thebandit27 Posted January 3, 2018 Posted January 3, 2018 20 hours ago, CountDorkula said: The holiday season has been a stressful one to say the least. Long story short. We had to take my wife to the hospital where they discovered that she had a tumor inside of her spinal cord at the C3-C4 Vertebra in her neck. The only option for her is surgery, which we have scheduled for end of January, which comes with risks stemming from having to cut open the spinal cord. I just ask you to please say a prayer for her and I for a successful surgery and road to recovery. Thank you! I will most certainly pray for you and your family. Oddly, I have an uncle that went through something quite similar, though his tumor was actually at T1/2. It was quite a scary-looking procedure, but he is completely fine and living a comfortable and active life over 5 years later (and he was 50 years old at the time). May that give you hope. 1
CountDorkula Posted January 3, 2018 Author Posted January 3, 2018 2 hours ago, thebandit27 said: I will most certainly pray for you and your family. Oddly, I have an uncle that went through something quite similar, though his tumor was actually at T1/2. It was quite a scary-looking procedure, but he is completely fine and living a comfortable and active life over 5 years later (and he was 50 years old at the time). May that give you hope. It does thank you. Trying to google any of this stuff is like something from a nightmare. just a rabbit hole you don't want to go down.
rockpile Posted January 3, 2018 Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) On 1/2/2018 at 11:39 AM, CountDorkula said: The holiday season has been a stressful one to say the least. Long story short. We had to take my wife to the hospital where they discovered that she had a tumor inside of her spinal cord at the C3-C4 Vertebra in her neck. The only option for her is surgery, which we have scheduled for end of January, which comes with risks stemming from having to cut open the spinal cord. I just ask you to please say a prayer for her and I for a successful surgery and road to recovery. Thank you! Prayers for a full recovery! What were the symptoms that caused you to go to the hospital? I have read that they can monitor the spinal chord function during surgery to minimize damage to healthy tissue. Many times the tumor is benign and side effects temporary. They have not been able to get tissue for a biopsy yet, right? I recently had routine periodic MRI scans of my brain, spine, and neck for my MS and they found no new MS lesions, but they saw bone spurs on the same vertebrae as your wife's tumor. I am lucky. Now I have a trifecta: multiple sclerosis, generalized anxiety disorder, and cervical spinal stenosis. The first two are under control by prescription medications, and the third will go untreated (no surgery) unless or until a couple ibuprofen are all I need for pain relief, or they get larger and restrict flow of spinal fluids. I declined CT scans and surgery at this time. All considered I have "conditions" not concerns! Good luck to you and hang in there. Edit: I was diagnosed with MS over twenty years ago and I was able to work until 2015. I still do many things but pace myself. I also consider that I am not in my 40's anymore, so 10K's and backpacking are too hard for me now. It is only in the last few years I that stopped hiking up mountains, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. I am still chasing the younger grandchildren. I have eight of them from almost one to 22 years old. Edited January 3, 2018 by rockpile 1 2
CountDorkula Posted January 3, 2018 Author Posted January 3, 2018 1 hour ago, rockpile said: Prayers for a full recovery! What were the symptoms that caused you to go to the hospital? I have read that they can monitor the spinal chord function during surgery to minimize damage to healthy tissue. Many times the tumor is benign and side effects temporary. They have not been able to get tissue for a biopsy yet, right? I recently had routine periodic MRI scans of my brain, spine, and neck for my MS and they found no new MS lesions, but they saw bone spurs on the same vertebrae as your wife's tumor. I am lucky. Now I have a trifecta: multiple sclerosis, generalized anxiety disorder, and cervical spinal stenosis. The first two are under control by prescription medications, and the third will go untreated (no surgery) unless or until a couple ibuprofen are all I need for pain relief, or they get larger and restrict flow of spinal fluids. I declined CT scans and surgery at this time. All considered I have "conditions" not concerns! Good luck to you and hang in there. Edit: I was diagnosed with MS over twenty years ago and I was able to work until 2015. I still do many things but pace myself. I also consider that I am not in my 40's anymore, so 10K's and backpacking are too hard for me now. It is only in the last few years I that stopped hiking up mountains, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. I am still chasing the younger grandchildren. I have eight of them from almost one to 22 years old. She started having nerve pain. Tingling and burning sensations in her legs. (Basically it felt like her legs were constantly asleep. It has been going on for a year now. No they will do the biopsy during surgery, where they cut out part of the tumor/lesion to find out if it is indeed an Ependymoma/astrocytoma or something else. They first thought it may have been early signs of MS or ALS, but are now leaning more towards a benign tumor. We had a full CT Scan done and it showed no other lesions on the spinal cord, which was fantastic news. Thank you for this. Also, good luck to you rockpile! 1
Cugalabanza Posted January 3, 2018 Posted January 3, 2018 Hope all goes well with the surgery and a quick recovery. 1
Augie Posted January 3, 2018 Posted January 3, 2018 Prayers and best wishes! Family is everything. I hope it all works out. 1
outsidethebox Posted January 3, 2018 Posted January 3, 2018 My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. 1
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 4, 2018 Posted January 4, 2018 In all our thoughts and prayers Count! Stay positive, all will be okay! 1
Sweats Posted January 4, 2018 Posted January 4, 2018 I'm sorry to hear this. Good luck and hope it's a safe and healthy recovery. 1
PolishDave Posted January 5, 2018 Posted January 5, 2018 Praying for peace, strength and good outcomes. 1
mead107 Posted January 5, 2018 Posted January 5, 2018 On 1/3/2018 at 1:09 PM, rockpile said: Prayers for a full recovery! What were the symptoms that caused you to go to the hospital? I have read that they can monitor the spinal chord function during surgery to minimize damage to healthy tissue. Many times the tumor is benign and side effects temporary. They have not been able to get tissue for a biopsy yet, right? I recently had routine periodic MRI scans of my brain, spine, and neck for my MS and they found no new MS lesions, but they saw bone spurs on the same vertebrae as your wife's tumor. I am lucky. Now I have a trifecta: multiple sclerosis, generalized anxiety disorder, and cervical spinal stenosis. The first two are under control by prescription medications, and the third will go untreated (no surgery) unless or until a couple ibuprofen are all I need for pain relief, or they get larger and restrict flow of spinal fluids. I declined CT scans and surgery at this time. All considered I have "conditions" not concerns! Good luck to you and hang in there. Edit: I was diagnosed with MS over twenty years ago and I was able to work until 2015. I still do many things but pace myself. I also consider that I am not in my 40's anymore, so 10K's and backpacking are too hard for me now. It is only in the last few years I that stopped hiking up mountains, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. I am still chasing the younger grandchildren. I have eight of them from almost one to 22 years old. We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. 1
rockpile Posted January 8, 2018 Posted January 8, 2018 On 1/3/2018 at 2:45 PM, CountDorkula said: She started having nerve pain. Tingling and burning sensations in her legs. (Basically it felt like her legs were constantly asleep. It has been going on for a year now. No they will do the biopsy during surgery, where they cut out part of the tumor/lesion to find out if it is indeed an Ependymoma/astrocytoma or something else. They first thought it may have been early signs of MS or ALS, but are now leaning more towards a benign tumor. We had a full CT Scan done and it showed no other lesions on the spinal cord, which was fantastic news. Thank you for this. Also, good luck to you rockpile! Happy to hear the scans are clean (no MS lesions or bone spurs). I am very lucky! Thanks. If I did not tell you, you would not know I had MS, in most situations. But this thread is about your wife. My prayers for a complete recovery!! 1
Nanker Posted January 9, 2018 Posted January 9, 2018 Best wishes and prayers for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. 1
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