Where in the world is Todd Kunz?

In November, Eyewitness News anchor Todd Kunz did a story on why you didn’t see weather forecaster Steve Cannon during the month of September. The reason was Steve was out for cancer surgery. Now the tables are turned. Kunz has been absent for about three weeks.

Cannon
“So Todd, where have you been?”

Kunz
“If you would have told me then that I would be having surgery like you were having, I never would have guessed. Granted, yours is much more severe. Mine ended up being emergency neck surgery. In fact, two weeks ago tonight. I had a herniated disc, well beyond bulging, beyond repair. Doctors had to take it out and put in a cage with bone material to fuse two vertebrae together and then put a titanium plate on the front with four screws.”

Cannon
“Now this has been coming on for a while. This just didn’t start all of a sudden?”

Kunz
“It didn’t, it didn’t. You go back three years ago and, sadly, an injury from a chiropractor. But I beat it three years ago with physical therapy and decompression therapy where they stretch the vertebrae apart and allow the disc to receed. And it did, with a couple steroid injections. I beat it. However, a month and half ago while playing with my kids, I did something that re-aggravated it.”

Cannon
“Before the final procedure you spent more than a few days in the local hospital didn’t you?”

Kunz
“Oh, boy did I! The night before Thanksgiving and the Sunday following Thanksgiving, I was in the ER at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. I have holes and gaps in my memory because of the pain. It’s hard to describe.”

Cannon
“On a scale of 1 to 10?”

Kunz
“It’s funny you ask that, because they ask the same question when you get in there. ‘What is your pain level?’ And I said, ‘Honestly, I’ve got to tell you right now that I’m at an 11.’ And by the time it (the IV) started working, it was 18. I have never felt pain like that. And I did not think it could get worse until the Sunday when I came back. I’ve had appendicitis. I have blown out an ankle throwing the football around and it’s got to be the worst pain I have ever, ever felt.”

Cannon
“I know when I had my procedure, I found out just how much patience I didn’t have.”

Kunz
“We were probably in the same line, both of us. We are much alike that way. I don’t have the patience and I guess this is teaching me to have some. I have learned that the surgery and the recovery are two separate ball games entirely. I have to have this (neck brace) on for six weeks, so I have another four weeks to go before that comes off.”

Cannon
“So the million dollar question: When you coming back?”

Kunz

“Everybody says, ‘Don’t do too much too soon, take it gradually.’ So this week, I’ve come back part-time, doing some things off camera, behind the scenes. There is plenty to do. You won’t see me on TV until this thing comes off and my appointment is the middle of January. So we’ve got a little while to go.”

Interesting to know, with a surgery of this type, doctors have to cut an incision on the front of the neck to gain complete access to the spinal area.