So, It has been a week since my discectomy procedure and I must say that I am feeling pretty good. Better every day as a matter of fact! The strength of my shin has dramatically improved and the numbness is slowly going away. I feel very fortunate to have such great results. I almost wish that I had done this sooner. I guess it happened the way it did for a reason. The pain is getting better also. Initially, I called the Doc and had him switch me to Percocet rather than the Vicodin he prescribed, and he did. They gave me one at the hospital before I left and it really did the trick. The Vicodin didn’t seem to do much at all. I might as well have taken a placebo. I still can’t sit for longer than 30 minutes at a time, bend over, or twist at all, but I’m sure those things will come soon enough. I am not quite shuffling anymore, but more like… well not quite walking normally yet, somewhere in between the two.

My incision seems to be also healing well as you can see below. It is even getting a bit itchy already. That usually means to me that it’s healing well.

As you can see, It’s still a bit swollen. I have been icing it every once in a while when I lay down.

It all sound great so far, right? Well… there is one issue; my throat! Since the surgery, I have had one of the worst sore throats I have ever had. After surgeries that I have had in the past, I have had a sore throat for a day or two afterwards, from the intubation tube they insert when you are under general anesthesia. It is pretty normal for most patients to feel a bit of uncomfortability for a day or two. My throat has been almost unbearably painful for the past week. I even called Dr. Levin, on Saturday (sadly) to ask him if there were any complications with the intubation. He said “No, everything seemed to go normally” and asked me if anyone in my family was sick, or anything like that. I of course said no, because everyone is healthy. The pain from my throat has been keeping me up at night and every meal is excruciatingly painful. Dr. Levin prescribed me Augmentin just in case there is any infection or strep or something. Well, it’s been two days on the antibiotics and no improvement. So far, I have gone through almost two bottles of Chloraseptic numbing spray and a box of Cepacol lozenges. I really just wish I knew what happened. When I look down my throat, it looks obviously swollen, and it looks as though my uvula (punching bag thingy in the back of your throat) has some small cuts or scabs forming on them. I don’t see anything white that would indicate an infection, but I am no doctor. I called the Doc again this morning, as he told me to do if there was no improvement in 24 hours, and I am waiting for him to call me back.

That’s about all I have for today! Thanks for reading, and as usual, I welcome your comments or support.

I’ll see you next post! Peace…

Well… I did it!! I made it through the discectomy procedure, and thankfully with no complications.

When I arrived, in Pre-Op, everyone was quite welcoming and friendly. However, I was told that I must remove my contacts for the surgery. :-/ This made me a bit nervous because I couldn’t identify any of the myriad doctors and nurses that were questioning me or sticking me with needles. I am quite blind without my glasses or contacts. Anything that is more that a foot from my face is a complete blur! The anxiety I had before I arrived was heightened by my temporary “blindness”.

Thankfully, when Dr. Levin arrived, he really made my experience a great one. His familiar voice was quite comforting and I can’t thank him enough for what he has done for me. With his soothing tone, he was extremely good at communicating with both me and my wife (best friend, caretaker, and so much more…) about what would be done and what to expect going forward. He was also very attentive about any concerns or questions. It was all in all a wonderful experience, as far as surgeries go. As I mentioned, I was quite nervous when I arrived, and he made me feel at ease, as did the Valium I was administered. He even signed my back (as you will see in the photo below) where the incision was to be made, just to be sure that there would be no confusion.

As I explained in my previous post on Sunday, I asked Dr. Levin if I could keep the piece of extruded disc that he will be removing, and to my dismay, he said that he will be taking it out in chunks and usually gets “sucked out” in the suction tank. :(  But he actually looked disappointed for me, so I let it slide. :P 

  The incision was made vertically as shown below. and all of the micro surgery was done through this small opening.

After I shower today, at least 24 hours after surgery (Doctors orders), I will be taking the dressing off to reveal no stitches. Apparently they are all inside and will disolve. 

The doc said that the extruded piece of disc was a lot bigger than he expected, but was able to get all of it. He was even able to reach across to the right side to remove the central bulge that I mentioned in my last post.

Immediately after surgery, Dr. Levin went out to reassure my wife that everything was OK and went smoothly. Within an hour, I was WALKING (more like shuffling) down the hall, ready to go home.

