Introducing Gertrude
Hello Friends:
I adore it hear in Austin; such amazing people, beautiful scenery, incredible happenings, and vast opportunities. I love my job and my fabulous boss. Being busy is a constant which most of you realize is the best thing for this girl. I am so blessed to have this much going for me. However, another bomb dropped on me this month….
I have found a great physical therapist down here. He actually trained my physical therapist in Fort Worth so I do not have to learn all new methods. This new physical therapist, Ryan, suggested that I find a neurosurgeon here in Austin. It was a really good idea considering I’m still having some hefty symptoms and it would be a bad call for me to attempt to drive 3 hours north to FW in a flare up. Not only that, but a second set of eyes wouldn’t hurt.
Ryan referred me to a well versed, veteran surgeon of 19 years, Dr. White. This new neurosurgeon looked at my old films, MRI and X-ray, and then had me get a second round of both to compare. Dr. White confirmed my original doctor from Fort Worth’s suspicions that I have a pair of degenerative disk and spinal diseases.
1) Spinal Stenosis. This basically translates to disk degeneration through narrowing of the spinal canal thus compressing the spinal cord and nerves. This explains why even after that stupid disk was removed in the first surgery that my symptoms are still present.
2) Spondylosis. This is degenerative arthritis, osteoarthritis and slipping of the vertebrae. Basically, arthritis and stress from my spine has prompted my joints to grow too large and my nerve roots are beginning to be squashed. This also means that my spine is unstable and my vertebrae are shifting. Dr. White explained that a normal person only has about 1 mm of movement but I have 11mm. That’s a fail.
The stenosis and spondylosis is not a result of anything I did, it is just the way God made me. That flippin’ TV that started this mess was just the proverbial straw that broke this camel’s back. The disk that did rupture was going to rupture it was just a matter of time.
So what does all of this mean? Well, my back is comparable to that of a 70 year old woman (Lora and I have decided to call her Gertrude). I’ll be dealing with her nonsense for the rest of my life. Dr. White said that my case is certainly not the worst he has ever seen but I am one of the youngest. It is highly uncommon for someone in her 20s to have these diseases. Score one for me!
What are my options?
A) Continue physical therapy and get back in my brace. If I can get myself very dedicated and turn into the hulk, there is a chance that my core muscles will become strong enough to support my spine since the bones and tissues are dropping the ball. The brace will give me added support until my muscles can take over.
B) Facet Block. If you can recall before I had the first surgery, I had a series of Epidural Steroid Injections. This was a type of pain management where a doc shoved an epidural needle into Ray Bob the problem disk and injected super steroids to try to reduce inflammation. (You also might remember that this did nothing for me.) Well, a facet block is similar to the ESI except instead of going into a disk the injections will go into my joints. I am going to have to do a lot of research on this before I’m game b/c frankly I don’t even want to give it a shot.
C) Spinal Fusion Surgery. This one gets a little complicated. Apparently, my L5 vertebrae is naturally fused to my sacrum (tail bone) but strangely more so on one side. Dr. White would order a procedure called a myelogram CT. A radiologist would perform a spinal tap during the process to determine exactly what is fused and where. Using the results of that exam I would have a spinal fusion surgery that would last at least 5 hours. Dr. White would slice me open, remove some bone, use bone grafts to combine the unstable vertebrae, secure the grafts with screws and align the screws with metal rods for more stability. The fusion would be bilateral and possibly in three different areas. I would have to remain admitted to the hospital for at least 3 to 4 days and recovery would take months but for an added bonus, I could make every metal detector go off forever and ever. Win!
Dr. White told me to think my options over and call him next week. He said that if I can handle the pain and numbness I have been dealing with then there is no emergent reason to jump into the surgery or start the injections. He did, however, say that the current state of my spine will not be able to support or withstand pregnancy and childbirth so something will need to change before I’m ready to settle down with John Mayer. I can handle the physical therapy but I worry about my health insurance and if they will choose to quit covering my pt sessions as they did last summer. I’m not a big fan of facet blocks because I am comparing them to the ESIs which didn’t help. I’m very very scared of having a second back surgery. The first surgery was a microdiskectomy and laminotomy which was hard enough but this one would be much more invasive.
I hate that I’m delivering this news to you in a horribly impersonal manner through a note on a Web site, however, I fear I just can’t bring myself to call you all individually and deal with my emotions each time.
What I need from you.... Your thoughts and prayers. This week was a challenge for me because I knew if I was going through this in Fort Worth I could call anyone of you and know you’d say, “Can you drive or should I come to you?” This week was the first time since I moved that I actually felt homesick. I just miss your touch, your support and your wonderfully sarcastic remarks that bring me back down to earth. Lord knows I made an absolute fool of myself at work, balling my eyes out in my office wishing that someone was there to hug me.
I’ll get through it, I always do. I just thought you’d want to know since you have been through this since the beginning. I love you all and miss you dearly. Stay well.
