Author Topic: For those of us who know Mike Londke (and dislike FB) (Read 3375 times)

Paul Wescott · « **on:** July 01, 2021, 12:35:29 PM »

June 29th, 2021
Williamson Medical Center, Franklin, TN

Hi, this is Mikes wife Lisa. He had spinal fusion surgery today (vertebrae in his neck). Doc said the surgery went great. He’s still pretty groggy. He says the drugs are pretty good. He should be discharged tomorrow and hopefully will start feeling more like himself by then. Thx! Lisa Brooks Londke

Get well soon Mike…

gene poremba · « **Reply #1 on:** July 01, 2021, 01:12:44 PM »

Wishing you heal up fast ,Mike.

Ed Carlaw · « **Reply #2 on:** July 01, 2021, 01:51:45 PM »

Hope you're feeling better soon. I had this same procedure done back in the '70's. I'm sure it will definitely make your life much better as it did mine. Praying for a quick recovery. Ed.

Robert Whitley · « **Reply #3 on:** July 01, 2021, 02:10:50 PM »

We’re thinking of you Mike.
We’ll tip one back for you today with wishes for a speedy recovery!

Cheers

Robert and Kim Whitley

ray copeland · « **Reply #4 on:** July 01, 2021, 03:10:16 PM »

Mike, hope you have a speedy recovery!! Hope to see you guys in Huntersville in October.

Dennis Toth · « **Reply #5 on:** July 01, 2021, 04:15:54 PM »

Mike,
In thoughts and prays, have a speedy recovery.

Best, DennisT

Crist Rigotti · « **Reply #6 on:** July 01, 2021, 05:20:39 PM »

Ditto!

jfv · « **Reply #7 on:** July 01, 2021, 08:30:53 PM »

Prayers for a quick recovery. And thanks for all your work at the NATS.

Dave_Trible · « **Reply #8 on:** July 02, 2021, 06:25:08 AM »

Quote from: jfv on July 01, 2021, 08:30:53 PM

Prayers for a quick recovery. And thanks for all your work at the NATS.

The same from me Mike!

Dave

EricV · « **Reply #9 on:** July 02, 2021, 10:41:55 AM »

Get well Mike, and keep us posted on your recovery. I feel your pain (literally, I've been putting off a C3-C4 myself).
Hang in there!
EricV

mike londke · « **Reply #10 on:** July 02, 2021, 11:23:20 AM »

Thanks for the kind words. 5 days after surgery and although I am still very sore I believe I've turned a corner. I had 2 discs removed, spacers installed, and my 5/6, 6/7 vertebrae fused with metal plates. Prognosis is good. This was not from an accident or 1 particular injury. Almost 2 decades of skydiving finally took it's toll on my body and the pain got so bad I had to do something about it. I have a killer wife to help me through and of course Samuel and Emma are being a big help. See you on the circles soon. Regards, Mike

John Miller · « **Reply #11 on:** July 02, 2021, 11:31:29 AM »

Great to hear this Mike. Here's to a rapid and complete recovery.

John Miller

Howard Rush · « **Reply #12 on:** July 02, 2021, 01:04:46 PM »

Good to hear that you’re all fixed now. I hope your aftermarket parts work as well as mine.

Dennis Nunes · « **Reply #13 on:** July 02, 2021, 02:34:19 PM »

Quote from: Howard Rush on July 02, 2021, 01:04:46 PM

I hope your aftermarket parts work as well as mine.

I was wondering if he got OEM parts or aftermarket parts from AutoZone.

Get well Mike!

Dennis

PJ Rowland · « **Reply #14 on:** July 02, 2021, 06:14:01 PM »

For those who complained about appearance judging,

He was looking SO CLOSE he ruined his neck.. now thats a a boss judge.

Hope your in the air again Mike..

Paul Walker · « **Reply #15 on:** July 02, 2021, 06:43:20 PM »

Glad to hear it was a success Mike.

I had a disc removed and discs fused, and spliced with titanium around 15 years ago. The worse part of the recovery is the first week or so. I found it hard to sleep.

I was surprised later to find out how weak the muscles in the back of my neck were due to all the racking around they fo to get all the disc out.

Modern medicine has sure improved things. That surgery gave me my life back. I could not have endured the pain much longer.

Best to you on your recovery!!

Leonard Bourel · « **Reply #16 on:** July 03, 2021, 06:35:31 AM »

Hey Mike Great to see you and Sam on the hangout last night Naomi and I are glad to see you are on the mend. No heroics for the next little while bud Do as Lisa tells you !!! Soon Len and Naomi.

