Columbus Update...

So life is way busy over here in 'ETR and IEP Land'...too bad the bulk of my reports fell on the weeks surrounding my birthday. Really not what I call a relaxing birthday...but oh well, just goes to show that life isn't always a box of chocolates...sometimes you get the coconut ones in there :)

So here's the report from the doctor's visit in Columbus on Thursday. My neurologist spent a nice hour or more with me going over my history and really took an interest in what was going on with me...she was like 'You've been through quite the decade'...I was thinking 'You ain't seen nothing yet...wait til I'm healthy!' :) Basically, here is what we are doing to manage pain until summer...for the next 6 weeks I will be doing physical therapy two times a week to strengthen the muscles around my spinal cord, hoping that will alleviate some pain. I also have lidocain patches to wear 12 hours out of the day on my back where my pain is on my spinal cord. But in the mean time, my neurologist is going to consult with a neurosurgeon to look at my MRI images as well. I'm a weird case, because most of my problems involve my cervical spine (the stenosis, degenerative disc disease, osteophyte complex, and so on...)-yet I have no symptoms yet from those. Everything I am feeling is coming from my thoracic spine where the cysts are. So they want to look at everything and try to piece this all together. I go back and see them after school gets out and we will go from there. They want to try and figure out why I have pain in my legs and spasms when you touch the spinal cord and why I still get the sporadic spasms in my back. I take Lyrica and that takes the spasms away...and actually I only have to take the Lyrica when it starts acting up. So all in all...I'm just a weird case so she is consulting with other doctors to see what we can do. The options are injections or surgery...but thats a topic for another day. I'm taking it a day at a time...

Here are some images of what a syrinx and Chiari Malformation looks like. The bottom part of my cerebellum was pressing on my spinal cord causing cysts in my spinal cord (called syrinx) because the cerebral fluid that flows around your brain and spinal cord was blocked. I had surgery 5 years ago to fix the Chiari and ultimately, my syrinx reduced in size because the cerebral fluid was flowing right again. However, my syrinx didn't all go away, they are still there, still causing me pain.

I am happy that we are actually trying out these methods first. Relief is what I am aiming for...I want quality of life in year 27 of my life. I am happy my doctor is consulting with others before making any rash decisions...and I'm content because they didn't leave me hanging with no plan... :) That alone was like 10 pounds taken off of the 20 pounds I've carried on my back for 5 years! Well, I'm heading to bed now, because I think I'm starting to get a cold or something, my chest is so tight these days and hurts hard core when I cough or take a deep breath. Uugh, I blame it on the 7 inches of rain we got this month!! I'll keep you updated and let you know how therapy and these patches are doing. I'm counting my blessings that we missed the tornados, loving my friends and family for ALL they do for me (esp. Ash and Tara this week for making me cry in the good way;) and loving my husband for making me LAUGH through this whole ordeal! And last but not least...my God, who has given me this life to teach me more than I ever could have imagined about depending on Him and Him alone. Because in Christ alone, my hope is found.

Good Night!