three levels of vertebrae and cleaning out accumulated débris from the spondylolysis.
In October, 2012, “Dr Jonathan Donigan replaced my right shoulder, relieving arthritic pain that I’d suffered since the 1980s.
In January, 2013, Bob performed a second lumbar fusion, removing the old hardware and installing bolts and screws at the next level up.
In April, 2013, an MRI revealed such widespread degeneration that no further surgery seems indicated.