Would My Spine Be Useful For Research?

[mabeckoff]

Presbyopia

Age related eye loss. and dry eye....

My vision really went down the tubes after all my surgeries. 5 of them in 2 years. I dont know if I can blame the surgeries.....I dont think so.

Been real careful with my neck also...been maintaining that "perfect posture".

Ed

is there anything that can help you?

[gonzorini]

Sundance and Utah and another question.

Ed,

Sundance is on the back side of Mount Timpanogos (checkout google images, its beautiful). I am at the very foot of the mountain. So I'm only a couple miles from Sundance. It is one of our lower ski resorts, and we've not had a good snow year, so it is likely not going to have enough. I'd love a visit though. I got a new job a couple days ago so a visit will need to be on my days off. A job is good. When I get insurance after 60 days I'll go whole hog to see where I am with my back. I'm starting to think it may not be as well off as I think it is. So let me know when you want to visit and lets see what we can arrange.
-----
Everybody,

Sorry for not checking in sooner, but between a new granddaughter, birthdays of various people, and running around with my head cut off after getting a job offer, today is the first time I've felt settled enough to be back.

I appreciate everyone's help and answers. Thanks for the explanation about why my back hurts when standing still and not while walking. I wasn't aware normal people don't have the same problem. Again, its what I get for for thinking I'm more normal than I am. It would be nice not to ache when standing still and watching a parade or waiting in line. I think treatment is still too high a risk though.

I've just joined a fitness club, courtesy of my son, since I can't afford it yet. Are there any exercises I should be careful doing or avoid? I'm trying to lose around 35 pounds out of 195 to reduce the stress on my back as well help my general health. So far I'm trying to get over six miles of walking a week and do strength exercises three times a week. Got 10 miles last week of which 4 was done watching a two hour movie on a treadmill. It was pretty funny because after we selected the movie they guy told us we had to stay in there the whole time. My son hadn't seen the movie and we had decided to be there the whole time already, so the guy was kind of shocked when we did. We were both sore the next day, but it was worth it.

[LindaRacine]

Are there any exercises I should be careful doing or avoid? I'm trying to lose around 35 pounds out of 195 to reduce the stress on my back as well help my general health. So far I'm trying to get over six miles of walking a week and do strength exercises three times a week. Got 10 miles last week of which 4 was done watching a two hour movie on a treadmill. It was pretty funny because after we selected the movie they guy told us we had to stay in there the whole time. My son hadn't seen the movie and we had decided to be there the whole time already, so the guy was kind of shocked when we did. We were both sore the next day, but it was worth it.

Hi....

I personally don't think weight training is all that great for people with bad backs. I would concentrate on core strengthening.

Regards,
Linda

[titaniumed]

I agree, weight training is probably not a great idea.......I would keep weights under a few pounds....under 5#. I wouldn’t be lifting the grandkids....

Weight loss works well if you can control your fat intake. Switch to bean soup....(smiley face) I always order a soup over a salad in restaurants....Soup is good food.

You need to watch your BMI. There are body mass index charts online. After my surgeries I gained 4 inches in height, which gave me a green light on eating, and technically was allowed to gain a few pounds.

I understand how you feel about treatment in your case.

I’m off to Phoenix next week.....been running a busy schedule myself.

You live in a beautiful area, Ive been there but didnt ski.

Ed

[gonzorini]

Core Strengthening

What is core strengthening Linda? I am not familiar with that term.

In the meantime, I've been using the various strength machines in the fitness center. Most of them have back support. One of them simulates a sit-up without even messing with the back, which I thought was really cool. When I had to do sit-ups in school, coming down on the hump was very annoying.

On most of the machines I've set the weight at around 65 pounds and after 8 reps, on the whole series, the muscles are tired. For the most part the weights feel light. The back did not feel strained at all. I've been out of shape for 40 years, so my first goal is to get firmed up before going further. I did the machines three times last week, and Friday used the pool, also the first time in 20 years. Did one lap and my back felt really weird from the 90 degree angle to the neck. It felt like a plate armor of slightly sore muscle. It went away after a few minutes. The machines are do not seem to be picking up the back muscles. I also got in 7.5 miles of walking on the treadmill and around town. I'm starting to get to the point where I'm breaking a sweat now, and my lung capacity is about to be tested.

Some of the shoulder muscles have been sore during the week, so yesterday and today I am resting. But so far, so good.

I'd like to get full imaging of the thoracic area since I'm curious to see where all the internal organs wound up relative to where they normally are on account of my back. I'm wondering if there are additional problems from organ placement that I'm not aware of. For you folks that have had major back surgeries, what kinds of imaging did they do besides x-rays? Would I learn anything from advanced imaging?

