Texans shine in season debut; Indy sputters

Colts rout show they really need Manning; But does a recovering Manning really need the game?

Football season is here and I am pleased with that fact. Especially pleasing is that the NFL started playing this week since the league owners earlier lockout looked as if the season could be torpedoed. That is a whole different ball of string however and the important message to take away from this is — the Texans whipped Indianapolis like the proverbial rented mule.

A varied attack by ground and air along with a 79-yard punt return by Texans wide receiver Jacoby Jones helped Houston put 34 points on the board. Meanwhile, what appears to be a greatly improved defense from last year led by homeboy Wade Phillips — the Texans defensive coach and former Dallas head coach played high school football near here at Port Neches-Groves — limited the Colts to just seven points.

Of course, everyone and their hog points out: “But what about no Peyton playing for Indy?” This is while simultaneously Texans fans ask? “But what about no Arian in the Texans backfield?”

There is really no comparison there, of course. The Texans running back Arian Foster, who made the Pro Bowl in his second season after being an undrafted free agent, has been sidelined with a hamstring problem. Foster flabbergasted much of the sports world by sending out a copy via Twitter of his MRI picture of the injured hammy while Houston management looked upon the situation in a snit. Sending unauthorized medical information via social media is against team policy and rightly so because this knowledge can give the competition an edge. Would you say the no-no made Foster a “Twit?”

Peyton Manning is an entirely different subject. The future Hall of Fame quarterback has been sidelined after having cervical spine surgery, his third such operation, this time requiring fusion.

This is a surgery, known as an “anterior cervical discectomy with fusion” (ACDF), is something I know a little bit about as I went through the same procedure in 2001.

The ACDF is one of the more common spinal procedures. Manning called the surgery “minimally invasive,” which is correct, although the simplicity that the term implies should not be confused with the complexity of the operation and a patient’s healing. It is a safe operation with one study of 1,095 patients showing a morbidity rate of 19.3 percent. The majority of the complications in the study were esophageal-related, including difficulty swallowing. Hoarseness is a common complication, read on to learn the reason why.

A surgeon cuts a very small incision in a crease of the frontal neck. Using small retractors, the esophagus is pushed off to the side and the carotid artery and jugular vein are pushed to the other. The surgeon goes in to the C-spine and removes the herniated disc as well as compressive bone spurs or disc fragments. The neurosurgeon or orthopedic surgeon then measures the empty disc space and seeks a corresponding graft size to restore the disc space height. A bone graft is then tapped in and, as was my case and that of Manning, a small titanium plate is screwed into the vertebrae. This part of the surgery is performed in order to ensure stability and to promote bone growth and fusion.

One article I read about Manning indicated that his bone graft would be harvested from the iliac crest, the top outer portion of the hip. The graft may also be from that of a dead person. Since there are no blood vessels to intertwine, rejection is not a problem. Pain is a problem though. This same article I read made it sound as if the hip harvest is rare. It may be on the decline. I have no idea. But the incision and removal of bone from the hip is generally known as the most painful aspect of the surgery. I know my hip hurt for a couple of months. Although I won’t lie, when I awoke in recovery after the three-hour operation my neck hurt like that “10” in the pain scale doctors and nurses ask patients about. The recovery room nurse explained that the cornucopia of pain medicine I had been taking had delayed the effect of the super duper meds they had given me for post-op pain. Sure enough, after about 10 minutes of agony, it could have been two minutes for all I know, whatever they gave me kicked in and I felt normal again. Not fogged by pain pills just normal. That didn’t last, of course.

The surgery took me from work for two weeks and I worked half days on week three. I’d say I had recovered fully in about four-to-six weeks. I am no Peyton Manning so there is no telling how long it would take the great Indy quarterback to fully recover. All patients recuperate differently although certain motion ranges that Manning might need on the playing field could be limited. I am not saying they are or will be. I only base this statement on a small range-of-motion issue with my neck. This and other questions surface with regard to Manning’s immediate and long-range future as a quarterback.

Although my doctor said I could do anything I could do before I had surgery, I found this was not exactly the case. It was actually total bulls**t. I wouldn’t dare try to play either racquetball or volleyball as I had before. I did take up walking and hiking until a lower back problem cut that to shreds about a year ago. I also have had additional cervical spine problems. I have a herniated cervical disc that doctors will not operate on unless some kind of life-threatening issue surfaces. The trouble, they say, is there is not enough room to work since I have had both a posterior cervical laminectomy and the ACDF. The excruciating pain from the disc and related issues caused me a wide range of problems not the least being I must take the highly addictive methadone for pain control.

On the other hand, the surgery did fix my neurological problems which included an arm that had almost gone totally numb.

Having had this surgery, I could imagine that Manning taking a very substantial jolt from a linebacker who is 6’5″-280 lbs. could cause several different problems insofar as his C-spine is concerned. Some of these concerns of which I note can be particularly grave. But Manning, being the very sharp person that he is, has most likely had all of the “what ifs” laid out for him.

I could see Peyton Manning returning to the Colts. After Sunday’s loss to Houston, it’s obvious Indianapolis really needs him. But I could also envision his going out on the top of his game with retirement. Whatever goals he might have set for himself in professional football certainly are not worth the possibilities he could face now that he has had fusion surgery. The risks in pro football are just too great. I wish him well.