| "What's that thing on Keanu's neck" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10-15 03:26 | |||
 Forum Posts: 1364 Comments: 153 Reviews: 0 | There has been very little written about Keanu's neck surgery (in 1997 or thereabouts?), where he had three vertebrae in his neck fused together with a metal plate. Interestingly, I just stumbled upon this website, where someone has looked into what that type of surgery is for, how it is done, and what the end results are:
http://members.tripod.com/~Maggie_jo/the_neck_thing.html I do seem to remember reading an interview where Keanu mentions that he collapsed in the shower because he lost control of his legs (?). And something in another interview about his fingers getting numb. I wonder which vertebrae were fused. His fingers getting numb might indicate that it was the second and third vertebrae, and anything to do with the legs would suggest that there was damage to the fourth and fifth vertebrae. Edit: Apparently, it's called "Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion with Anterior Cervical Plate Fixation" - or ACDF. Sounds like serious ouch! | ||
| 2009-10-15 03:53 | |||
| Forum Posts: 1364 Comments: 153 Reviews: 0 | AAAAAAAH! OhmydoG! THIS is what they did to Keanu. Horrible, horrible videoclip of an actual ACDF. I feel sick. Literally. I thought I could pretty easily watch something like this, as I have some experience in "dissecting" chickens and rabbits, but no. This was something entirely different. Ugh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnxDlSTCznA Edit: here's another videoclip, this time made by someone who underwent the ACDF surgery. She explains what it was like post-op, and how she's feeling after 10 days. Very interesting. | ||
| 2009-10-15 05:00 | |||
| Forum Posts: 4842 Comments: 381 Reviews: 13 | ... and I remember him saying in a Matrix interview ( somehwere on The Matrix Revisited, or maybe somewhere else) that the first surgery didn't 'take' so it had to be done again... *winces* | ||
| 2009-10-15 08:56 | |||
| Forum Posts: 83 Comments: 106 Reviews: 4 | *cringes at the thought* | ||
| 2009-10-21 17:32 | |||
ADMIN Forum Posts: 3076 Comments: 405 Reviews: 1 | yay video~ That was educational. :D
It actually wasn't that bad. :\\ Then again I'm probably desensitised from my multiple trips to the hospital for various things. Once they cut open my arm (about an inch-long cut) to extract a bit of muscle for testing. \\o/ Didn't feel a thing because of the anesthesia, and it was blocked off so I couldn't watch, though the scraping and snipping sounds could get slightly disturbing. The resulting scar looked cool at first but then it healed and doesn't look cool any more, and I spent about a week being unable to do anything useful with my left arm because it was too weak to do anything but spend lots of time on the Internet. Regarding Keanu's ACDF - I think they would have used local anesthesia on the spot, so it probably wouldn't have hurt during the actual operation. I wonder if the steel (? the video said titanium, Keanu said steel) plate is still in there. If someone gets to meet him, bring along a magnet and hold it up to his neck and ask if he feels anything. | ||
| 2009-10-22 07:30 | |||
| Forum Posts: 102 Comments: 14 Reviews: 0 | I work for a group of orthopedic surgeons and one surgeon in the practice specializes in spinal surgery. ACDF is something he does very frequently (did one today in fact) and has a very high success rate. Vast majority of patients have quick recoveries and complete relief of their symptoms. Glad Keanu had it done and got good results. He never could have done The Matrix if he hadn't had the surgery. Can you even imagine The Matrix without him? | ||
| 2009-10-22 14:13 | |||
| Forum Posts: 83 Comments: 106 Reviews: 4 | The Matrix wouldn't be anything without him. I'm glad he had the surgery.
The surgery that really creeps me out is where they're working on someone's brain, and the person has to be wide awake while they're doing it so they can answer questions. I could NOT stand that. | ||
| 2009-10-22 14:14 | |||
ADMIN Forum Posts: 3076 Comments: 405 Reviews: 1 | There are no nerve endings in your brain, so you actually can't feel a thing. But yeah, it's creepy. | ||
| 2009-11-09 02:04 | |||
| Forum Posts: 1364 Comments: 153 Reviews: 0 | Here's something I found on Google Books about Keanu's neck injury. It's from a 1997 issue of New York Magazine: | ||
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