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Survivor of Another Kind

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    Survivor of Another Kind

    I have held off sharing my very recent and potentially life altering benign spinal cord tumor and subsequent laminectomy surgery with meningioma resection until now because I wanted to post only when I had passed a certain level of successful recovery. After nearly seven weeks post-op, I feel I have reached that crucial milestone.
    In mid-October 2023, I was told of an incidental finding , an unknown mass on the thoracic spine 3 was discovered during what was supposed to be a routine MRI to check on arthritis in the cervical /upper back area. A follow up with contrast was performed before I was referred to a no-nonsense neurosurgeon in early November who informed me this benign growth had to be removed ASAP because it was pressing on my spinal column by more than 50% and would soon result in possible total paralysis and loss of bodily functions if not surgically removed.
    The spinal laminectomy was scheduled for December 21, 2023, so I had roughly 7 weeks to square my affairs (in case of a less favorable outcome) and prepare for a lengthy layup. (Although I had no symptoms pre-surgery, I could have ended up with crippling deficits had the surgery went awry.)
    Well, I DID have an unexpected complication, one that sent me to ICU for 24 + hours: while I was taped prone to the operating table, one of the pads that was intended to keep my teeth from moving dislodged during the neuromonitoring resulting in a severe enough lacerated tongue that cauterization was required to stop the bleeding and allow the left side to heal. We were told after the fact that the anesthesiologist " failed to monitor " me "properly." In any case, I woke up intubated with a mouth equally filled with blood and saturated gauze. I thought of the many Covid-19 patients who had met their end with a breathing tube, unable to speak and dying without fanfare or comfort, and I felt immensely lucky to be alive. The tube was removed, and I was sent to a regular room where I recovered enough to be sent home on Christmas Day.
    At first, I could only eat liquidy, easy to chew foods, per the hospital speech therapist's discharge instructions, and I had quite a pronounced lisp whenever I spoke. Mercifully, these post- op complications disappeared by a couple of weeks and the all-encompassing malaise I felt every time I tried to walk, first with a walker, later holding on to furniture and finally without aid, gradually lessened until I can walk at a normal but slower than normal for me pace. I am blessed to never have experienced any meaningful pain and I ceased all meds in early January 2024.
    The BLT (Bend, Lift, Twist) restriction was removed at six weeks, and I started PT last week and will receive my first post-op massage tomorrow.
    I will see the neurosurgeon on Friday to discuss my progress and when I can resume additional activities.
    Last edited by Barbisi; 02-07-2024, 12:57 PM.

    #2
    I just said "wow" out loud. I'm so glad that you are recovering and that you are able to walk. After all that you have been through I wonder how I would have survived. Keep us up to date and keep walking. Hopefully your prognosis is excellent with clear blue skies ahead.
    Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
    Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
    Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

    Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

    Comment


      #3
      Wow, Barbisi, so glad you are getting through all of that, ummm, stuff. Your post gave me the confidence to share my own story of the Big-C.

      Last fall my PSA levels skyrocketed up into the 90s; three days later I had a biopsy and was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. I went in for the PET scan in late November, and yikes, the scans showed the cancer had spread through my lymph system and into at least one bone, my right collar bone. This diagnosis was seriously bad.

      During my first meeting with my Oncologist he said due to the location (in the shoulder joint) he thought the collar bone diagnosis might be a phantom from an old injury; wouldn't you know it, I dislocated that shoulder during a Triathlon back in 1990 and it has given me trouble ever since. He immediately scheduled me for a high-contrast CT scan (that stuff you need to drink, ummm, "YUK!") and a bone scan; the former showed only a few "slightly enlarged" lymph nodes as being impacted, and nothing in my bones. My prognosis got, ummm, "less bad".

      Three weeks ago I underwent surgery to prohibit my body's ability to produce the hormone which feeds this type of cancer, and other than what appears to be a minor lingering infection, which is improving due to antibiotics, I am also on the mend.

      Side comment, isn't waking up while intubated fun? If you remember my dog attack story from 2021 when I woke up from a medically induced 30 hour coma; I didn't know who I was, where I was, why I couldn't see (due to the drugs they used to keep me in the coma), why I couldn't speak, or why I was bound by my chest, arms, and legs, to the bed. Yeah, I was flipping the hell out.

