I saw the neurosurgeon, Mr Mundil, yesterday, along with the neuro modulation specialist physiotherapist, Karen. Based on the letter from the MDT meeting, I was expecting them to be taking me down a physio route, but that turned out to only be part of the story.
First off, having asked how I was getting on, Mr M informed me he had me provisionally scheduled for surgery on March 17th. It’s fair to say that was a surprise. He also mentioned that I would be in hospital for 7-10 days so they can monitor me and adjust the stimulator as necessary. Given that the previous discussions had been about it being day surgery, this was also a big surprise. When I questioned him about it he showed me the MRI images and explained more about what he’d found and what he was planning to do about it.
Not just a spinal cord stimulator
The MRI showed that the spinal canal is quite narrowed through the cervical region, and some cervical bones have “knuckles” constricting it further. He therefore needs to shave the knuckles off to make space for the stimulator electrodes. He then showed me where the previous surgeries had been, and how the cord was adhered to the dura. He said he would be seeing if he release the adhesions. Whilst I wasn’t keen on the idea of having surgery to release the adhesions, particularly given how my cord had simply gone awry again on both previous occasions, and the risks associated with doing it again, given he needs to undertake more significant surgery to put the stimulator in anyway, it seems sensible to see if the adhesions can be released at the same time. Who knows – I might even get my balance back! 🤞🏻😀
Then came the early warning. Mr M explained that I’ll have a lot of pain from the surgery, although it will be different pain to what the stimulator will be tackling, so I should get a good idea of whether it is doing its job. He also said they can manage the surgery pain and still know about the success (or otherwise) of the stimulator.
We then moved on to talking to Karen. She asked about my physio history, and I explained that it was predominantly about my balance rather than pain management. She got me to do some movements to assess where the pain is being triggered. She said she would send me through some exercises to do to stretch the sinews and give the nerves a bit more space.
We then went back to talking about surgery and dates. I decided that March was totally impractical as it is year end and work will be manic. Now I know that work shouldn’t dictate health things, but I know that I will be so stressed come mid-March, I won’t be in a good place to be undergoing major neurosurgery, so we agreed to postpone to April. Mr Mundil needs to ensure he has a theatre available for sessions a week apart so he can get the surgery done and the follow up a week later to either fit the stimulator control unit internally , or if it hasn’t worked (1:20 chance of failure for complex spine pain like mine) take it out.