Here we go again…
For the last few months my left shoulder has been aching and my arm has been going numb. My PCP thought I had a pinched nerve and prescribed a steroid to see if that relieved the pressure. It did so the pinched nerve was confirmed. Not a big surprise - I’ve had a stiff neck and complained that it feels like sand in a bearing when I move my head for longer than I can remember.
Doc sends orders for multiple tests including MRIs, CTs, X-Rays, Nerve conductivity, blah blah blah… all to see what’s going on.
In the meantime insurance ‘prescribed’ Physical Therapy and pain management. PT did nothing but get me out of the shop each morning. Finally got into Pain Management and that helped a ton.
Then came the visit to the Neurosurgeon to look at the results from all those tests and get a diagnosis…
I figured it was finally time to pay for the bus hitting us head-on back in '66, the bus rear-ending me at a stop sign in '77, flipping over in a Corvette in '79 and the normal run of the mill childhood dares, sports and good ideas gone bad along with a few ‘hold my beer’ incidents.
Turns out my neck is a mess. An S shaped mess. C4, C5, C6, C7 all damaged. C6 so far out of alignment it is pressing on my spinal cord one way and C4 & C5 are going the other way. C7 has ‘degenerated’ severely. Doc wants surgery. I don’t - got too much to do and been under the knife too much lately. I’ll continue the pain management. Neurosurgeon’s advice: “Don’t fall off a ladder, don’t fall down stairs, don’t make any sudden head movements”.
No problem, I say.
Then my wife (the Nurse) sees his notes in my medical record…
So I am working 16-20 hours a day while waiting for a surgery date.