Met Dr. Shelokov finally!!

And wow, I was impressed!

First, I had a couple of x-rays done and then Shaun came in and talked to me. I told him that I had been having problems lately with waking up and my fingers being totally numb and tingly feeling. They don't feel like they are asleep, but they just feel weird. But he said it could just be me sleeping on my hands wrong or it could be some kind of tiny nerve being pinched. It goes away about 30 minutes to an hour after waking up. No biggie I don't guess, they didn't seem too concerned about it, so I guess I won't worry about it either.

He asked if I was having any lower back pain and I told him yes, that here lately that seems to be the norm, and its frustrating because I am not used to having lower back pain. So he told me that they want to have me do a procedure called a discogram.

A discogram is an invasive diagnostic test. It involves placing small needles through the skin into the spinal discs utilizing x-ray control. Contrast liquid is then injected through the needle into the center portion of the disc. This test is designed to document whether a tear is present within the disc and also whether a particular disc is the exact source of the pain.

This procedure will take approximately 6-8 hours in all, and I will be sedated (thank God!) and the reason for this is to see if I need more fusion than anticipated. Right now, my levels of fusion will be T4-L2, but if those lower discs are already damaged, they will fuse lower. They do not want to do this as it will limit my flexibility significantly. They want to do the least amount of fusions as possible since they don't want me to lose the flexibility. But what happens after a spinal fusion is that the lower discs all of a sudden have this immense amount of pressure on them, and it causes the discs to deteriorate at a fast rate, and will eventually lead to a revision surgery, depending on how well I take care of my back after the scoliosis is corrected.

If the discogram shows disc deterioration, and they go ahead and fuse all the way down, this would possibly prevent me from having a revision surgery later on in life, but then it would make me very stiff. They also do not like to fuse lower like that if at all possible, because this would mean an incision on my back, my abdomen and my side. This would make the recovery a lot harder. So I am hoping that my discs are strong enough to withhold having a longer fusion, so that I don't lose my flexibility and have all those incisions to deal with. Even if it means having the revision surgery 15-20 years from now. I will take care of my back to the best of my ability to put off having a revision surgery for as long as I can, but we will just have to see how the discogram plays out.

I will also have a procedure called a mylogram, an MRI where they inject fluid into my spinal column and tip me upside down to run the fluid all over so they can see everything. I am not looking forward to either one of these procedures as I have heard they are painful...BUT, I am having the scoliosis surgery, so I better toughen up hahaha!! :] Anyways, then Dr. Shelokov came in and explained all these things to me as did Shaun and asked if we had any questions, and he said he wanted to see me immediately following the discogram...so this will be another trip to Dallas here pretty soon. But all this is worth it!

Oh and you know how Breast Cancer Societies have those pink rubber bracelets, and the yellow ones that say "Support Our Troops", and so on...well, I was soooooo excited to see a whole jar full of white Scoliosis support bracelets at the receptionists check-out desk!! I asked if I could have a bunch of them, and she told me to take as many as I wanted...I grabbed a whole handful and so did Gary, and he is even wearing one!! LoL!! They say "Conquer The Curve" and on the inside the website TheBaylorScoliosisCenter.com is written. I was sooo happy!! :]

Anyways, so the doctors visit went great and I am getting really close now to being better! Adios for now! :]