Momma's Turn

Thought it was high-time to give a little update for yours truly...if you're just here for the Zane sagas, just move along...nothing to see here. 

Honestly, I have had no desire to document all the issues with my own health lately, but since many have been asking, I thought this might be the best way to bust it out and then drop it! :/

Seriously, though...for real.

Back in March of '17, I suddenly had severe pain in my left shoulder blade/elbow...much like I did 10 years ago. 

To quickly rehash...I woke up one morning in September of '09 with an extreme pain in my left shoulder blade. I could barely breathe and couldn't even sit up straight. Some of you will remember, I ended up having a copious amount of treatments (including traction, PT, injections, and nerve blocks) and multiple surgeries over the course of 2 years to deal with the nerve damage. 

The cause? That pesky little getting-tackled-by-the-football-player incident back in '95, 15 YEARS PRIOR . Still on the lookout for that little punk. 

(The elbow nerve damage was caused by the air bags in several car accidents. That's a story...stories...for another day...or never.)

Regardless, when the dust settled...right about when we moved to Iowa in 2012...I had a metal plate/screws in my neck along with some minor scars, but I was finally able to reenter the land of the living! There were certainly "flare-ups" over the next 5 years, but they would settle down after several days of taking it easy, and I've been able to be very active and even found myself running...something I swore would only ever happen if someone was chasing me!

Until last March. Felt like we were back to square one...although the pain was located in a slightly different spot...it was definitely nerve-related and intense. 

I had to stop working out completely. I went the obvious route of chiropractic, PT, injections, and medical but eventually found myself sitting across from another surgeon...something I've been trying to avoid ever since. After more scans, he said I had more nerve compression on both sides, one level down, and would need to do 1 of 2 surgeries: a double fusion (removing the old and replacing it with an elongated version) or just doing a nerve release on the left side (although he was convinced that I'd be back in a year to do the right side if I chose this option). 

A few months down the road, I found myself no closer to any decision/answer so I decided to head up to Iowa City to a specialist. Much to my surprise, the new ortho surgeon said there just wasn't enough information to make an educated decision. Thus began a whole slew of testing...of the extreme nature, if you ask me. Lumbar puncture, EMG, nerve blocks, etc. All felt like it might be the last of me...somewhat dramatic, but not far off. 

The lumbar puncture had me hanging upside down, strapped to a table, while they injected dye into my spine...then being monitored for 4 hours to watch for seizures. Much screaming, and head exploding.

The EMG is just brutal...my 3rd to-date. Just ewww. I asked them to zap Chris too, but something about "do-no-harm"...they must've missed that memo on me!

The latest nerve block, which was just before Christmas, found me unconsciously screaming, crying, and shaking. Yea, super-duper. 

Funny story...while this was happening, one of the nurses started rubbing my leg...

PLEASE STOP THAT, I heard "someone" yell. 

Then..."Do you want to hold my hand?" Excuse me, what?!? Who does that? 

NO...DON'T TOUCH ME! 

I did hear myself yell, WHAT. IN. THE. CRAZY. WORLD?!?! 

"It's ok...you can cuss in here. No one cares." 

I THINK I JUST DID!!!

As in most difficult circumstances, it's worth it to endure once you come out the other side...because you find the golden goose...ANSWERS. Unfortunately, that is not the case thus far. I'm super grateful for the wisdom and care up at the U, but I'm not any closer to an answer. 

The surgeon accurately discounted the original surgical impression so that was great news. The new herniation and compression was not herniation and very little compression...it was a skewed MRI result, showing the screws from the first fusion...NOT a new major issue at all. There's some compression issues, but nothing enough to cause this much pain. Each new test was done to rule out surgery. It did not rule it out, but it also didn't guarantee success.

If I were to insist/request moving forward with surgery, it MIGHT work. However, the odds aren't promising. There's a possibility of 10% improvement. Could also be 80% improvement. Just not likely. Honestly, I'd be willing to roll the dice on another surgery if it was likely to be a 50% improvement. I'm not even close to pulling the trigger on 10%. 

SOOOO I'm off to a shoulder/elbow specialist this week to see if he can find any issues that might be causing the pain, unrelated to the neck compression.

If you're putting 2 and 2 together, this has all been going on simultaneously with all Zane's surgical procedures so that's been the biggest difficulty of all. Between the 2 of us, we've been up at the U twice a week since September. 

I need a nap. 

So there ya go. Consider yourself caught up! We're still plugging along. Trying to stay upbeat and positive, but also fighting against discouragement almost daily. As always, we appreciate every prayer and know that we are grateful for overall health and well-being in spite of these minor setbacks! 

OK...back to your regularly-scheduled programs. Don't mind me as I fall apart daily...aren't we all? Mine just tend to be more obvious! :) 

Oh...and I still don't want you to rub my leg or squeeze my hand. It's all good. 

Seriously. Just throw me a fist-bump. I know you've got my back.