Surgery Date

     So, had a couple gut checks today.  We did get a firm surgery date, I will be going under the knife 19 June and Dr. Mapstone will be performing the surgery.  On Monday, I have to call to schedule my pre-op appointment for the 12th or the 13th.  That is apparently going to be a 2-3 hour appt to get cleared by blood work and the anesthesiologist.  Then I will have to go in for the surgery at 0500 on the 19th for the surgery that starts at 0700.  So, here comes the first of the gut checks, the surgery will be 2-2.5 hours long, once done I will go into recovery to get out of anesthesia, then I will go into ICU for a "couple days".  I was expecting a day in the ICU, but apparently it's longer than I thought.  In addition, there is most likely an age limit for visitors in the ICU, so the kids probably won't be able to visit.  This is probably a good thing, not sure that I will want them seeing me in the condition I'll be in.  After I get out of ICU, I will spend a couple more days in the hospital, then get to go home for the long recovery.
     I'm taking quite a bit of leave leading up to the surgery.  We just got back from Carbondale for my niece's graduation, and then we have a wedding the 9th of June.  We've got friends coming into town the first weekend in June.  And I wanted to take some time to get some stuff done around the house (hopefully, I'll use the time to get stuff done instead of just sitting on my arse).  Basically it boils down to working one day a week until the surgery (man I love the military).  Enter gut check number two....I looked at the calendar today at work and realized that means I only have 3 more days of work until the surgery.  I will be at work the 24th, 1st, and 18th, between the 1st and 18th, I will have to be on leave for the weekend anyway so I just took both full weeks.  It's starting to sink in a little more that I'm going to be having brain surgery a month from now.  I won't lie, starting to freak out a little bit, but know in the long run, I have to have it done.
     Luckily, for the surgery, my wife and I have a great support system.  My mom, dad, and sister will be coming down from Illinois to be with us/help out in any way they can.  My sister-in-law and mother-in-law have already requested the day off from work, so they too will be there to support us/Tish during the surgery.  My office and cousin who lives in OKC have already offered to help in any way they can, whether it be mowing the grass, making meals, etc.  For that, we are very grateful and very fortunate.      
     I'm really hoping things stay good at work, I'd really hate to come back after being out for 2 months to a gigantic cluster.  I realize that will be the least of my worries a month from now, but right now it's one thing that helps keep my mind off of things.

Thoracic and Lumbar Spine MRIs

Okay, so I went to get MRIs of my lumbar and thoracic spine today.  All I can say is that I'm glad I sought out the Chiari specialist.  He is the one that ordered the additional MRIs, and the images were quite astounding.  Now, first of all, I want to say that all you are about to read are self diagnosed.  I hope to hear from the NS later this week.  I got the MRI images on a CD so I can take them home with me this weekend so the family can see them.  I'm going to post 4 of the images in this blog, just so everyone has an idea what I'm talking about.  What I believe we found was 2 additional syrinxes.  In this first image, you can see the spine, which is the dark gray area where you would expect it.  You can see the syrinxes (3 total), or pockets of spinal fluid, built up inside my spinal cord, these are the light gray, almost white areas.  The small one at the top, was all we had to go on from the first MRI.  This was the one that the Chiari specialist said was too small to warrant surgery right away.  You can see a second, even smaller syrinx just below that one.  The most concerning, and the reason I'm confident the Chiari specialist will do the surgery, is the very bottom syrinx.  This is quite a large syrinx from what Tish and I have seen during our research.

   





The next image is a normal cross section of my spine.  You notice the nice gray area inside my vertebrae, this is what the spinal cord should look like.










This next image is the start of the largest syrinx.  I included this shot so you can see what area is the spinal cord, in case there was any confusion from the picture above.  In this image, Right below the big ball of gray, you see a smaller circle of gray, with a bright white dot in the center.  The gray is the spinal cord, and the white is actual spinal fluid that has built up inside the spinal cord.
   

In the last image, this is the center of that large syrinx I was talking about.  It's the one that's about lung level.  The bright white area is all cerebral spinal fluid.  Quite concerning, but I feel very fortunate that I haven't had more severe symptoms to this point, such as the numbness and tingling sensations, or even some loss of motor skills.  I'm sure when the doctor gives me a call, we will get the surgery scheduled and then it's on to recovery.
     I just wanted to share with you all what we found out today.  Again, this is strictly self diagnosis, however we have done quite a bit of research and are pretty confident that we are reading this right.  I'll let you know more as soon as we hear from the doctor.