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History
Jul 13, 2018 13:29:50 GMT -6
Post by unlikely on Jul 13, 2018 13:29:50 GMT -6
History My spinal cord tumor ordeal began over thirty years ago when I was a child in elementary school. A pediatric neurologist diagnosed my symptoms and CT scan as a spinal cord tumor. A pediatric neurosurgeon and his team (at a teaching hospital) treated the tumor with surgery. My family trusted my doctors and tried to help me. We were told that my tumor was "very benign". We were also told that the spinal cord tumor was "life-threatening" and I could survive about five years after surgery. My doctors didn't use the word "cancer". The effects of the tumor and surgeries included pain, scars, deformity, sensory and motor dysfunction. It was recommended that I wear a soft cervical collar and I did for many years. I wasn't treated with "a body brace to be worn during waking hours." Would such a brace have made a difference in my case? Although I can't say my childhood was "ordinary", I won't complain... Some routes include detours, unpredictable weather, and unforeseen circumstances.
Since then, as a grown-up, I was slowly able to find and piece together my medical history. My tumor was a low grade astrocytoma with cysts. My prognosis was unknown.
Although I was unable to do (and wanted to do) many things, I still feel grateful, especially for all the special people along the way...
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History
Jul 13, 2018 13:37:19 GMT -6
Post by unlikely on Jul 13, 2018 13:37:19 GMT -6
A few more thoughts:
After reading about how tumors in general happen, I stopped thinking so much about how I could have avoided getting this relatively rare disease; and I'm guessing my tumor was unavoidable...
Some years ago, I read in an article abstract that "astrocytoma is one of the most common tumors of the central nervous system in animals." Wouldn't all kinds of animals having astrocytoma suggest an environmental cause?
Curiously, I was never tested for any of the ubiquitous carcinogens, mutagens, ionizing radiation, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), lead, mercury, etc...
That said, these days I'm wondering more about the kinds of sensory and/or motor dysfunction that interfere with daily living..
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