Hmm. Neither of my good wishes (either the mis-typed one or the real one) have shown up yet after several minutes. Do they take a lot of time to appear?
Guess what... second opinion with neurosurgeon today... surgery cancelled in favor of steroid injection. Now we're just waiting on an appointment. I'm so proud of Evan for being so good at investigating/advocating for himself. And I love this surgeon, too, so we're happy all around.
[sharp intake of breath] Did the surgeon talk about long-term deterioration that can happen due to steroid shots? I know this is more of a concern in places like shoulders, so it may not apply in this case...
No, and that didn't turn up in preliminary research (if you have any research links I'd love them) but I haven't had time to do extensive research yet. However, they will only allow a maximum of 3 cortisone shots in the lumbar spine before they move on to something else, so there's a built-in limit. The effectiveness is quite a bit lower than surgery, but it's a more conservative approach, so Evan wants to give it a shot (npi.) Plus, if the injection works even moderately, he can be more mobile to pursue other therapies. :-)
I don't have any research links, (I'm not a member of any medical group, so one problem is that my access to articles is limited), and also I'm remembering conversations with medical people from 15+ years ago (am I really that old?), so opinions about such things may have changed over time. All I remember is that the prevailing opinion at that time was that cortisone shots were both good and bad. They could nix inflammation and turn around a condition to the point where a patient could heal quickly and with little pain -- but something about the shots was associated with later deterioration of cartilage, when the shots were given in shoulders and knees. (My dad had horribly painful problems with his knees, shoulders, ankles AND spine in the years before he died.) That's why I was asking if your dr. had mentioned it. My thought is, if s/he didn't even mention it, then it's probably not now or never was a real issue. (Which is great!) My sharp intake of breath -- it's hard to explain. Both relief and anxiety about putting off surgery. The leg numbness you mentioned is *scary* stuff.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-12-11 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-11 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-11 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-11 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-11 09:24 pm (UTC)Guess what... second opinion with neurosurgeon today... surgery cancelled in favor of steroid injection. Now we're just waiting on an appointment. I'm so proud of Evan for being so good at investigating/advocating for himself. And I love this surgeon, too, so we're happy all around.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-11 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-12 01:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-12 04:22 pm (UTC)