On the way home, we stopped at CVS to pickup my Meds, Vicodin and Valium, and when we finally arrived, I shuffled to the front door and couldn’t be happier to to be home! 

The Doctor said that he wants me walking at least 30 minutes a day, and not to sit for longer that 30 minutes. so I keep shuffling around the house, taking very short sitting breaks when I need to. Last night was definitely a rough night of sleep for me and my poor wife. I am guessing that because of the IV drip that kept me hydrated during surgery, I was up every hour on the hour having to go pee. The transitions from lying down to standing are the hardest and most painful so far, and my unconditionally loving wife was there to help me every time. Even if I told her that I want to try myself, she stood there steadfastly, waiting to offer a helping hand.

Words cannot express the love and admiration I feel for my family, friends, co-workers, training partners, and folks who I have never met (you all know who you are, and if you’re guessing whether or not I mean you… I probably don’t) who have all been there to support me and send their positive energy and well wishes my way, so THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart. 

And MOST of all, my Wife and Daughters! Without them there every step of the way, I don’t know if I could have done it. I surely wouldn’t have wanted to anyway. And the love and support that they are sure to give me in the weeks ahead, I will be sure to love them even more each day, more that i already do!

Thanks for reading! I will continue shufflin’ and hopefully soon, running, and wrestling, and Training BJJ again. not too soon though, It has felt like an eternity, but this is a new beginning and… 

“You can’t rush perfection” - Unknown

See you all next post! Peace!

Sooner or later, the time would come… and it has arrived.

Since My last post I had the MRI on Wednesday of last week and saw Dr. Levin again the very next day. Although I told him that some of the strength had come back, he wasn’t very impressed with my progress. I am able to use my shin a bit more but my toe is apparently still paralyzed from the compression of the L5 nerve. He thinks that my strength has only somewhat returned due to my efforts to always move and test it. The piece of extruded disc that he thought might be absorbed by my body, didn’t show any signs of absorption or any change at all for that matter, over the past six weeks. From what I gather from him, six weeks seems to be the magic number. My strength and numbness should be about 95% better than six weeks ago. Since they are not, this would be the best time to go in for the discectomy so that the symptoms have the least chance of being permanent. The areas circled in red below will be where the procedure takes place.

These are my actual MRI photos.

This is a cross section of me from the left side.

As if I were laying down with my feet toward you…This shows the disc bulging in the middle, compressing the nerves.

Again, as if I were laying down with my feet toward you…This photo is actually not my disc but the L5 vertebrae. The dark section circled in red is the piece of extruded disc that has come from the disc above between L4 and L5. This is the one causing most of the symptoms. I plan on asking the Doc if I can keep that little piece… as a memento, or something tangible that will help me heal. If I have the piece outside, then I can heal knowing that it is no longer inside, causing symptoms. I know… It’s weird but it works for me.

With all that said… my surgery is tomorrow, Monday, October 3rd 2011 at 1:00pm at Shady Grove Hospital. The Doc said he wants me up and walking around as soon as possible after the surgery. Either standing or laying down, but no sitting for more than 30 minutes. The recovery time should take roughly six weeks…. Just in time for wrestling season. :)

Who knows how long it will be before I can get back on the mat, ready to roll or wrestle, but I can GUARANTEE that is will be as soon as physically possible. One thing that I have been purposely leaving out of my blogs is that I have put on about 30-35 pounds since this all began. The lack of exercise has not been good to me. This will be like a new beginning for me in so many ways, and I will not waste this opportunity to get back on track! That is a promise that I have made to my self!

Thanks for reading, and if you would like to send some good vibes my way tomorrow at about 1:00 pm EST, I welcome them…. You can keep the negative ones. No food or drink for me after midnight tonight… I’m a Gremlin.

See y’all tomorrow!

I’m really not sure what that reason is yet, but I look forward to finding out.

