A Quick One

Hey, I finally kind of got ahold of the doctor. Well I talked to his secretary who looked through my file and found some notes. I'm not sure of any real details but this is how she explain it to me. She said that the mid line of my pelvis has fused together as well as s1/s2. There are a few partial fusions in the pelvis as well as one/some (She wasn't very clear on this) non fusions. So basically some of the bone have healed while other's haven't. This is what I'm assuming is the cause of all the pain. She also told me that since the problem area isn't in the spine but in the pelvis that I have been referred to a orthopedic specialist in Kelowna. Apparently all my info was faxed over on friday and I should hear from them soon. Who knows what that means. I'm glad that he isn't sending me to the orthopedic surgeon I had in vancover when I was at VGH because he was pretty much useless. Anyways everything is still kind of a mystery but at least we might be heading in the right direction.

Robert

Hello Hello

Hey. Well I finally have some good news to share. Last week I went in for another spinal tap and the pressure was at 20 mm of water right were its supposed to be. My vision isn't back to perfect yet but Its definitely improving. I can even read the screen today without closing my one eye. The neurologist wants me to continue take the medication for another month and then hopefully after that things should be all back to normal. I still haven't heard back from the spinal surgeon yet on the results of my ct scan. He was supposed to call me last Wednesday but didn't. I have left several messages and talked to his secretary twice, but still no word. Thats a bit frustrating but I suppose that know news is hopefully good news. Physio is going fine. My left quad s continuing to see improvements while my hip and foot are still not getting in on the action. Things are still pretty sore, and it would be really nice to know if the CT scan showed any evidence of the cause. but I guess I have to leave some angry messages this week. I have also been have some new pain near the middle of my back. I sat kinda funny for a few minutes and then when I stood up I was extremely painful to straighten my back out. It has eased up some but is still a bit of an issue. I'll have to have my physiotherapist take a look at it if it continues. And I guess that would be most of my news. Next weekend my parents are going down to watch my sisters senior recital. I had been hoping hoping to go but a ten hour car ride wouldn't agree with me quite yet. So Pat Mcdonald is going to be staying with me for the weekend. Should be fun. hmmm Thats all I can think of right now. Hope your all doing well.

Robert

Back at Home

Well we made it back home. The trip back went just as smooth as the trip down. I managed to sleep the whole flight again so it went pretty quick.On tuesday I had x-rays and saw the spinal surgeon. He was concerned that my pain while sitting may be caused by the bones not fusing together properly, SO he ordered a CT scan. I was able to get squeezed in that afternoon. I called his office today and he had left a note with the secretary saying that he took a look at the scan and it didn't look that bad to him, but he has to wait for the radiologists report. He is planning to call me during his next rounds and since he is off next week I'm expecting to hear from him the following wednesday. The EMG test this morning didn't really show anything that we didn't already know from simple observation. My quad still should be recovering some more. My foot doesn't look that promising, and my hip is kinda iffy but looks like I should get at lest a little back. Well there I was able to visit with a bunch of family which was very good, and filled in all the gaps that could have made the trip seem long and boring. And that would be my trip to vancouver.

Robert

Live from Vancouver

Hey. I would like to apologize for not posting in a really long time I don’t really have a good excuse for it, but I’ll do my best to pick up the pace here. Well since I last posted I have gone in for another spinal tap. This time the pressure was a bit more reasonable but still quite high. The dr. drained the fluid down to normal and is keeping me on the medication for at least another month. I’ll be going in for another spinal tap on the 3rd of march. The drugs that he started me on to try and slow down the production of the spinal fluid have been reeking some havoc on my body. My appetite had decreased a lot and when I did eat or drink more then a little I ended up feeling nauseous. In the first two weeks on the drug I lost 12 pounds, however over the last few days it had been picking back up some. I also ended up being taken off to of the drugs I was on for nerve pain which has left me having a lot of random burst of pain in my legs, especially at night time. So for the last week I have been having some fairly poor sleeps. Some good news now. Chris and Corinne Millington Oooo and Ella!! and Denise came down to visit this weekend, that was a good time. And now I am currently sitting in a hotel in Vancouver. I flew down this morning by air ambulance since I still couldn’t handle sitting on a commercial flight. Tomorrow I go and get some x-rays taken and then see the spinal surgeon. He may be ordering a ct scan or possibly a bone scan depending on how it goes. And then on Thursday I have a EMG (testing the strength of the nerve signals) at G.F Strong. This test will help give us a better idea of how much I will get back in my legs. Then I’ll be flying back home thursday early afternoon. Mom came down with me and were planning to have some of the family come and stop by to visit, so that’ll be fun. And I think that just about covers it. I want to thank you all for still checking up on me and following my progress. It really means a lot to know that you care so much.

Robert

The results

Well the spinal tap went well. It was a fairly easy process. They found out that I ad over double the pressure compared to a normal persons spinal fluid. The doctor drained around 22cc which is the quick fix, since a normal person produce cerebral spinal fluid at a rate of .7cc/minute and I'm making it at who knows how fast. Then they have started me in some more medication to slow down the production. Now the fluid will be tested to see if there is any problems with it. The docotr is unsure of what the cause is as the doesn't often occur spontaneously in males of my body type. He thinks that the cause may be due to..... you guessed it, my drugs. so we've come full circle back to tapering mt drugs down. so hopefully this in conjunction with the new medication will allow me to start seeing some results in the next weeks(the doc said it wouldn't clear up instantly as my eyes have had some swelling in them). I will have to be going back in for another spinal tap next week to see how things ae going and probably for a few more in the future. But I feel a lot better now that it seems some progress is being made.

Robert

Friday

Hey just wanted to let you know that the cat scan showed no sign of a tumor and that everything looked good. I will be going in for the spinal tap in about an hour. So hopefully this will find the problem and we can get this eye deal over with.

Robert

quick update

Hey jut thought I'd let you know the latest in the eye story. I went to the doctor today and he saw some inflammation in the back of my eyes so he refereed me to an ophthalmologist. He found that my blurred vision is caused not by my drugs but from ppressure in the back of my eyes and on the optic nerve. He sent me over to another doctor who told me that there are two possible causes of this. Either a tumor or excessive spinal fluid pressure. He is leaning towards the spinal fluid pressure as I show no other symptoms of a tumor.So tomorrow I will be going in fo a CT scan, and depending in the results of that I may need to get a spinal tap to measure the pressure of the spinal cord fluid.

Robert