TC recovery

July 13, 2008

I had tethered cord surgery on June 26th at TCI. My full post-op story

is written at my caring bridge page:

Honestly, recovery is much easier than I expected. There have been

plenty of post-op challenges, but nothing out of the ordinary for

me...just allergies to medications and digestive difficulties. At this

point, I have reduced to just Oxycodone (quick-acting oxycontin) about

3 times a day. I'm on a pretty low dose (about 5-10 mg). I've just

started physical therapy. I think that will be a really important part

of my recuperation, combined with massage therapy, which I start in a

couple weeks. I have some reduced trunk movement right now, but with a

lot of stretching, I expect to go back to normal. It hurts to walk

around too much or stay in the same place for too long. I went to a

movie theater, and wasn't able to sit through the whole movie. But I'm

able to move around pretty well. I can't bend forward, so I squat down

instead. I'm able to sit myself up in bed and take showers by myself.

Overall, I feel like I'm recovering quite quickly. The only question

is: has this actually made me any better? Dr. Milhorat confirmed that

my spinal cord was very tight and was released upwards at least 2

inches. I understand that improvements may take a while to feel. So

far, nothing really feels better.

However, in traction, Dr. M was able to find my " sweet spot " , the

ideal place for my skull atop my spine. And in that position, I felt a

relief of many of my symptoms, including my headache. So even though I

went through a lot with this surgery, I feel that I will probably

ultimately require the fusion revision to feel relief of my major

symptoms.

But for now, I will continue working on my recovery from TC surgery.

Thank you so much for your support. I would be happy to answer any

questions about TC surgery privately.

Carolyn

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