Need prayers and well wishes

Last week I commented on the problem I was having keeping my head up and how it hurt severly to do so. Well, it kinda went away so I thought maybe I'd slept funny or something. Yet, it returned Wednesday; by yesterday I had to leave work in tears because the simple effort of holding my head up was tremendously painful. I couldnt get in to see any of my neuro docs so I went and saw my favorite nurse practioner at my regular doctor's office. The did a cervical spine cat scan and we found out why it was a chore to hold my head up. The vertebrae in my neck which are C5 and C6 (the vertebra which are about where your neck begins to curve out above the shoulders) are narrowed with a bulging disc which is pressing on the spinal cord. It all began to make sense then as I'd started having weird left shoulder pain which they thought was joint related at first but it then felt like someone had ripped the bicep on that side in half. The spinal cord at that point controls the deltoids, biceps, and wrist extender nerves. So, I have been in bed on even stronger pain meds which do not take away the pain just make me nauseous, and I go at 1pm today to see the neurosurgeon and find out what the fix for this is. I'm pretty sure it's gonna be surgery; hence my request for your prayers. It's so frustrating to want one type of surgery (WLS) and dread having to go through another one (spinal surgery). I will be on and off unless they stick my in the hospital. Congrats on those of you who had check-ups and lost weight. Good luck to those of you who have surgery coming up soon. Love and all that stuff, Kelly

Bless your sweet heart, Kelly! What a horrible time you must be having. Like you need this on top of everything else with your journey. Hon, you are in my thoughts and prayers. May God touch your body and give you healing & relief. We love ya! Melanie

HI Kelly so very sorry to hear about this. The surgery will always be available, but your neck needs your attention at this time. You don't want to mess around with this problem. You are iin my thoughts and prayers. Oh, My brother does not manage the Curves in Lavergne. I spoke with him last night. Hope you will be filling better soon. In God's loving hands, Kathy

I hope all will eventually work out for you. I am sorry that you are going through this much! You and your family will be in our prayers. My neice has scolosis(sp?). She is too old to old for it to be corrected. She has back pain a lot and has been told she may never hold down a full time job if it is factory work. She is 17. But she doesn't give up. Just remember with God on your side you will not fail. I have to tell my self this every day. It is hard for me to convince myself that. I just have to have faith. Lisa

Kelly, I wish there was something more to say other than I'm sorry. I hope that this will be over for you soon, and know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs, Carol

Kelly, Best of luck to you. I hope that everything works out for you and that the pain is gone soon. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Anne

Thank you all for the prayers. I saw the Neurosurgeon's Nurse Practioner yesterday and they need to do an MRI of my neck to figure out how much damage has been done and what the route of treatment will be. Because of my size, I have to have it done in an open scanner and they can't get me in until September 7th, so I was basically told to live with the pain until then as pain meds aren't real good for nerve pain, but they gave me more Lortab to take as well. Last night was rough as the Lortab caused a migraine, but I finally figured out I could take the Lortab for the pain and some Relpax for the migraine and I am just moderately miserable.

Kelly, I had the same thing happen to me in 2001. However, my rupture was at C4 & C5 with bulging at C5 & C6. I had surgery to fuse C4 & 5 as outpatient. I was up and around with no problems afterwards. It was really a breeze. Who's your neuro? Hugs! Jen

Jen, Ok, now I feel better after hearing that. The one thing I never took care of as a nurse were patients who had neck and back surgery, so I was feeling a little overwhelmed. Dr. Everette Howell is my neurosurgeon. Kelly

Hey Kelly, I went in that morning. It was done at St. Thomas. I think surgery was about 8 or so. I was back in my room by 10, walking by 11 and out by 12:30 on my way back home. I had the wear the neck brace for about 4 weeks, but it got better every day. They went in through the front and you can hardly see my scar now...it's about 1 1/2 inches long running along one of the lines in my neck. Know what you're going through and it's scary! I just found out last week I've got degenerative disc disease in my lower back. Hopefully, this weight loss will help. If you need any more info, let me know Hugs! Jen