This is the report of the operation in  The German Hospital Istanbul based on emails sent home by my brother Aad.

Istanbul,  August 11. 2005

Theo went to the surgery room this morning at 11am [10am CET]. This was originally planned at 8 am, but this not unusual in Turkey. The surgery starts only when he is ready.  ….
When everything was ready, he got a light anestheasia to make him quiet  and he was led to the surgery room.

We estimate that the surgery will take about 4.5 hours.  After that he will be brought to the recover room / intensive care. Directlly after the operation, the Dutch doctor, Dr Kleinbloesem , shall update me. After that It might take a few hours more before I can speak to Theo.

Apart from that, everything is fine here, it’s 29 degree Celsius and sunny. It’s less humid than in the Netherlands. Turks are great people . ...

The employee of the hospital are very friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, most of them do no speak German or English. There are 3 or 4 who speak English fairly well and 3 who can really speak well. We also found one employee who could speak German.

So most of the time the communication goes with the use of hands and feet and we regularly involve one of those who can use as translator. Most of the doctors can speak fairly good or good English.

There is also a Client relation manager taking care of us [Hostes] who dedicates time to us…

De day after..  [by Aad , August 12, 2005]

This is the first mail after that Theo came back from surgery. …
He went into surgery yesterday at 11AM and was ready at 14.45 , and I was informed about his condition.

The surgery was successful. They have injected 2cc of concentrated stemcells in the scar tissue of his spinal cord,  that is where the nerve are. The injections were also made just above and below the scar tissue. The operation took place under the microscope. The scar tissue was clearly visible as a slightly lighter area. Theo rapidely  woke up after the surgery and was brought to his room direcly. Intensive care was not necessary.

Theo was tired and his temperature was 36.5, a bit too low. He was cold. The bloed pressure was 140/80 which is normal, but actually twice as high as it used to be in the past 2 years. The temperature has increased a bit to 37.5. Thereafter ice packages were brought.
He had a burning sensation in areas where he normally has no sensation.

At about 17.00 he had a huge tension in his muscles. As a consequence, his arms were pulled up towards his chin  He could not stretch his arms. Theo thought that he had no control anymore over his triceps, which he needs to be able to make a transfer. He got into a bit of stress en began to hyperventilate. He got it too warm. That was a scary and uncomfortable moment. 
They gave him oxygen directly and was conforted by dr Cees. From that moment his situation did continuously improve

About 4 hours after the operation, he said that he had twickeling sensations in his entire body as well as a burning sensation in the paralysed areas. He indicated that he had sensation in de fingers of his left side and in 2 fingers on the right side. In these fingers he had no feelings before. In the meantime the tension in his arms decreased and he could let his arms rest along his body.

Unfortunately, he could not use the help button anymore. I stayed with him during the night. Theo did not sleep anymore, and I slept only for some moments. A  nurse did come every half an hour for an injection or an infuse or...

During the night he became more stable. Normal Bloed-pressure, normal heart beat, temperature 37degree. The extra oxygen was stopped. 

This morning at about 10 am, the doctor Salih came to visit him and to remove his drain.

Theo has  a scar of approximatly 12cm in his neck with 27 stiches. Those stiches should be removed next Wednesday in the Netherlands.  When asked how he felt, Theo said : I feel as if I have been run over by a tram!

Directly after removing the drain, Theo got a headache which fortunately decreased rapidely. In the course of the day his strength increased and he ate and drunk something. It looks as if there is something changing in his body.  His body and his brain seem to be reaching contact again. It Seems as if  hundreds of physical processes have to find a new balance again. It’s heavy!

Theo indicated today that he could feel his belly pretty strongly and that his bottom was itchy. That was less then 24hours after the operation. Theo is weak and tired. There is no new muscle movement. This schould also not be expected so soon after the surgery…