quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: The tumor was almost completely removed and it was benign. The docs believe it was there a long time, as in years. I will be going back some time in the future to keep an eye on it. They don't believe it will come back. The leg is making great progress and I'm sure will be back to normal in 3 weeks.

Excellent! I know, that doesn't help dealing with the recovery but it's still the best.

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: The tumor was almost completely removed and it was benign. The docs believe it was there a long time, as in years. I will be going back some time in the future to keep an eye on it. They don't believe it will come back. The leg is making great progress and I'm sure will be back to normal in 3 weeks.

You were never normal but we will accept anything if you aren’t hurting. we’re easy.
Glad to hear it was benign. Now do what the therapist tells you, especially if she is cute.

Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

quote Originally posted by TK: Did they give you the final word on the tumor? Was it localized and totally removed? Invasive? This is a tough one GM. Keep pushing. It sounds like you have feeling and function but it's all wonky right now.

The tumor was almost completely removed and it was benign. The docs believe it was there a long time, as in years. I will be going back some time in the future to keep an eye on it. They don't believe it will come back. The leg is making great progress and I'm sure will be back to normal in 3 weeks.

Good to hear the cause of the problem is gone!

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: The tumor was almost completely removed and it was benign. The docs believe it was there a long time, as in years. I will be going back some time in the future to keep an eye on it. They don't believe it will come back. The leg is making great progress and I'm sure will be back to normal in 3 weeks.

Well *THIS* just made my day!!!!

quote Originally posted by 84fiero123: You were never normal but we will accept anything if you aren’t hurting. we’re easy. Glad to hear it was benign. Now do what the therapist tells you, especially if she is cute. Steve

Yea, when I was able to take my first shower I said I feel half human again. The therapist is cute with fringe benefits, she's my wife.

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: Yea, when I was able to take my first shower I said I feel half human again. The therapist is cute with fringe benefits, she's my wife.

I am soooo tempted. Must control my keyboard urges ...

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: The tumor was almost completely removed and it was benign. The docs believe it was there a long time, as in years. I will be going back some time in the future to keep an eye on it. They don't believe it will come back. The leg is making great progress and I'm sure will be back to normal in 3 weeks.

Again, I'm happy to hear this. Nice to hear some good news.
May your healing be quick and complete.

Happy to hear the latest news. Try very hard not to bend the rules in your recovery, you and your wife must be very relieved with this latest turn of events.

Glad to hear that all is returning to "normal!"

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: Yea, when I was able to take my first shower I said I feel half human again. The therapist is cute with fringe benefits, she's my wife.

quote Originally posted by TK: I am soooo tempted. Must control my keyboard urges ...

I have no such qualms... pics or it didn't happen!

seriously... very good news. May recovery go quickly and painlessly.

The thing on the bottom is actually on my right side and it's just a blister or reaction from the tape.

Not happy with home care. Got home on Tuesday @ 11. Called them to set up home care = nurse, PT and OT. Wednesday called them twice, once in the morning, once afternoon. Thursday a nurse came out at 4:30 and asked me the same questions that's on my discharge papers, including what meds I'm taking. The only thing extra she did was blood pressure. Last night at 7:30 I got a call to set up PT this morning at 10:30. Good thing I did have a list of things to do and avoid that I could do on my own and progress is seen daily. Left foot will be an issue, probably resulting in the surgery I don't want yet. Right leg is acting more normal but still not trustworthy.

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: The therapist is cute with fringe benefits,

And now you can impress her with a scar.

quote she's my wife.

Well, anyway. Good to hear the tumor was benign, glad you are making progress. Keeping you in our prayers.

The tape was falling off so my wife took it off.



I'll be going to the surgeon later today.

Glad to see that wound healed so well/fast

Good luck w/ your rehab man

Thanks!

Went to the surgeon for followup. He's impressed with the progress so far. I have a followup mri in 6 months. One of the things he said is the tumor was actually one of the nerves. by removing the tumor, part of the nerve was removed. That's why I have localized numbness in my right leg. It's only been 17 days since surgery so it's too early to tell if it's permanent. As I say prepare for the worst but expect the best. I do have another follow up around Labor Day to see if I can go back to work, that is drive a school bus. I'll give it a couple weeks before I sit behind the wheel and see if I can manipulate the pedals. I don't want to rush the recovery, but I do .

