brewmonkey
11-29-2004, 07:08 PM
Well I am sure that some of you have noticed that I seem to be on line a little bit less then I used to be. This is not my choice as I really love coming here and "hanging" out.
Some of you know that about 1.5 years ago I had surgery to fix spondylolisthesis and ended up having some screws and rods instlled into the L5/S1 vertebrea to increase stability. Surgery went well and I was looking forward to getting back in to the brewing business.
This last August, a full year and change after surgery I noticed pain very similar to what caused the surgery. The docs did an MRI to see if I had done more damage and some x-rays to see if I had broken the hardware.
The good news was that I did not break any equipment and there was no further damage at the L5/S1. Like any good news from a doc there was some not so good news. They found new disc degeneration at the L3 & L4 vertebrea that will someday require very similar surgery to what I had done as well they found what is known as adhesive arachnoiditis.
Arachnoiditis is an inflamation of the arachnoid membrane which is one of the layers of the menengies surrounding the spinal cord and brain. Something has caused it to become inflammed and there is no known cure for this. Basically as the inflammation continues the area affected will grow scar tissue to protect itself. This scar tissue will grow around the nerves and slowly "suffocate" them which leads to loss of feeling in the areas affected by those nerves. For me it is from the waist down.
There is also concern as the scar tissue grows it will displace cerebral spinal fluid cusing massive headaches, which have put me in the hospital twice in the last month and will most likely do so again. Of course I would hope that I do not have to go back. While I am not afraid of needles I try my best to not have to be stuck with them. Especially since the nurse this last time seemed to either be brand new or really bad with an IV. I thought she was going to drive that thing through my hand.
The scar tissue may or may not continue to grow (lets hope it stops!) but if it does continue to grow there is a very good chance that I will become paralyzed from the waist down. The docs say that they cannot predict if or when this might happen. It could be never or it could be next year. The never part sounds really good to me though.
I am no longer able to return to brewing as a profession and I am also unable to work in any position that requires me to sit or stand for to long (about an hour). I also am on pain medications (narcotics) that really prohibit me from doing almost any work as well as driving a car since I am on them about 20 hours out of the day. I am waiting on the word from Social Security but it looks like they are going to rate me 100% disabled. Since the process is still going I am not sure though what they might decide.
Why am I telling you this?
Because I consider this place to be part of my family and I always keep them updated. I did wait some time to say anything as I was waiting to hear from my docs on what they thought.
I guess now that I have my comfy recliner and a new laptop I should really get back on more often. The chair and computer were gifts from my wife as sitting at the workdesk computer hurts I was avoiding it like the plague.
Anyway, that is what has been happening over the last several months. I promise I will keep you all up to date with any changes. Hopefully they will figure something out and cure this stuff.
Ok, enough of the rambling. I have been keeping a blog as well I bought my own domain and server space. I figure if I am going to be lying around all day I might as well brush up on some old skills.
My blog (http://opforsoldier.blogspot.com)
My website (http://opforsoldier.com)
I am waiting for some software I ordered to get here and then I will get the site up to speed. For now I just used a template.
Some of you know that about 1.5 years ago I had surgery to fix spondylolisthesis and ended up having some screws and rods instlled into the L5/S1 vertebrea to increase stability. Surgery went well and I was looking forward to getting back in to the brewing business.
This last August, a full year and change after surgery I noticed pain very similar to what caused the surgery. The docs did an MRI to see if I had done more damage and some x-rays to see if I had broken the hardware.
The good news was that I did not break any equipment and there was no further damage at the L5/S1. Like any good news from a doc there was some not so good news. They found new disc degeneration at the L3 & L4 vertebrea that will someday require very similar surgery to what I had done as well they found what is known as adhesive arachnoiditis.
Arachnoiditis is an inflamation of the arachnoid membrane which is one of the layers of the menengies surrounding the spinal cord and brain. Something has caused it to become inflammed and there is no known cure for this. Basically as the inflammation continues the area affected will grow scar tissue to protect itself. This scar tissue will grow around the nerves and slowly "suffocate" them which leads to loss of feeling in the areas affected by those nerves. For me it is from the waist down.
There is also concern as the scar tissue grows it will displace cerebral spinal fluid cusing massive headaches, which have put me in the hospital twice in the last month and will most likely do so again. Of course I would hope that I do not have to go back. While I am not afraid of needles I try my best to not have to be stuck with them. Especially since the nurse this last time seemed to either be brand new or really bad with an IV. I thought she was going to drive that thing through my hand.
The scar tissue may or may not continue to grow (lets hope it stops!) but if it does continue to grow there is a very good chance that I will become paralyzed from the waist down. The docs say that they cannot predict if or when this might happen. It could be never or it could be next year. The never part sounds really good to me though.
I am no longer able to return to brewing as a profession and I am also unable to work in any position that requires me to sit or stand for to long (about an hour). I also am on pain medications (narcotics) that really prohibit me from doing almost any work as well as driving a car since I am on them about 20 hours out of the day. I am waiting on the word from Social Security but it looks like they are going to rate me 100% disabled. Since the process is still going I am not sure though what they might decide.
Why am I telling you this?
Because I consider this place to be part of my family and I always keep them updated. I did wait some time to say anything as I was waiting to hear from my docs on what they thought.
I guess now that I have my comfy recliner and a new laptop I should really get back on more often. The chair and computer were gifts from my wife as sitting at the workdesk computer hurts I was avoiding it like the plague.
Anyway, that is what has been happening over the last several months. I promise I will keep you all up to date with any changes. Hopefully they will figure something out and cure this stuff.
Ok, enough of the rambling. I have been keeping a blog as well I bought my own domain and server space. I figure if I am going to be lying around all day I might as well brush up on some old skills.
My blog (http://opforsoldier.blogspot.com)
My website (http://opforsoldier.com)
I am waiting for some software I ordered to get here and then I will get the site up to speed. For now I just used a template.