Tomorrow is my first year anniversary

[Tmasgio]

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of my surgery. April 24th,2007 and is also my son's birthday. I dont think I ever cried so much in any 12 consecutive months of my entire life. I am adapting to my new body and I cant say it is the best but certainly it could have been much worse. I am thankful for all of the support this forum gives and gave me in the earlier months. I still somethings struggle but with each day I find something to be thankful for as well as reasons to be happy. I will happily admit that I have never missed a day reading new posts or replying when appropriate. To me this was and still is my therapy. I know that I am not alone and that I am loved.

God Bless,
Tony

[Joel]

Think of all the future birthdays you are gonna see! Happy anniversary!! Adapt, persevere, love your family...It DOES WORK! Is your PT still going? How old is your son?
Joel

[Tmasgio]

My PT is on going and I am doing quite well. My son is excellent. He is such a good boy and he and I are buddies. We did a lot of sitting together in the first months. I was to tired and sore to move much so we did alot of sitting.

Now as of today I can do the following:
I have balance
Bladder and balance control
Strength in both legs
able to run and do alot of tasks with minimal pain.
Walk Unassisted.
Ride Horses
Ride a bicycle
Oh and I joined a bowling league but I dont think I would be any better if I did not have deficits.
Deficits:
some numbness from the waist down.
Clonus in the my right foot if the ball of my foot gets to much attention. (driving)
My lower back gets tight when irritated or with tight clothes.
right knee gets weak if I stand too long.

The deficits is what I expect to stay. I am not sure if anything will change in my second year of recovery but hey I am not going to complain.

Tony

[Tony]

Do you mind telling me where your tumor was located, how long after diagnosis you had surgery, and how was your first year post-op.

I had an ependymoma T-10-T-12 with a syrnix, post-op symptoms after 7 months: Bilateral weak and numb legs, neuropathy, clonus, loss of balance, and loss of proprioception. Don't feel like I'ved improved much....feeling desperate.

Thanks,
Tony

[Linda51]

Happy Anniversary Tony! I am glad you are doing so much better. You have come along way from the beginning and you have so much to be thankful for. You still got time to get even more back so don't think you can't. Wishing you many more happy anniversaries! Give your son a hug for us.

~Linda