Well it’s been almost three weeks since my last informative post about my foot drop and impending surgery. Well, I called the office last Friday to speak with the surgeon’s medical assistant and to see if Dr. Levin wanted to see me before my scheduled surgery on the 26th of September. Here is the response that I received; “Hmmm… you said your name was Matthew? (long pause) I don’t seem to see you on the schedule. Did you schedule this with Jamica?” “Yes, That’s who I spoke with” I replied. “Ummm, Yeah… She’s no longer with us, I’m sorry, but don’t feel bad, your not the only one affected by that one… she dropped the ball on lots of people. Let me call the hospital and at least see if she put it on their schedule, and I’ll get back to you.” Needless to say, I wasn’t on the schedule.

Anyway, I am actually feeling a bit better. The foot drop is showing signs of improvement on the right side. The numb area has seemed to have gotten lower on my shin, and my strength, although still much weaker than normal, has improved. The problem is, that I am starting to feel slight symptoms on the other foot. The top of my right foot has, at times, felt a bit numb or like pins and needles. I only feel it sometimes, but I still feel it. So Dr. Levin called me back that night after finding out about the “Jamica debacle” and apologized profusely and asked me how I was feeling. I told him about the new symptoms and improvement of the old. He said (paraphrasing), “I know the insurance company is not going to like this but I am going to send you for another MRI. That is my “road map” during surgery and if there are new symptoms, I am going to need to address those too.” 

So, I am scheduled for an MRI (hopefully my last) on Wednesday next week, pending insurance approval of course. They did just approve one barely over a month ago. Dr. Levin says he will evaluate the MRI a day or two after it’s taken, and we will schedule surgery for the following week if necessary. This usually take a few weeks but because I was led to believe that I was on the schedule, he would make it work.

Maybe this is an opportunity to let me heal a bit more, and I won’t need the surgery at all. Or maybe it will show that the surgery should treat both sides, and not just the left. Dr. Levin told me that he doesn’t do exploratory surgery like they used to in the years past. The MRI will show him right where to go as not to disturb anything unnecessarily, and aid a speedy recovery. Nice to know!

My only concern really, (please tell me if you think I’m wrong here) is that if I heal now and don’t need surgery now, will I need it soon? I just dont want to get back to running and wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu if I am going to be back in the MRI tunnel in a month or two with an extruded disc and a drop foot again. Even if I get the surgery, will I be back in the tunnel in a month or two after recovery?

I, for some reason, feel like, if I go through with and need the surgery, It would be like a turning point for me. A time to start fresh with at least that disc. I’m ready to get it out and start the real healing process. All these pills and PT are driving me nuts!!!!! I need my life back, and I don’t want to prolong or procrastinate, or whatever you call it ANYMORE! Where… Oh Where… is the turning point in this struggle. Have I hit the bottom yet? …or have I already made my way on the road to recovery, at least long enough to have my life back for a few years at least.

OK, That really felt good. Maybe this, right now, is my turning point.

Thanks for reading! See you next post. :-/

“Then” has come and gone, so it’s about time I write this.

I went to meet with Dr Levin for a surgery consultation yesterday. He explained to me in more detail what I have going on as he sees it on the MRI. Basically, my extruded disc is actually a piece or fragment of the disc between L4 and L5 that has dislodged itself and is now caught between my vertebrae and the nerve that controls my big left toe, some of my shin, and the sensory feeling of the skin in those areas. My condition is pretty common for this type of herniation or extrusion at that level and is sometimes refereed to as “foot drop” or “drop foot”.

Initially, the doctor leaned into me and said, “I can’t take your pain away.”. He went on to explain that my lower back pain is much more complicated than the drop foot symptoms that I am experiencing. With that disclaimer out of the way, he began to explain my options. Actually, first he said ” Spinal Fusion wasn’t a good idea when you were 19 (in the Marines) and it’s not a good idea now.” boy was I ever glad to hear him say that. Now on to the options.

In a nutshell (a very big nut shell) There are three things to focus on: Pain, Numbness, and Weakness. He already told me about the pain, so we zoned in on the numbness first. Usually the numbness is the first to get better between it and the weakness. The presence of the weakness usually takes longer to go away.

So now what? The doctor recommended that I wait it out for 4 to 6 weeks to see if there is any improvement. There is a possibility that my body can just absorb the disc chip and that my symptoms would improve. Frankly, I think I feel a bit of improvement already. So…. that’s scenario 1…. Do Nothing and get better!

Scenario 2: Do nothing and get worse. There is a possibility that the chip could float around and cause more nerve damage than it already has.

