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Posted by Clint Dixon on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 12:07:47 :
Over on Gordon's site they are still talking about the recent surgeries that Keven Mienke and I both underwent. I gave an update on my condition there and wanted to keep you all posted here too.
I had my surgery last Thursday. Thursday night was the worst night I have ever experienced. A sleeping pill and muscle relaxants did nothing to help me sleep. This was my first day off of 7 different medications that I had been taking for almost 2 weeks:
Ceftriaxone
Cyclobenzaprine
Diazapam
Levaquin
Nabumetone
Prednisone
Tram**adol
During this time, I had also received an injection of steroids and an injection of muscle relaxants. After surgery I was put on a whole new list of drugs, including Morphine which I could administer myself but which I tried not to use.
After I got home on Friday night, I slept really well with no pain or discomfort. I had not slept well for about 2 weeks. Saturday things started to go downhill at an alarming rate. By Sunday night, all of the burning, caustic, stabbing nerve pain had returned in my shoulder, arm, hand, and fingers. Even worse, I was now experiencing the worst pain in my left foot that I had felt since herniating an L5 disc 10 years ago. Constant diarrhea aggravated the situation.
On Monday I made an appointment to see the doctor before my 2-week post-op checkup was due. On the phone I found out from the nurse that it was okay for me to take Ibuprophen 800. Until then, I did not know I could it as I was ordered to stop all Nsaids 2 weeks before surgery (this actually came 1 week before as I was being treated in a rush fashion). I had not taken the Vicoden prescribed by the surgeon because I have found in the past that I can not tolerate it and I get sick to my stomach. I knew Ibrprophen 800 had worked for me in the past, but I had not thought to ask about that which we had left from Martie's surgery last year. The Tram**adol I still had till it ran out did not seem to help any.
I took one of those Ibuprophen 800, and within an hour, I was sleeping in my old comfortable position with no pain.
I saw the doctor a couple of hours ago and handed him a detailed report on paper all of my symptoms, day-by-day, since the surgery. He took more X-rays, determined that both the titanium plate and bone graph are in place as they should be, and said that all of my symptoms made perfect sense.
There was so much pressure on my spinal column for that short 2 weeks that the nerves simply could not work properly. Now the pressure is off and they are wildly shooting signals in all directions. As they heal over time, I can expect a rollercoaster ride with pain and discomfort.
The numbness in my thumb, index, and middle finger is always there. Sometimes it goes throughout my whole hand and up my arm. The jury is out on the numbness. It may get better over time, or feeling may never return completely. I just hope that if the numbness recedes that it is not replaced with the constant bee sting sensation that I have lived with in my foot for 10 years.
I guess I would have to say that if anyone else ever has a hunch that they have herniated a disc in their neck, get to a doctor a quickly as possible. If you feel nerve pain, you will know it. I have in the past with an L5 herniation, and I still tried to work through it this time and brush it off as a pulled muscle. I realized I had made a big mistake when the surgeon rushed me ahead of 2 months of previously booked surgeries.
Thanks everyone for the well wishes!
Marty, when we finally have that grudge race, I may have to bury my pride and opt for a MX bike with a l-i-t-t-l-e more suspension than an Elsinore CR250......
Clint
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