Well, my lesson for today came from my own health. Always, and I mean always, be your own advocate. Don't settle for anything less than getting to the bottom of an issue. About ten years ago my neck pain began. It would go away for a while and come back, always a bit worse than before. Then it started coming with tingling and numbness in the arms and hands. Now the truth is all before me courtesy of an MRI that I really should have had before now. It probably wouldn't have changed that ultimately I would need surgery, but it certainly might have pushed that day back and there are benefits to doing so.
I found out that I have: cervical kyphosis, congenital stenosis, cervical stenosis with myelopathy along with the disc herniations, which are components of the degenerative disc disease. My reflexes are hyperactive, and I have weakness and gate changes that I am not really aware of, I guess because they have become the norm for so long now. My neurosurgeon has put me on steroids for about a week to see if we can buy any more time with medicine before surgery. The reason for wanting to wait a bit is Adjunct Segment Disease - where other discs/vertebrae will likely be impacted in the same fashion sometime after the surgery. The risk for it goes up 2-3%/year, so in 50 years it will be 100% likely. Without surgery though, it will not get better and I will likely be paralyzed. Whether it happens this year or in several years (if medicines prove helpful), I will have at least a spinal fusion from c-4 to c-7. Here's to winning the neck lottery - NOT! LOL
I have to laugh because you have to stay positive. I always could have been dealt with something a whole helluva lot worse, so no sense in getting angry or sad about the cards you've been dealt.
I counted 44 Kia's today, as I went to and fro doctor's offices and to the pharmacy. When I went to drop off the prescription, Kia number 37 was you, headed home from work. I was glad to see that since you had gone in with our Winter weather, that you had made it there and back safely.
Happy St. Patrick's Day, Alexa, will you marry me?
MN