Sunday, January 23, 2011

neurosurgeon appointment

I did see my neurosurgeon today and it was less than stellar. I told him I am still having a lot of pain and problems with that and that the meds aren't cutting it but I am also tired of taking so much meds and he told me that there was a problem with my x-ray. Basically that when you normally bend several vertebra all move to create an arc. In my back it is almost all coming down to one joint and also that whereas your spinal cord is usually covered in 360 degrees mine is now exposed in 270 degrees. There aren't any nerves in the spinal cord so I wouldn't feel it there but the dura that surrounds it is pretty concentrated so it may also be a problem of scar tissue building up or even possibly both. I asked about going back to work just to sub as needed and he told me he didn't think it would be a good idea right now. He said I should have a 20-30 lbs weight limit and also I have started sleeping in a chair sometimes because I wake up in too much pain in a bed. They have set me up for an MRI and a CT scan to see what the extent of it looks like and that will give a little better idea. We also asked about non-drug or non-surgical alternatives and I am also going to do PT although not really sure what they can do for that. That is the news lately.