Scenario 3: Do Nothing and stay the same. He explained that there is a possibility that the nerve damage is permanent, and it will stay like that, whether he performs surgery to remove the chip or not….

…which brings me to scenario 4: Have surgery (outpatient, it takes about an hour and a half) to remove the chip, look for other possible chips waiting to extrude, go through 6 weeks of recovery, and stay the same.

Scenario 5: Have surgery and get worse. This obviously would be the worst case scenario and also the least likely to happen.

And last but not least - Scenario 6: Have the surgery and have immediate results. I could wake up feeling like new (best case) or it may take a few weeks or months for the numbness and weakness to completely go away, which I am OK with, as long as it gets better. I’m patient.

I then asked him about Total Disc Replacement and he shook his head as if that would be crazy. Although he has done them in the past, he hasn’t seen very significant positive results. Besides that fact, I am too young for a procedure like that. He said that if I were older and I had no disc left at all, where my vertebrae were rubbing together, then maybe. And even that was a maybe.

So I have a decision to make and some time to make it. The doc said that it may take 3 to 4 weeks to get me on the schedule for surgery anyway. With that in mind, today I called and made an appointment for the surgery on September 26th. This way, I can wait the few weeks as he said I should and can cancel the appointment if I need to. Also, I don’t risk waiting 4 to 6 weeks, not get better, and then waiting another 4 weeks before I can get in for surgery, and risk the chip to float around for all that time and possibly cause more damage.

A good friend of mine made me look at it in a different light today too. He said “Just remember that it’s an injury to fix another injury.” He’s right… I guess I just have to think about which injury would give me the best recovery result in the future. The doctor also mentioned that after surgery, there is a 6 week window where I would be very prone to a new injury in that area, and that it also makes it more difficult to do surgery in that area in the future due to scar tissue. I would have to really take it easy for a while.

What to do? I guess it’s just a waiting game at this point, But I am leaning toward surgery. I want that chip out!

I appreciate those of you who have expressed concern about this. It really means a great deal to me, so THANK YOU! (you all know who you are) If anyone else has any comments or advise or whatever, I welcome it.

Thanks for reading……. Until next time.

Well… I said I would keep you updated… So here it is. I went for the MRI last Thursday after my last post. What I failed to mention then, along with the numbness of the skin on my left shin and foot, was that I also have weakness in my shin and a reduced range of motion than normal. This was apparently a pretty important factor today as the doctor was looking over my MRI. 

The picture below is my MRI from Thursday, in which I have circled three areas. The blue circles show my degenerated and herniated discs at L3 and L4 (top circle) and L5 and S1 (bottom circle). Those, along with the red circle which I will get to in a minute, are what have been causing me all this pain for the past 4 and a half months or so. The difference from my last MRI (about 4 months ago), is that in addition to the blue circle herniations getting worse, The disc at L4 and L5 has become extruded and is causing the numbness and weakness in my left leg. The doctor described it to me like this: “These (blue circles) are like a jelly donut being squished between your hands until the jelly comes out a bit. This one (the red circle) is like squishing the donut until all the jelly is all gone and the donut itself starts to squeeze out between your hands.” I’m no doctor but I’m guessing… that’s pretty bad. You may also notice in the photo, that some discs are white in the center. That whiteness is the jelly. The bottom three are black (Degenerated); No Jelly!

So what’s next, you ask? They have referred me to a orthopedic spinal surgeon…. Yes I said SURGEON, named Dr. David Levine for a consultation at The Orthopedic Center of MD. I will be seeing him this Wednesday. I must say, I have always been nervous about the thought of back surgery, and I still am frankly, but if this will take all of this pain away, there is no better time. I will definitely be doing my homework before I see him so that I am sure we go over all of my options, including disc replacement to minimize losing any range of motion caused by fusing of vertebrae.

I want to continue to live the life I choose, running and swimming and BJJ of course. I want to continue coaching wrestling and stay an active, healthy, and fit human being. I refuse to settle for anything less! That determination is what squalls any nervousness I feel.

If anyone has any experiences or anything (positive) to share, I welcome your comments. I’ll be sure to post again after my consultation on Wednesday. Until then…..

…..Ummm Yeah… Until then!