I finally talked to Dr. Fiegenbaum. He said that surgery is needed. The cyst is so big it is filling the entire spinal cord and compressing my nerves and eroding the tailbone (eggshell thin). He said since it is filling the whole spinal cord canal, there is nowhere for the nerves to go, except to be pinched. He said he didn't see anything else causing all my pain. My lumbar area looks fine. He said that open back surgery is needed to decompress the nerves, he will expose the tailbone area and remove the back of the tailbone to expose the cyst and decompress the cyst and suture it off so cerebral spinal fluid can't return (into the cyst) and then wrap the cyst. He will put in an absorbable plate that will replace my tailbone that he removed and scar tissue will grow over it and be absorbed in about 2 years.
He also said he will release my tethered spinal cord, which is under tension. The surgery will be about 3 hours long and I will spend about 3 days in the hospital and stay another 5 -7 days or so. I should return to light duty in 3-4 weeks. He said there is a 5-10% risk of problems, and no guarantees. I told him I would like to go forward with surgery. Now, to get surgery scheduled.
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He called!!!!!I think writing the blog is great.I know after a year my mind is a little foggy about all of the surgery.I can read my blog and let others read it to find out my journey.I want you to get your life back taking care of your babies.May God guide you and keep you safe.Call me if you need anything.
ReplyDeleteTammera, Thank You. You inspired me to create this blog. I loved reading yours :) It helped me understand exactly what you went through. I am going to re-read your blog, now that I am on my way. Thanks for everything.
ReplyDeleteAh my questions to you were answered here. Recovery time doesn't sound so bad. There is always a risk to surgeries but 5-10% is really good! You should feel very safe and secure in your decison to proceed. Did the dr see an urgency to do this sooner rather than later? I mean could it get worse such that the surgery would require more than what you realted in your blog?
ReplyDeleteYes, it can get worse, my nerves could be permanently damaged, causing bladder/bowel problems, but I have to wait until next year, because Chris has no vacation days left and I am going to try to get a little better insurance (go up a couple levels) so I don't have to pay $10's of thousands of dollars out of pocket. Hopefully early January will be my date.
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