Dick Tyndall · « **Reply #17 on:** July 03, 2021, 07:38:41 AM »

Glad to hear that you are on the way back to a normal life again. I also have some titanium ( a plate and four 22MM long screws ) in my neck, also. No way I could ever do over head 8's again. Hope to see you in Huntersville in the Fall.

Dick Tyndall

Jim Svitko · « **Reply #18 on:** July 03, 2021, 09:14:58 AM »

Quote from: Dennis Nunes on July 02, 2021, 02:34:19 PM

I was wondering if he got OEM parts or aftermarket parts from AutoZone.

Get well Mike!

Dennis

No matter how good modern medicine is, it is very difficult to replace nature's original parts. We can improve things but never get back to nature's original form.

For anyone who has had to go thru this type of surgery, I wish you well and a speedy recovery. I know what you are going thru. Recovery can be painful and slow but if you hang in there, do the therapy, you will improve. You can't rush nature so it will take time.

I have had nothing but spinal problems all my life. The first fusion surgery was in '83 or so. That was in the Stone Age, where bone slivers were cut out of the hip and used to fuse L5 to S1. What a horrible, painful recovery. I had a condition called spondylolysis. The surgery was successful but I was told that in time, this could cause problems at the next level up.

I had two more surgeries last year. With more modern techniques, the three-level neck fusion and a second lumbar fusion (for spondylolisthesis at L4) were not too bad. I now have so much metal in my spine I wonder about setting off metal detectors. In both of the most recent surgeries, the unavoidable nerve irritation and other trauma that was required just to fix the problem resulted in painful recovery. However, I am glad I did both surgeries as there was no way physical therapy was going to solve these problems.

I was lucky to have found a young and very skilled surgeon.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #19 on:** July 03, 2021, 10:46:10 AM »

Mike, haven't met you yet, so take of your self now . Glad you have a doctor and family to support you.

builditright · « **Reply #20 on:** July 03, 2021, 12:18:38 PM »

Just saw this,
I hope you're doing okay Mike,
sending prayers for you

Elwyn Aud · « **Reply #21 on:** July 03, 2021, 07:43:38 PM »

Glad the surgery went well and you're on the mend.

goozgog · « **Reply #22 on:** July 04, 2021, 04:13:46 AM »

That's what you get for jumping out
of perfectly good airplanes.

Good to know you're healing well
Mike. Greetings to Sam and family.
Happy 4th!

Cheers! - Keith Morgan

Skip Chernoff · « **Reply #23 on:** July 04, 2021, 07:28:31 PM »

Get well soon ,from the Philly Crew.

Howard Rush · « **Reply #24 on:** July 04, 2021, 08:31:29 PM »

Quote from: Bob Hunt on July 04, 2021, 05:40:29 AM

I'll have lots of questions for you about the procedure...

Mike didn’t do it himself. He outsourced the work, and although you are renown for your craftsmanship, I advise you to do the same.

I heard of a plastic surgeon who hung himself, but that’s a different subject.

aj bagg · « **Reply #25 on:** July 04, 2021, 09:13:05 PM »

Wish you all the best and speedy recovery. And thanks for all the help at the Nats. I sure can relate to the neck problems. A lifetime of extreme sports had me in constant pain. Then severely breaking my neck in a '17 bike race and all that went with it I understand. We spoke good words about you today at Breezy Hill between flying.

Brett Buck · « **Reply #26 on:** July 04, 2021, 09:22:14 PM »

Quote from: Howard Rush on July 04, 2021, 08:31:29 PM

Mike didn’t do it himself. He outsourced the work, and although you are renown for your craftsmanship, I advise you to do the same.

You guys know how quick I am with the Zona saw, and I have seen every episode of "Botched" at least 10 times, so I would like to throw my hat in the ring.

Brett

Steve Millet · « **Reply #27 on:** July 05, 2021, 04:13:32 PM »

Praying for your quick recovery.

Steve

phil c · « **Reply #28 on:** July 05, 2021, 06:20:26 PM »

Happy you got the problem fixed safely Mike! any king of surgery is dangerous so a AOK signoff is great.
Hope recovery goes well also AND that your're up to flying again.

A back to flying Phil Cartier

Mike Griffin · « **Reply #29 on:** July 06, 2021, 11:07:17 AM »

Wishing you the best Mike. Had my first spinal fusion in 2006, then a laminectomy and a second fusion in 2012. Still have chronic back and neck pain but can not imagine what it would have been like without the surgeries.

I hope your surgery will be a total success and you recover quickly.

