I had 3 cervical disks removed and four vertebrae fused yesterday for spinal stenosis. This appears to be a congenital condition, as I remember as a small child pinched nerves (shooting pain) in my neck. MRI's showed the spinal column full of bone spurs and arthritic buildup with no spaces for expansion. For the past 15 years, I've had 8-12 weeks of muscle spasms in my neck, which pinched even more nerves and positively feed-back to the muscle spasms. I'd wake up at night with this condition, being able to clear it up after 45 minutes of various maneuvers, then go back to sleep only to have another set of muscle spasms/pinched nerves. Essentially, I'd have about 3 hours of sleep total per night for 8-12 weeks.
On top of all of this, my arms and finger tips were numb, I've been losing fine motor skills (I can't start a nut on a bolt anymore, etc.). This is one reason why I sold Midlife late last year: I simply couldn't work on it anymore. I've been postponing surgery for about 4 years, got a second opinion (yup, you need surgery), and decided to bite the bullet. Just got home from an over-night stay at the hospital (thanks AZPete for driving me to/from the hospital). I'm now wearing a neck brace for 4 weeks and will be out of commission for 4 weeks. I hope by the week of Thanksgiving, I can get back to harness work, when the lifting weight allowance is increased to 20-30#. Right now, I am not to lift anything greater than 5 pounds, something like a few can of beers.
Feeling pretty good (it has to be the good drugs!) at the moment. The surgery can't compare to to what Mark is going through, so I don't want to take away from his problems.
Ahhh....four weeks of doing nothing except reading and taking naps. Can't ask for better recovery efforts!
On top of all of this, my arms and finger tips were numb, I've been losing fine motor skills (I can't start a nut on a bolt anymore, etc.). This is one reason why I sold Midlife late last year: I simply couldn't work on it anymore. I've been postponing surgery for about 4 years, got a second opinion (yup, you need surgery), and decided to bite the bullet. Just got home from an over-night stay at the hospital (thanks AZPete for driving me to/from the hospital). I'm now wearing a neck brace for 4 weeks and will be out of commission for 4 weeks. I hope by the week of Thanksgiving, I can get back to harness work, when the lifting weight allowance is increased to 20-30#. Right now, I am not to lift anything greater than 5 pounds, something like a few can of beers.
Feeling pretty good (it has to be the good drugs!) at the moment. The surgery can't compare to to what Mark is going through, so I don't want to take away from his problems.
Ahhh....four weeks of doing nothing except reading and taking naps. Can't ask for better recovery efforts!
