Well, I took my spine test today and I'm not sure how well it went. The technician who administered the test said there are some "significant issues" with my right arm and the nerves that serve it, and there are some "symptoms" of problems with the left arm. The good news if I was looking for it was that the left arm wasn't as bad as the right. I don't know what this means in terms of the type of operation I will need but it wasn't the bright cheery, "hey you are doing just fine" that I was hoping for. Such is life, I'll find out in a week or so maybe what the report says.
the john
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Neck News
I just saw an article today in the San Jose Mercury News about Geron's spinal chord medicine for people with severe spinal chord trauma. Evidently it is a gene therapy or stem cell derived medicine. They had to put on hold the release of the medicine but it doesn't say why. I'm attaching the final paragraph from the article because it explains roughly what I'm being tested for this week.
Posted: 08/18/2009 11:20:22 AM PDT
Updated: 08/18/2009 11:20:23 AM PDT
In a setback for Menlo Park-based Geron, the company announced today that federal authorities have placed on hold its ground-breaking test in people of a spinal-cord injury treatment it developed from human embryonic stem cells.
When a spine is damaged, myelin — a fatty substance that provides insulation important for motor function — often is stripped off. That can disrupt the body's ability to transmit sensory signals, similar to the way an electrical cord shorts out when its insulation is peeled away, resulting in paralysis. Geron coaxed embryonic cells into becoming oligodendrocytes, cells that help nerve fibers replace myelin.
the johnSaturday, August 15, 2009
Living at break neck speed
Well as they say if it isn't one thing, it's your mother. Or something like that. Well my mother is now willingly going to an assisted living facility in Pennsylvania where she will be close to my aunt and cousins. I'll discuss that whole adventure in a separate post. Today is going to be about my neck, or lack thereof. You see when I was about 14 years old, I broke my neck. It was a diving accident, I was diving into a hay loft in a barn and got my foot stuck in the ladder and well, I broke my neck. And to paraphrase Joe Pesci from the movie Goodfellas, "if I hadn't done what the Doctor told me not to do, I wouldn't need neck surgery now". You see I was advised not to do anything.....that is anything, that would put a strain on my neck, not even diving off a high dive at a swimming pool.
So I went on to wrestle in high school and the air force, I played football, I did anything but avoid putting pressure on my neck. The consequences are that I have a slightly deformed spine now with bone spurs and a "pinched spinal chord" for lack of a better term. The doctor walked Ginny and I through the X-rays and MRI pictures yesterday and it actually made me a bit squeamish. You could see where the spinal chord was being deformed and restricted. And there was at least one nerve channel leading to the right arm that is almost completely blocked which is what is causing my arm pain and numbness.
The good news is the doctor said we are going to do some electrical tests to see if my spine is damaged and restricting the nerve signals to the brain. (I can leave some blank space in this posting for people that want to make wise comments now). If there is no major spinal chord damage, he thinks we (I) can just have the minimally invasive surgery to rebuild that part of the vertebrae that is cutting off the nerve to the arm, then they can clean out a little bit of the bone spurs on the back of the spinal chord and maybe patch up or remove a bit of the herniated disk that is in there. All of that through a hole the size of a drinking straw. On the other hand if my spinal chord is damaged, they will have to go in for a more dramatic surgery to fuse vertebrae and clean out the spinal column.
I did ask the doctor if these problems would account for my history of not feeling very much pain and he said yes that is a very likely result of the broken neck and spinal chord trauma.
So I'm going to get tested possibly as early as next week. I'll keep you posted as to how that goes and what surgery I will be having. You talk about a pain in the neck.....this is the epitome.
the john
So I went on to wrestle in high school and the air force, I played football, I did anything but avoid putting pressure on my neck. The consequences are that I have a slightly deformed spine now with bone spurs and a "pinched spinal chord" for lack of a better term. The doctor walked Ginny and I through the X-rays and MRI pictures yesterday and it actually made me a bit squeamish. You could see where the spinal chord was being deformed and restricted. And there was at least one nerve channel leading to the right arm that is almost completely blocked which is what is causing my arm pain and numbness.
The good news is the doctor said we are going to do some electrical tests to see if my spine is damaged and restricting the nerve signals to the brain. (I can leave some blank space in this posting for people that want to make wise comments now). If there is no major spinal chord damage, he thinks we (I) can just have the minimally invasive surgery to rebuild that part of the vertebrae that is cutting off the nerve to the arm, then they can clean out a little bit of the bone spurs on the back of the spinal chord and maybe patch up or remove a bit of the herniated disk that is in there. All of that through a hole the size of a drinking straw. On the other hand if my spinal chord is damaged, they will have to go in for a more dramatic surgery to fuse vertebrae and clean out the spinal column.
I did ask the doctor if these problems would account for my history of not feeling very much pain and he said yes that is a very likely result of the broken neck and spinal chord trauma.
So I'm going to get tested possibly as early as next week. I'll keep you posted as to how that goes and what surgery I will be having. You talk about a pain in the neck.....this is the epitome.
the john
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