Got my cane on Tuesday and overdid it. Rested yesterday and feeling better today. Looks like I'll be riding waves during recovery. Just sat behind the wheel of the car. I have no problem moving my foot from the gas to the brake and back. The problem is I still have issues keeping my leg in one place. If I lift my heel it starts to float around.

[This message has been edited by Gokart Mozart (edited 08-09-2012).]

I have that same problem, but because of my stroke, with the leg jumping around when I used the clutch on our F 250. We had to sell it because I didn’t want to be sitting at a traffic light and drop the clutch with someone right in frt of me.

Glad to hear things are getting better.
And more good vibes for a speedy recovery.

Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

How long has it been since your stroke?

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: How long has it been since your stroke?

December 04 just after i got the newer burb we drive still, it was scary to me when i was letting the clutch out on our F 150 so we sold it and went to autos only. but that is me your mileage may vary.

steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

It's been two months since my surgery. I took a 2 mile walk today. Didn't feel too bad. Maybe about 5 twinges of pain. The twinges are at the joint where the leg and hip meet, in the adductors. I can lay down but if I move I can get a major twinge. It can happen when I stand from sitting, sway back and forth or when one of the cats walk across the room. Who knows when it happens. I've been lucky some nights and sleeping 5 hours but most of the time it's in 1 1/2 hour blocks. I've tried heat, ice, massage, elevation, stretching and everything is temporary at best. What does calm it down is direct pressure where the pain is.
I had outpatient physical therapy for the first time yesterday and I couldn't even use the recumbent stepper because of the pain. When the therapist was stretching the leg, I said the pain decreased when the leg was stretched and increased when she released it. That threw her for a loop. I was talking to a friend today and she said it sounds like the bends. Interesting thought. After surgery, there's a ton of space for the nerves to move into and the pressure on the nerves is gone.
I drove for the first time last night. One of my cats was vomiting, had bloody diarrhea and my wife was at work so I took him to the vet. 4 miles away and not only did I have to 2-foot it because I still don't have the motor control to accurately move my foot to the brake, the pain was awful. They say nerves repair themselves at 2mm per day.

Keep gettin better man.

quote Originally posted by 2.5: Keep gettin better man.

x2!

Thanks for posting the update on your progress.

Best Regards,

Tom

Still not working, or doing much else. Too much pain in my right leg and hip when I sit. Hurts when I bend over and twist and it's painful to lift more than 20 pounds.
Saw my surgeon twice in the last 3 weeks. Had three x-rays of me standing straight up and leaning forward and backward. He saw some movement in between two vertebrae that normally he wouldn't consider an issue but it's right where the tumor was. Had an mri last week and he looked at it and gave me two scenarios.
The first one is the spinal nerve is still stressed from the surgery. There's not much that can be done except for pills. He's doesn't think that's the issue.
The second one is the nerve bundle coming out of the spine is getting pinched. He thinks that's it because the symptoms get worse when I'm moving around and it's localized in my leg. He's referring me to a specialist with pain medicine that I'll see on Monday.

Careful about those pain specialists, I just went to one yesterday and he wants to inject steroids into my Neck, right into the spine.

It will be done at the hospital under local, not real thrilled but anything is better than my left arm getting numb all the time and the pain in my neck that not even Vicodin helps.

Good luck and hope you are in less pain soon.

Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Yea, that might be an option. I think that's better for now instead of getting hardware to permanently keep the two apart.

Hope it worked out for you.

Just came back from the first round. I took the steroids in 3 places on my spine. No immediate changes but I go back in two weeks for another round and everyone says I should be able to feel quicker results.

Hope all works out for you; I now have an appointment later this month for him to stick me in the neck, just once I hope. Keep us informed.

Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Well it's been just over 6 months since surgery. I've been walking without a cane for about 3 months. The front right thigh is numb and half way down the sides. I've had 4 rounds of steroid shots in my spine. They really didn't improve anything. For 4 months I've been telling the docs there's one spot on my hip that feels pinched. When I got my 3rd shot, the doc got the nerve that needed numbing but the pinching was still there. 2 weeks ago I got my 4th shot and he was hitting the nerves raw and I was bucking like a bronco and was sore in my back and leg all day. Got home at 9:30 am and laid on the couch until 5. When I stood up, my hip popped. Instant relief. For the first time in 6 months I was able to walk down a flight of stairs normally. There's still quite a bit of pain in my back and leg. Think of putting your foot to sleep and waking it but hold it for 4 months. Bending and twisting doesn't hurt as much. I still get sharp shooting flares every once in a while that stop me in my tracks. Can't have steroid shots for another 6 months. My surgeon wants to put hardware to separate two of the vertebrae where he thinks the nerve is getting pinched. Got my first long term disability check and the check is disabling. I want to see the neurologist that found the tumor and see what he thinks. I also want to see a chiropractor and massage specialist, both covered by insurance, but my surgeon laughed when I said that. I believe if he listened to me 4 months ago, I wouldn't have the pain I do now.

Thanks for the update- glad the hip finally "popped" the surgeon needs a whack upside his head.

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: ...I believe if he listened to me 4 months ago, I wouldn't have the pain I do now.

Good to hear you are feeling better. Yeah, doctors and dentists, sometimes it seems like a crapshoot.

Well I have had 2 sets of shots myself so far they are not helping much, pain is still there as well as the numbness. Pain level did go down after the first set of shots but not much.
Second set of shots put me in more pain than I was in before I started, until the next day. Then it seemed to subside a little but still have the numbness in the arm. But it all seems to be for nothing as the pain is returning slowly, not quite as bad as it was before but still around 5 or 6 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Good luck with the surgeon and pain doctors, I think surgeons think their god or something because they are surgeons. Their bed side manner usually sucks because of that and I really hate needles so I don’t think I will be getting anymore unless I absolutely have to. And as far as surgery that ain’t happening ether unless I can’t stand the pain anymore.

One thing I should mention that has helped me to a few degrees is,
,
,
MM, Medical Marijuana. It doesn’t get rid of the pain as much as it dulls it and when I get to the point of being high then I just don’t notice the pain as much. So it makes it more bearable and allows me to do more things with less pain.

No matter how you think about it, less pain is better and I am not going to let them cut into my body again, had a spinal fusion 25 years or so ago.

Good luck with your pain and getting better, I know exactly where you are coming from about this so don’t feel alone. Hopefully you will fare better than I am.

Steve

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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't



Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Wish you had the docs I have. The doc that found my tumor I want to go to again. His profile looks like what I need: focuses on Medical Neurology, Electrodiagnostics: EMG, EEG, Evoked potentials, Carotid Ultrasonography, and Botox Therapy.

Semi-progression.
Got another set of MRIs done and one for my hip, total of around 800 pics showing before, 5 months after and 8 months after and I've converted the ones I couldn't see earlier. My hip is still giving me issues. I was doing some self-evaluation and when you stand on one leg and raise the other and bend it at the knee, the leg falls parallel with the other leg. My right leg doesn't. It has about 20 degrees forward flexion. I can move it backwards but I can feel unusual movement in my hip.
My neurologist says the schwannoma that caused this could be reproduced somewhere else in my body, like my hip and brain. The MRI from my hip is compromised because I had to bend my leg because I can't lay it flat for long periods. I'll be getting another MRI for my brain to look for any there.
I was able to lift a 40 lb bag of salt over the weekend. Still hurt my hip a little but not too much. Pushing the cart around Costco really gave me a workout.
I'm still getting pain injections, last time down my leg, and on a couple meds and I've started yoga to get the hip moving.

quote Originally posted by Gokart Mozart: I forgot, I've had a couple visits to a chiropractor. My cervical curve is almost gone and my left shoulder and hip are higher than my right side.

That would tend to explain a lot of the issues you are having, my guess would be that all that developed after your original problem. It doesn't take much pressure on nerves for things to go haywire. Hoping you see more improvements as the Chiropractor tries to retrain your spine. Sounds like your in for quite a few visits due to the damage.

I had an imaging done in Sept '11 and my spine was balanced. 8 months of seditariness caused it. I've gone Friday and Saturday and I'll go Monday. Insurance gave me 12 visits but they cold be extended.