I leave tomorrow to stay in the city were the surgery will be performed. So yes
I am having it. Today I was at the hospital having final testing done, meeting
doctors - just getting things ready for Friday.

I saw my neurologist last Wednesday and he turned my VNS off just to be on the
safe side. So after the surgery and once I am feeling better I will go back to
see him and have it turned back on. He also told me to lower the zonegran by
100 mg the night before and the next morning before the surgery (I take 200 mg.
morning & night). The zonegran may cause problems with the amount that I take
daily. So he just wants to be on the safe side. After the surgery I will take
the 100 mg. pill of zonegran that I need and just go back to taking it
regularly.

When I saw the anesthesiologist we did have a long talk about the problem I
have with how hard it is to find a blood vain. I have always had this problem.
I am very cold natured - so my hands stay cold the most and that does not help.
When I had the blood patch performed 2 weeks ago it took 12 times before they
found a vain. The next problem I have is I have TMJ from a car accident back in
the later 80's. With that and because a tobe will be put down my throat - I
will half to be awake for them to do so - yuk! This way he can watch the
pressure that it may cause and if it may be effecting me to bad.

Not sure of how long the surgery will be because I did not see my neurosurgeon
today. I am just ready to get this over with.

Well let me go. Everyone take care. I'll be back on when I can.

Ashley

Ashley Joffrion Withers <charmedbrown_eyes@...> wrote:
Hello everyone -
Do not know if how many or if any of y'all remember about how I talk about my
right side giving me problems when having seizures. How I am able to feel pain
while the seizure is happening and the problems after. This has been happening
to me since the status seizure in 2003. It has been such a hard and painful
thing for me to deal with. I have been going to therapy, having botox shots in
my right leg (very painful), was diagnosed by another neuro. with dystonia and
drop foot. I wear a brace on my knee and foot due to this. At times the pain
gets so bad from the seizures or just when ever that I have trouble walking,
standing or sleeping.
I went to see my neurosurgeon a while back about my VNS. Then we started
talking about the pain I have. He felt that it may not be dystonia. So he had
an order called in for me to have a ct scan & a myelogram. I had this performed
last week. The myelogram made me very ill. The procedure can cause seizures
during or after. Now this was not told to me until I was having the needle put
into the spinal canal. Of course small seizures did happen after The
myelogram also caused stiffness, inflammation & very bad (migraine) headaches.
Then I became dizzy, nauseated and felt like I was going to pass out. So on
Wednesday of this week I went and had a spinal patch (think that is what they
called it) to help stop all this. It did - thankfully.
Now I did see my neurosurgeon on Monday of this week and found out that the
disk in my back is pinching up against a nerve - and this is what is causing
that pain I have. So yes - I am having back surgery on the 18 of this month.
Due to the fact of the pain I have on my right side of my leg and foot still
being a little numb since the left temple lobe surgery in 2003, he feels that I
must have hurt myself during the status seizure. Now when I started having
these seizures in 2003, they did start while I was standing up in the bathroom.
My husband herd a loud crash when I fell down. He was unable to open the door
at first. So we are thinking that something could have happened during that.
Specially in the position that I was in once he was able to get into the
bathroom to help me. We do know that I did hit the bath tub pretty hard when I
fell.
So hopefully this will answer a very BIG question that I have been dealing
with since 2003. I was becoming so scared with the pain I am now having. I am
only 34 and my self, husband & the rest of my family started to seeing my having
to be in a wheel chair or something else to help me walk in the near future
because of how bad the pain can get. So please keep you figures crossed that
this really does give answers that are greatly needed.
So sorry this is so long.

Take care everyone.

Ashley

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Ashley


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