      In the famous (or maybe infamous) words of Winston Churchill, "Keep buggering on!"
      Chapter 13 (not 100%):
      • Burned: AMEX, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and South County Bank cum Bank of Southern California
      • Filed: 26-Feb-2015
      • MoC: 01-Mar-2015
      • 1st Payment (posted): 23-Mar-2015
      • 60th Payment (posted): 07-Feb-2020
      • Discharged: 04-Mar-2020
      • Closed: 23-Jun-2020

      Comment


        #4
        Well, shipo, I definitely was thinking of that scary canine attack as I wrote my latest post - I didn't yet know you too were intubated though.
        As soon as I retrieved my wits, the first thing I wrote on the notepad that the hospital staff graciously supplied to me was , "Who is responsible for this?!!" (By then my husband was present and understandably I was madder than a wet hen as the old Southern US expression states, LOL!)
        You are certainly a survivor of more than one kind as well! I have no doubt you will overcome the Big C with flying colors and be participating in many more marathons for years to come.
        You just can't keep a good Yankee Navy Seal down.
        Last edited by Barbisi; 02-07-2024, 01:26 PM.

        Comment


          #5
          Thanks Barbisi, Marine actually, I can swim, but no where near good enough to be a Seal.

          Given my apparently violent actions when I got to the hospital, it took five security guards to try and restrain me for the CT scan, and when then failed, BAM, fentanyl, STAT! When I woke up I was effectively in some kind of "fight or flight" mode trying to tear off my restraints, this in turn freaked out the medical staff; the head doctor pulled my wife aside and the following conversation ensued:

          "Was your husband in the military and is he suffering from PTSD?"

          "No, his time in the Marines was pretty uneventful, but he did grow up with an abusive alcoholic stepfather."

          "Oh crap!" The doctor ran back in the room and ordered my restraints and intubation to be removed, and as the story goes (I don't remember any of this), I immediately calmed down, fell back asleep for another hour, and nice as pie when I woke up the next time.
          Chapter 13 (not 100%):
          • Burned: AMEX, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and South County Bank cum Bank of Southern California
          • Filed: 26-Feb-2015
          • MoC: 01-Mar-2015
          • 1st Payment (posted): 23-Mar-2015
          • 60th Payment (posted): 07-Feb-2020
          • Discharged: 04-Mar-2020
          • Closed: 23-Jun-2020

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by justbroke View Post
            I just said "wow" out loud. I'm so glad that you are recovering and that you are able to walk. After all that you have been through I wonder how I would have survived. Keep us up to date and keep walking. Hopefully your prognosis is excellent with clear blue skies ahead.
            Thank you justbroke !
            I think many things contributed to my slow but so far steady recovery: my lack of pain (Location, thoracic 3 (roughly mid-back shoulder blade area), lack of post-op deficits (No prior loss of any muscular or sensory functions and the ability to be active right up to the morning of the surgery) and a benign grade 1 non-cancerous meningioma which appeared to be totally resected by the laminectomy.
            I also have a natural high pain tolerance and an intense loathing for medications of any kind so as soon as the required doses of the 21-pill steroid pack (mandatory because of the swollen and purple tongue), Oxycodone pain reducer and the muscle relaxant were taken for the first week home, I stopped cold turkey and actually felt better since I had no lingering major discomfort.
            I think the absolute worst diagnoses would be a malignant brain tumor, a malignant spinal tumor and open-heart surgery, followed by other cancers.
            My surgery lasted 6 hours and fortunately didn't require spinal fusion as had been proposed.
            So, considering the totality of what might have been and where this tumor could have been located, I think I was spared the worst of it.

            Comment


              #7
              Incredible journey Barbisi. I'm getting to the point where so many friends are joining that unfortunate club. I just don't have any words to express how I'm just wondering how anyone deals with that pain, let alone being unable to walk for days (or like shipo being in a coma for 30 hours).
              Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
              Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
              Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

              Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

              Comment


                #8
                Barbisi I am so sorry you had to deal with the surgery and complications. But I am so happy to hear you are having a great recovery! I wish you continued success with your recovery.

                shipo I am glad you pulled through your medical situations and wish the best for you as well.
                I am not an expert. I just share my experiences in the Wonderful Wacky World of Chapter 13! Filed 3-30-18 Confirmed 7-11-18 Discharged 6-8-22

                Comment

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