[LindaRacine]

Hi...

Core strengthening involves strengthening the muscles of the abdomen. The idea is to let the abdominal muscles do the work of the back muscles.

You might be really helped by working with a therapist who understands the special needs of someone like yourself.

Regards,
Linda

[rohrer01]

Gonzorini,
Some other tests that they do are MRI and CT/myelogram. The MRI has no side effects that I'm aware of. The CT scan without the myelogram can pick up things that the MRI alone can not. the CT/myelogram is a CT scan but before you go in they do like a spinal tap and withdraw some spinal fluid and replace it with a contrast dye. This gives them a very detailed picture of your actual spinal chord and nerve roots. I haven't had surgery, but I have had several MRI's and one CT/myelogram. Both of these tests also give a view of your internal organs when they do cross sections, so they might be interested in finding out "where" everything is inside your body (CT myelogram wouldn't be useful for this, but MRI would probably be best is my guess). CT scans expose you to a fair amount of radiation, so you don't want to have too many of them.

Another test that I can think of would be an electrical study called an EMG. This is to check if your nerves are working properly to different parts of your body. I've also had several of these. They can hurt a bit but not too bad. They use very fine needles and place them into certain muscle groups to see if the nerve impulses are working properly to those muscles.

I hope this helps. I can't think of any other studies right off hand.

Rohrer01

[gonzorini]

Update

I've been on the job now for 3 weeks. Two training and one on the phones taking calls. Don't get insurance until July. My normal schedule begins tomorrow, 12:00 pm to 8:30 pm, so now I can settle into a routine and get back into exercising. The gym trainer said I'd been doing the exercises wrong, so when I go back I'll go much lighter on the weights, but more on the repetitions.

I never did hear back from the UCSF spine center, so I don't know whether they had no use for me or whether they thought I was pranking them. Even some of my friends were surprised by the x-ray. In my case, I look mostly normal unless I bend over, at which point it is very obvious. Most people never see me bend over, so it was a real surprise to a lot of people on facebook when I posted the links, especially to the people at church.

My chiropractor works around my back, but tomorrow will be the first time he'll get to see pictures. I'm curious to see how he takes it. He's worked on my back for over 25 years, so its almost as normal to him as it is to me. I'll report when I get time.

[titaniumed]

Gonzo

If you google “Gibbus” deformity, you will see similarities. Select images.

Ed

[gonzorini]

gibbus deformity

I looked this up, and one of the pictures looked like my back. Almost identical. I don't know if any of my doctors ever submitted x-rays of my back to research organizations which may have been used.

My chiropractor looked at the images of my back and said none were fused, as had been the explanation previously given to me. Given the images, he's not sure how my back can even function, given where the spinal cord needs to be in a normal spine. I told him that makes at least two of us. I'm just glad it works as well as it does.

This last weekend my wife and I and some friends camped out and watched meteors, but I think my pads have become too fatigued and I'll need more padding next time I camp out. I'm thinking the older I get the more problems I'll have, some of which normal spines have too.

[susancook]

Gonzorini, Welcome! I love your #1 reason why not to have surgery, something like "Except for a severe deformity, there's nothing wrong with my back". Got me laughing!
Susan

[titaniumed]

I looked this up, and one of the pictures looked like my back. Almost identical. I don't know if any of my doctors ever submitted x-rays of my back to research organizations which may have been used.

My chiropractor looked at the images of my back and said none were fused, as had been the explanation previously given to me. Given the images, he's not sure how my back can even function, given where the spinal cord needs to be in a normal spine. I told him that makes at least two of us. I'm just glad it works as well as it does.

This last weekend my wife and I and some friends camped out and watched meteors, but I think my pads have become too fatigued and I'll need more padding next time I camp out. I'm thinking the older I get the more problems I'll have, some of which normal spines have too.

Its hard to say, these surgeons see quite a bit. It’s really amazing since there are so many things that can happen, and starting from birth.

Your situation is beyond any Chiropractic advice....They just don’t have the training or resources that a team at a major deformity center would have. Could your deformity be the result of something else? Has anyone done blood work to help rule other things out? It’s a starting point anyway....

The final decision on my surgeries was determined after the blood work was done. They look to make sure there isn’t some hidden surprise. Preventive medicine really is a good thing. I’ve been guilty in the past by ignoring doctors....many of us are there, its understandable. Truth can be scary, but I think that many of us need to know.

Looking at the Perseid’s for us takes good thick foam! Its just not worth constantly looking up and trashing your neck. Is it possible to get a whiplash from a shooting star? (smiley face)

I went camping also, but drank so much red wine, my hardware is probably stained red.

Ed