Rut Roh!!! Severe cervical spinal stenosis, spondylosis, and myelopathy related to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. Essentially it's a bunch of calcification putting pressure on my spinal cord and nerve roots in my lower neck - causes some pain and numbness/tingling. I guess all that drinking and putting my head through walls at the rugby parties in college are catching up to me 30 years later. 
The real danger of this is the cerebo-spinal fluid is all squeezed out of the spinal canal by the stenosis (narrowing) so there is no longer any protection from severe spinal cord injury from even moderate trauma. Already, even hitting a pothole in the car causes this electric shock to shoot all the way down to my toes. The doctor says this is my spinal cord geting pinched. It's already pinched down to around 30% of its normal diameter in two places.
So he's cutting on my spine Tuesday, Nov. 11. He'll cut in from the front, push my esophagus aside, grind out the C5/6 and C6/7 disks, remove the calcified ligaments inside the canal up against my spinal cord, stick in a couple of bone grafts, and button it all up with a titanium plate (which will match my Citizen Eco-Drive Men's Titanium Perpetual Calendar Watch #BL5250-53L). My wife and daughter have already stopped calling me No-Neck and taken to calling me Iron Man. :thumbup:
After a couple of days laid up in the hospital, I'll be taking 4 or 5 weeks off from work, burning off some of my enormous sick leave balance. I'll probably be spending A LOT of time moderating the Political Arena.
The real danger of this is the cerebo-spinal fluid is all squeezed out of the spinal canal by the stenosis (narrowing) so there is no longer any protection from severe spinal cord injury from even moderate trauma. Already, even hitting a pothole in the car causes this electric shock to shoot all the way down to my toes. The doctor says this is my spinal cord geting pinched. It's already pinched down to around 30% of its normal diameter in two places.
So he's cutting on my spine Tuesday, Nov. 11. He'll cut in from the front, push my esophagus aside, grind out the C5/6 and C6/7 disks, remove the calcified ligaments inside the canal up against my spinal cord, stick in a couple of bone grafts, and button it all up with a titanium plate (which will match my Citizen Eco-Drive Men's Titanium Perpetual Calendar Watch #BL5250-53L). My wife and daughter have already stopped calling me No-Neck and taken to calling me Iron Man. :thumbup:
After a couple of days laid up in the hospital, I'll be taking 4 or 5 weeks off from work, burning off some of my enormous sick leave balance. I'll probably be spending A LOT of time moderating the Political Arena.
)
