03-15-2020, 01:22 PM
Nothing new to report. I get another CAT Scan and see the neck surgeon on April 15th, at which point he will inform me as to whether the electro-magnetic bone stimulator collar he has me wearing thirty minutes each day has had any positive effect. The last time I saw him, he was surprised and dismayed to see that not only had the broken vertebrae not showed any signs of healing, it had actually gone the other way, with the bone shards having moved further apart. He was expecting them to have come together and healed, as the femur, calcaneous, and other bones did.
This news left us in a very uncertain, uncomfortable gray area. At last report, he had changed his mind about doing another fusion surgery, knowing that such a surgery would leave me with only one functional vertebrae. I'd be locked nearly solid. So, instead, he said he will likely just let it be, hoping that the magnetic stimulator will kickstart the healing process. If that doesn't work, then it sounds like he still plans on letting it be, which would mean, what, exactly? I go through life with a permanently broken neck, and an unprotected spinal cord?
That sounds mighty sketchy to me, especially with random bone shards floating around the exposed spinal cord.
Otherwise, I have ditched both the wheelchair and walker and am now using only a cane to tool around. I can do a hundred yards or so without the cane, entirely on my own. It ain't pretty, though. It's an ugly, awkward hobble when I ditch the cane. Also, I still can't get a sock or shoe to fit over my swollen balloon foot and ankle. I have to wear a slider-style sandal on my right foot, which means I can't put on a riding boot, either.
As of right now, I'm not sure whether I could take the CB down from her centerstand. Probably, but it would be iffy. I know I wouldn't even try to force her back up onto the centerstand. I can't press down hard enough on the bad foot to lever her back up.
I haven't been able to sell the CB, which has me pondering the possibility of having to keep her and ride her again. In order to do so I would have to be able to put on a shoe or riding boot, and be able to turn and tilt my head, at least somewhat. Don't know yet whether either of those abilities will come to pass.
This news left us in a very uncertain, uncomfortable gray area. At last report, he had changed his mind about doing another fusion surgery, knowing that such a surgery would leave me with only one functional vertebrae. I'd be locked nearly solid. So, instead, he said he will likely just let it be, hoping that the magnetic stimulator will kickstart the healing process. If that doesn't work, then it sounds like he still plans on letting it be, which would mean, what, exactly? I go through life with a permanently broken neck, and an unprotected spinal cord?
That sounds mighty sketchy to me, especially with random bone shards floating around the exposed spinal cord.
Otherwise, I have ditched both the wheelchair and walker and am now using only a cane to tool around. I can do a hundred yards or so without the cane, entirely on my own. It ain't pretty, though. It's an ugly, awkward hobble when I ditch the cane. Also, I still can't get a sock or shoe to fit over my swollen balloon foot and ankle. I have to wear a slider-style sandal on my right foot, which means I can't put on a riding boot, either.
As of right now, I'm not sure whether I could take the CB down from her centerstand. Probably, but it would be iffy. I know I wouldn't even try to force her back up onto the centerstand. I can't press down hard enough on the bad foot to lever her back up.
I haven't been able to sell the CB, which has me pondering the possibility of having to keep her and ride her again. In order to do so I would have to be able to put on a shoe or riding boot, and be able to turn and tilt my head, at least somewhat. Don't know yet whether either of those abilities will come to pass.