Post by selectsc on Jun 15, 2011 12:53:59 GMT -6
Hello all my name is clay I am 21 years of age all my troubles started about July 1, 2011 with basic stomach issues. I went to a gastroenterologist and was diagnosed with a mild case of IBD. Around early Dec I began waking up on a daily basis and vomiting. It was very odd b/c I felt perfectly fine other than the nausea every morning. I then went back to my gastroenterologist and he recommended I get a CT scan of my abdomen. A day or so later I went to the hospital to get my ct scan I walked into the room and began drinking the awful chalky mixture. Then I was brought into the room to get my scan and was giving the iodine mixture intravenously. Several hours later i get home and hopped in the shower. I immediately noticed that I was completely numb! I immediately called the hospital and they told me to come in b/c i was having an allergic reaction. I was given steroids to help with the reaction but it didn't seem to work with the numbness. Due to the fact that the numbness came an hour or so after the procedure my dad and I assumed that i had some kind of allergic reaction to the iodine they gave me. I was assured by the radiologist that there was no way I could have had a reaction to the iodine mixture. They said to just go home and continue to take them and it should all go away within a few days...A day or so after going to the hospital I began to see everything in double and had extreme difficulty swallowing and once again went back to the emergency room where they gave me more steroids. Because of the difficulty swallowing I choked on food and water and also had to get the Heimlich from my friends a few times. Due to the small amount of food and water I was consuming I had lost about 15lbs very quickly. I was then suggested to a Neurologist who suggested I get an MRI to see what they could find. After 12 or so MRI's he told me that I had a "mass" along my entire spinal cord (which turned out to be spinal fluid that was building up b/c the tumor was blocking the natural path of fluid) which was causing swelling in my cerebellum. My stomach immediately dropped and my mom and dad started crying. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I was a perfectly healthy 21 year old who had been an athlete all his life. After hearing the news I was told I would need surgery so me and my dad tried to get the best. We called Duke of NC and was able to get hold of Dr. Allan Friedman who told me to come immediately and we would operate. After looking at the MRI's he told me it was an ependymoma more than likely benign in T4-T7 and that the swelling in my brain was causing the difficulty swallowing, numbness, and double vision. He also said we needed to move fast because if the delicate muscles that allow me to swallow weren't used they could possibly stop working entirely. I ended up getting the surgery on Feb 14, 2011 it lasted 7 hours and as they were pulling out my breathing tube I began thrashing around ended up biting my tongue partially in half. As I woke up from surgery I was told that everything went well except that I had bitten my tongue pretty badly. Due to the massive amount of swelling of my tongue they couldn't properly diagnose how bad it was so they just gave me some magic mouthwash and said it should be better in 2 weeks or so. The first meal after my surgery i was actually able to swallow properly and enjoy my meal, FOOD TASTED AMAZING!!! I ended up leaving the hospital and began my slow recovery at home. After 3 weeks or so my tongue began to turn white in area's and also began to slightly smell. I called Duke and they told me to come in b/c that sounds like necrosis. I went in and got a second surgery on my tongue. They ended up cutting a small amount away and presumed to sew the remaining living tissue back together. A few weeks later my double vision went away and all I was left with was the numbness. After such a crazy 2 months the one thing I realized is how much all of us take advantage of what's really important. The difficulty swallowing and the double vision really made me see whats important in life...O i didn't get hired over that other guy? well at least I can swallow and see everything normally now. I'd almost consider this whole ordeal a blessing in disguise. As of today I'm beginning to start working out and hopefully I'll be back to my old self soon.
sorry if it doesn't make perfect sense I'm not the best writer
sorry if it doesn't make perfect sense I'm not the best writer
