Medical Up-date

On August 8th I had an appointment to see a surgeon who had come highly recommended. He lived up to his reputation, and he said that he didn't think that the metal in my back was causing any problems but that he didn't know enough about the menengitis to make a call on whether it should come out, so he's consulting with the Doc I saw that gave me the diagnosis in the first place. And, he said the the best and easiest place to start (to improve my back and nerve pain) was to do an epidural of lidocaine and cortizone directly into the area right below where I have the fusion, and if that took any of the pain away, then we know that's what needs surgery...another fusion. The spot I have fused already is the second to last movable vertibrae in the back and because it can't move at all, it puts a lot of strain and extra motion on the joint below it. (I am trying to explain why another fusion is actually a good idea, sorry if it doesn't make sense.) : )

Long story short; the injection took away nearly ALL the pain!!!! Thank you Jesus for making it this easy! I will meet back up with the surgeon in Grand Junction on August 31st to go over the results of the injection and schedule a surgery, I imagine. (His name is Dr. Gebhart) And the reason my follow-up appointment is a few weeks away is because the cortizone needs time to work...the lidocaine is fairly instant, just like the novacaine they use on your mouth at the dentisit...So, we will have an even better idea of where exactly to fuse, and those sorts of things. If we do go ahead with the surgery, I am going to have the metal removed while they are in there. It doesn't matter to me what some one's opinion is on it, I know what it feels like and I know that it causes inflamtion and other problems, so there. : ) Also, my regular Doc told me that I should have it removed for sure. No matter what it looks like on an MRI or x-ray, it is foreign matter and my body will continue to treat it as such, trying to get rid of it, dissolve it or encapsulate it in calcium, those sorts of things. Yum.

Please pray that I can get this surgery done and over with sometime in Sept. I just want to get it over with so that I can start healing. Like the last surgery I had, it's about a year of recovery, and the first two to three months are complete and total hell. Last time I moved back in with my partents and I had to use a walker for three months! Talk about humiliation. This time I will probably stay at my parent's for the first few weeks and make it home just as soon as I can. I know that I will need around the clock care for the first month-ish, that's about how it was last time. Just writing about this I am starting to feel anxious...Most of the time, I just sort of talk about it like it's happening to some one else, so it doesn't get to me, but I guess I should start dealing with it now. I am going to need a LOT of prayer during and after the surgery! I am most certain that that is the only reason I survived the last surgery with shreds of sanity. I could honestly feel people's prayers and God's grace was right there for me.

Blessings, Kristen & Ari