Newbie - just found out

[bowtruckle]

Hi Sharon,

Just wanted to let you know that I've been thinking of you & hope that all went well with your surgery. Please let us know how you are going when you get the chance.

Kirsty (Bowtruckle)

[betty]

Sharon,
I Hope all went well with your surgery. Looking forward to hearing how you are doing.
Betty

[Scared to Death]

Hello Everyone,

Just letting you know that I am home and doing ok.

Surgery was on Jan 26, took 4 and half hours. Was in the hospital for 5 days and then moved to rehab within the hospital for 9 days. Have been home now for 12 days. It was rough at first being home but coming along. Walking with a walker as everything heals, and this is all I'm allowed to do.

Not sure if this is good news or not but when they did the surgery there was no tumor to speak of that could be removed or biopsied. It was a huge mass of "scar tissue" they called it with my nerves caught all up in it and swollen. All they did was a laminectomy and duraplasty (graft "patch" in the dura) to make room for it so it would take pressure off of the nerves. This is all I remember the NS saying, due to the wonderful drugs they had me on.

I am now able to lift my legs to walk which I think is an accomplishment, however, have developed other issues (drop foot in my left foot which is the week side, huge muscle spasms down my right leg, and some bowel issues) which I hope as time goes on will go away. I will see what the NS has to say with I go for my followup visit at the end of March.

God Bless
Sharon

[mariel]

Goodness me, you have been through the mill! My husband was told in December that he has an 'abnormal growth' in the spinal cord, probable tumor which came about after a overextending his neck - we thought it must be scar tissue, but apparently the NS said they can differentiate between scar tissue and 'tumor' as one is more vascular than the other. Your case has got me thinking is that true now though!

I hope you continue along the road of recovery. Thank you for posting.

MarieL

[Todd]

yes it is true. a tumor is made up of very specific cells. ependimal cells are found in the center of the spinal cord, so, when when gets and overgrowth of ependymal cells they get an ependymoma. same for others. the cells under the microscope determine whether it's a tumor or not.

[bowtruckle]

Hi Sharon,

Thanks for the update - you've been in my thoughts a lot since your surgery.

If there was no tumor, did the NS give any indication what caused all the scar tissue? From memory, they thought you had a 10 cm tumor, right? That's a lot of scar tissue! I hope that you'll be in less pain now that they've relieved some of the pressure. (Although obviously you have new pain and issues due to the surgery.)

Hang in there with the recovery and take things slowly. Give your body the time and rest it needs to heal.

~ Kirsty

[Scared to Death]

Hello Everyone,

Well I am now 6 weeks post-op, and taking it all one day at a time.

I am now drug free, and starting to walk a bit with a cane, just around the house, but still using the walker for anything else. Drop foot is getting better, spasms are getting less, bowels are getting straighten out, and some of the numbness is going away. Thank goodness all of this is going in the right direction, however, new issues are appearing. . . . electric shock pain is back as the nerves are healing and also getting quite a few headaches. . . .hmmmmm.

As everyone else is questioning, tumor vs scar tissue, I do not have the answers, but I will be bringing all my questions to the NS when I go for my post-op visit. I do know that these are both are classified as spinal cord injuries, and the healing is the same for both.

Sharon

[mariel]

Hi Sharon, just realised that I posted on another tread asking how you were doing....sorry I didn't follow through that this was you on this thread! With love

Marie x