Ever since my spine surgery of a year ago, Marilee (my wife)1 has always been concerned that I not sleep crooked, lest my neck start hurting. That's not at issue - it's what happens TO my neck that makes some other extremity hurt. If you've never experienced the pain that comes not from one location (an arm) but that the injury is from somewhere else (the neck), well, you really have to be there. But I wouldn't wish this sort of pain to anyone.
Yesterday, I posted that the only issue I'd had was numbness in my fingers if I slept crooked. And that I just KNEW that the numbness wasn't going away.
Well, the numbness is still there, but with an added bit to the mix...
The pain's back. Not like before, thankfully, but sharp little jabs into my left hand's knuckles radiating out to the fingertips.
Meds? OTC pain meds are of no use in cases like this - those kinds of pain killers are only good for constant pain. Pains that come and go require more overall meds. And I'm inclined, this time, to not take them until it starts affecting my job.
Last year, before my surgery, the pain went on for FIVE WEEKS before Doc Peterson's scalpel touched my skin. The final two weeks I was unable to do "that which I get paid for" as the meds through that period were making me dizzy, and thus a danger to myself and other drivers on the road. Not that that's much different than driving normally on Utah roads, but still.
The advantage this time is that I have some foresight as to what the next two weeks MAY be like as I wait for the appointment with Doc Peterson. NO meds until I cannot stand it any more.
And the light at the end of the tunnel?
Can't see it yet.
1 Mia's the dog, Fo4!
Showing posts with label My Second Spine Surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Second Spine Surgery. Show all posts
Friday, July 2
Wednesday, June 30
Doc Peterson
"Doc Peterson" refers to my neurosurgeon. MY NEUROSURGEON. Sounds quite impressive, doesn't it?
I'd met MY neurosurgeon last year before I had my spine surgery. He was the one who cut into my neck and did some hardware repair. Replete with screws and a titanium plate. You'll likely remember this photo:
You may be asking yourself "Why is Bob bringing THIS up again?"
Sad but true, folks, I'm having "issues" again.
This time, however, it's not so much the pain as the lack thereof. Oh, sure, there's pain. On a scale of one to ten, previously, the pain in my right arm was about a twenty. Since I don't do pain at all well (I'm a guy, after all), if what I felt before topped out at a ten, what I feel in my left arm now is about a five. So far, anyway.
It's the "lack thereof" is what's bugging me now. Since all those nerves are so intertwined, what can be felt as pain by one nerve bundle can also cause numbness. It's not constant, and usually wakes me up at night. Thus, I haven't been sleeping well. For depending on whether I lay on my left or my right, the numbness occurs in the opposite hand. And when I turn over in my sleep, the return of feeling is what wakes me up.
Laying on the right, the numbness occurs in my left pinky and half my ring finger. To the left, and it's my right index, middle, and half of the ring. And sometimes the same in my right hand as my left.
OK, I just heard a chorus of "HALF"?
[Cue the dermatome diagram]
Remember this? It's a dermatome. Dermatomes are diagrams of the human body and show which nerve bundles go where. Consider it a wiring diagram:
Yes, folks, half. Right there between C7 and C8.
"Wait, Bob, isn't that where your disc degeneration was last year?"
No, that was between C6 and C7. Directly above the one I'm having problems with, now.
So what to do? Well, this post is titled Doc Peterson. MY neurosurgeon, remember?
I've an appointment with him on July 15th. Hopefully the pain and or numbness doesn't get any worse.
Cause it ain't gonna get better in the next two weeks.
I'd met MY neurosurgeon last year before I had my spine surgery. He was the one who cut into my neck and did some hardware repair. Replete with screws and a titanium plate. You'll likely remember this photo:
You may be asking yourself "Why is Bob bringing THIS up again?"
Sad but true, folks, I'm having "issues" again.
This time, however, it's not so much the pain as the lack thereof. Oh, sure, there's pain. On a scale of one to ten, previously, the pain in my right arm was about a twenty. Since I don't do pain at all well (I'm a guy, after all), if what I felt before topped out at a ten, what I feel in my left arm now is about a five. So far, anyway.
It's the "lack thereof" is what's bugging me now. Since all those nerves are so intertwined, what can be felt as pain by one nerve bundle can also cause numbness. It's not constant, and usually wakes me up at night. Thus, I haven't been sleeping well. For depending on whether I lay on my left or my right, the numbness occurs in the opposite hand. And when I turn over in my sleep, the return of feeling is what wakes me up.
Laying on the right, the numbness occurs in my left pinky and half my ring finger. To the left, and it's my right index, middle, and half of the ring. And sometimes the same in my right hand as my left.
OK, I just heard a chorus of "HALF"?
[Cue the dermatome diagram]
Remember this? It's a dermatome. Dermatomes are diagrams of the human body and show which nerve bundles go where. Consider it a wiring diagram:
"Wait, Bob, isn't that where your disc degeneration was last year?"
No, that was between C6 and C7. Directly above the one I'm having problems with, now.
So what to do? Well, this post is titled Doc Peterson. MY neurosurgeon, remember?
I've an appointment with him on July 15th. Hopefully the pain and or numbness doesn't get any worse.
Cause it ain't gonna get better in the next two weeks.
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