Mike Griffin

Phil Spillman · « **Reply #30 on:** July 07, 2021, 10:27:54 AM »

Hi Mike, So happy to hear that your surgery has been successful. Sondra and I went to the neurologist's office to see what the CT Scan had to report. Well it appears that I have several disks compressed and a few spurs poking out around L 4,5, and 6! Luck for me no pain as yet. This was all done to see why I have little to no feeling in my feet! For the moment no amputation of right foot indicated as was the case this past May!

My prayers go out for you and your wife to help you all come through this adventure safely and with minimum pain.

Best of Luck to you all.

Phil Spillman

Allen Goff · « **Reply #31 on:** July 07, 2021, 01:26:39 PM »

Praying for you Mike.
You are becoming an inspiration for me as I am having the same problems in the same area 5/6-6/7.
You hang tough Mike.
Blessings

Brian Stas · « **Reply #32 on:** July 07, 2021, 07:06:51 PM »

Wishing you a fast recovery Mike. Best wishes from Neil as well.

Jim Svitko · « **Reply #33 on:** July 07, 2021, 07:36:32 PM »

Quote from: Brett Buck on July 04, 2021, 09:22:14 PM

You guys know how quick I am with the Zona saw, and I have seen every episode of "Botched" at least 10 times, so I would like to throw my hat in the ring.

Brett

Don't laugh! A Zona saw might be in an orthopedic surgeon's tool kit. Orthopedic surgery is a glorified carpentry/blacksmith/machine shop. I watched videos of two orthopedic surgeries on PBS some time ago. The surgeries were a knee replacement and a scoliosis surgery.

The tools (instruments?) were cordless drills, wood chisels, small mallets, assortment of fasteners, adhesives, small hand tools such as pliers, screwdriver, etc. In the scoliosis operation, it looked like a miniature road building exercise. Small diameter rods that looked like rebar and other small parts wired together.

No doubt more sophisticated tools were used where required.

In my surgeries, I believe the parts are titanium. The sample parts in the surgeon's office sure looked like titanium. They show up nicely on the X-rays.

Michele Lee · « **Reply #34 on:** July 07, 2021, 09:06:51 PM »

So happy to hear your surgery went well. Hope your recovery is quick and your future pain free!
Michele and Todd Lee

Ed Carlaw · « **Reply #35 on:** July 09, 2021, 10:58:47 AM »

When I had mine done back in the '70's it was the old school. They took pieces of bone from my hip and then safety wired everything together with titanium wire. I was in a hard plastic collar for about six months and then a soft collar for about another three or four. All said and done it was a year before life got back to some normalcy but I suffered no long term side affects. The only initial side affects was a numbness across my whole chest but that eventually disappeared. Funny story is the first time I had a MRI years later I had forgotten to mention the titanium in my neck and when they got to that part of the process all the bells and whistles went off and they came running out to make sure I was okay. Needless to say it made for an interesting visit. Ed.

mike londke · « **Reply #36 on:** July 09, 2021, 05:38:22 PM »

Thank you for all the well wishes. I had my 12 day post op check up today and everything looks good and is on the mend. Still a lot of soreness around the are where the appliance was installed and that could last another 6 weeks. The nerve that was being pinched is still painful but a different duller kind of pain. It should dissipate as time goes on and it has a chance to calm down and heal. Still gotta wear the neck brace for the next 4 weeks but I’m cleared for driving and light chores so I guess I can work on planes at the workbench. No boating for another 2 weeks and the motorcycle is a no no for at least the rest of the year. (Probably my biggest disappointment in all of this) I expect for be ready and able to fly at the Canton GA contest in Sept. Regards, Mike

Brett Buck · « **Reply #37 on:** July 09, 2021, 05:41:28 PM »

Quote from: mike londke on July 09, 2021, 05:38:22 PM

Thank you for all the well wishes. I had my 12 day post op check up today and everything looks good and is on the mend.

That's a lot of hardware! Great to hear you are on the way to feeling good again.

Brett

Joe Gilbert · « **Reply #38 on:** July 09, 2021, 10:16:41 PM »

WOW, Mike that is impressive ,bionic man hear you go. Keep healing my Friend.

Joe Gilbert

PJ Rowland · « **Reply #39 on:** July 09, 2021, 11:52:04 PM »

Thats some impressive take apart hardware.

I guess the old days of big Frankenstein bolts are a thing of the past, looks like a few 4/40s from the T2 and remove cranium. Amazing

Tom Luciano · « **Reply #40 on:** July 10, 2021, 04:29:59 AM »

Wow! Get well soon buddy! See you in Huntersville!

Tom