Post-Op Doctor's Visit

We were a bit late, but we'll blame it on traffic. We were in to see Dr. Comair and Shirley almost immediately. Liza's vitals were perfect (97.7 and 118/80). The good doctor began by asking how everything was and how she was feeling. He is very caring and a good listener. We always get the feeling that he actually is attentive to what we say and isn't simply waiting for our mouths to stop moving so he can move his. He then went into much more detail about the surgery he performed on Liza ten days ago. He brought in a model of the spine and showed us exactly what he did.

There is usually a space for the spinal cord twice as bit as the actual cord itself in the cervical spine. Liza had only enough space for the spinal cord itself, with no space remaining. He C1 spine was also extremely close to the base of the skull, but not fused to it (some are). This gave him little room to work and was causing most of Liza's problems. He removed about 1/2 an inch of the posterior side of C1. Then he used this space and the tissue transplant from her leg to form an increased area of space for spinal fluid, what he called a 'cistern.' This story is all recognizable so far from what he told us before surgery.

What he did not tell us before surgery helped us understand why Liza is experiencing some of the feelings she is having. When the spinal cord and the major nerve that serves the front of the face and cheek area are pinched, or simply crowded, the impulses that are trying to get to the brain to communicate touch, heat, pain, etc., aren't transferred properly. The result is that the impulses get translated into nerve pain, tingling, and numbness. This is a normal reaction to crowded or pinched nerves, of course, but the explanation was new to us. Since she is still a bit swollen in her neck muscles and tissues, this crowding could still be occurring to a minor degree. If it is not, it will still take several weeks or months for the nerves to readjust and begin to send and accept the proper signals once more. This too is a normal healing process.

After explaining all of this and answering some of our questions, he began to inspect the incisions and remove the stitches and steri-strips. The nine sutures on her neck came out without even a whisper and they both thought the site looked clean and good (see the picture of her on the phone when we arrived home). The incision on her leg is almost unnoticeable and got a new set of steri-strips just to minimize scarring.

The funniest part of the visit was watching Dr. Comair, a world renown surgeon, trying to get latex gloves on with slightly wet hands. He went through three or four pair before giving up and sending out for powdered gloves. It was hilarious. Oh, when I say 'world renown,' I really mean it apparently. He was gone this past weekend because he flew to ZURICH, Switzerland, to perform neurosurgery on a patient there. You know, just a quick weekend trip.

We ruffled some feathers on the cell phone during the ride home and finally got some more meds as soon as we got back into The Woodlands. We picked them up from a sweet little pharmacist who said to Liza in a light-hearted tone, "so you're the one causing all the trouble, huh." Yep. Then I showed her the back of Liza's head. I wish you could have seen her face. "Now I understand," was all she said. All three of us thought it was quite funny.

So our morning has been one of the roughest yet. Actually, according to Liza, it has been the most painful of this whole process, literally (imagine Liza's face in Izzy's face in this pic, minus the Cheeto remnants). After the bumpy road to and from the hospital, with no meds, and a few more major bumps after we arrived home, we are very glad that things are starting to settle down today. She is currently in bed trying to rest. She just finished sipping on a home-made smoothie with trembling hands.

Again, thanks for your prayers and thoughts. Your constant presence is felt in our home. It is a much warmer place because of you all. Blessings.