A Pain in the Back (ha ha)

So I know this is supposed to be more of a website about the kids, but oh well, I'm taking a turn.  For those of you who don't know, I had surgery on May 10th to remove some of the spinal hardware that had been in my back since my injury in 1999.  The doctors were able to remove everything but eight hooks that were too embedded with overgrown bone for them to be removed.  The picture below is what was removed.  I think I'm going to make a robot out of it!

And for those of you that have a sick sense of morbid curiosity like I do, I thought maybe I'd share a picture of the incision with you.  It's a little icky, so viewer discretion is advised...