I adore it hear in Austin; such amazing people, beautiful scenery, incredible happenings, and vast opportunities. I love my job and my fabulous boss. Being busy is a constant which most of you realize is the best thing for this girl. I am so blessed to have this much going for me. However, another bomb dropped on me this month….
I have found a great physical therapist down here. He actually trained my physical therapist in Fort Worth so I do not have to learn all new methods. This new physical therapist, Ryan, suggested that I find a neurosurgeon here in Austin. It was a really good idea considering I’m still having some hefty symptoms and it would be a bad call for me to attempt to drive 3 hours north to FW in a flare up. Not only that, but a second set of eyes wouldn’t hurt.
Ryan referred me to a well versed, veteran surgeon of 19 years, Dr. White. This new neurosurgeon looked at my old films, MRI and X-ray, and then had me get a second round of both to compare. Dr. White confirmed my original doctor from Fort Worth’s suspicions that I have a pair of degenerative disk and spinal diseases.
1) Spinal Stenosis. This basically translates to disk degeneration through narrowing of the spinal canal thus compressing the spinal cord and nerves. This explains why even after that stupid disk was removed in the first surgery that my symptoms are still present.
2) Spondylosis. This is degenerative arthritis, osteoarthritis and slipping of the vertebrae. Basically, arthritis and stress from my spine has prompted my joints to grow too large and my nerve roots are beginning to be squashed. This also means that my spine is unstable and my vertebrae are shifting. Dr. White explained that a normal person only has about 1 mm of movement but I have 11mm. That’s a fail.
The stenosis and spondylosis is not a result of anything I did, it is just the way God made me. That flippin’ TV that started this mess was just the proverbial straw that broke this camel’s back. The disk that did rupture was going to rupture it was just a matter of time.
So what does all of this mean? Well, my back is comparable to that of a 70 year old woman (Lora and I have decided to call her Gertrude). I’ll be dealing with her nonsense for the rest of my life. Dr. White said that my case is certainly not the worst he has ever seen but I am one of the youngest. It is highly uncommon for someone in her 20s to have these diseases. Score one for me!
What are my options?
A) Continue physical therapy and get back in my brace. If I can get myself very dedicated and turn into the hulk, there is a chance that my core muscles will become strong enough to support my spine since the bones and tissues are dropping the ball. The brace will give me added support until my muscles can take over.
B) Facet Block. If you can recall before I had the first surgery, I had a series of Epidural Steroid Injections. This was a type of pain management where a doc shoved an epidural needle into Ray Bob the problem disk and injected super steroids to try to reduce inflammation. (You also might remember that this did nothing for me.) Well, a facet block is similar to the ESI except instead of going into a disk the injections will go into my joints. I am going to have to do a lot of research on this before I’m game b/c frankly I don’t even want to give it a shot.
C) Spinal Fusion Surgery. This one gets a little complicated. Apparently, my L5 vertebrae is naturally fused to my sacrum (tail bone) but strangely more so on one side. Dr. White would order a procedure called a myelogram CT. A radiologist would perform a spinal tap during the process to determine exactly what is fused and where. Using the results of that exam I would have a spinal fusion surgery that would last at least 5 hours. Dr. White would slice me open, remove some bone, use bone grafts to combine the unstable vertebrae, secure the grafts with screws and align the screws with metal rods for more stability. The fusion would be bilateral and possibly in three different areas. I would have to remain admitted to the hospital for at least 3 to 4 days and recovery would take months but for an added bonus, I could make every metal detector go off forever and ever. Win!
Dr. White told me to think my options over and call him next week. He said that if I can handle the pain and numbness I have been dealing with then there is no emergent reason to jump into the surgery or start the injections. He did, however, say that the current state of my spine will not be able to support or withstand pregnancy and childbirth so something will need to change before I’m ready to settle down with John Mayer. I can handle the physical therapy but I worry about my health insurance and if they will choose to quit covering my pt sessions as they did last summer. I’m not a big fan of facet blocks because I am comparing them to the ESIs which didn’t help. I’m very very scared of having a second back surgery. The first surgery was a microdiskectomy and laminotomy which was hard enough but this one would be much more invasive.
I hate that I’m delivering this news to you in a horribly impersonal manner through a note on a Web site, however, I fear I just can’t bring myself to call you all individually and deal with my emotions each time.
What I need from you.... Your thoughts and prayers. This week was a challenge for me because I knew if I was going through this in Fort Worth I could call anyone of you and know you’d say, “Can you drive or should I come to you?” This week was the first time since I moved that I actually felt homesick. I just miss your touch, your support and your wonderfully sarcastic remarks that bring me back down to earth. Lord knows I made an absolute fool of myself at work, balling my eyes out in my office wishing that someone was there to hug me.
I’ll get through it, I always do. I just thought you’d want to know since you have been through this since the beginning. I love you all and miss you dearly. Stay well.