I know I ended up on a ‘happy’
note but that was really short lived. Let me tell you about it. I’ll start where I found Dr Sam, an
Otolaryngologist who practises locally.
He is a lovely bloke, very
open minded and caring. I was under the
impression he wanted to ensure a proper diagnosis. He had a look at the OPG X-ray, examined my
throat and ears and asked me which side, according to me, was the worst. He briefly explained how the surgery is
performed and what the down time would be. Because I also have had cervical
spine surgery in 2003 he said that he would want to broaden the investigation. He sent me for a contrast CT scan.
I got to get the results
before my next appointment. I was quite upset by what I saw. Apart from small changes in my spine and
small nodules/cysts on my thyroid gland (which are quite normal in people of my
age) there was no abnormal calcification of stylo hyoid ligaments. Now remember I was initially diagnosed by the
humble OPG X-Ray: “Ossified styloid hyoid ligaments are noted
bilaterally (Eagle Syndrome)” I noted
the different spelling too.
I just couldn’t figure out
why this was the case. How could one
radiologist report calcified stylo hyoid ligaments and the other clearly stated
there aren’t any? Eagle Syndrome fits with all my symptoms. It just sent me on an emotional roller
coaster. All of a sudden I could not bear the physical pain I was in I had one
pity party after another. The crying helped. Seriously, it did. I got rid of a
lot of frustration.
I received a call from Dr
Sam’s rooms confirming what I already know. I just broke down, took the rest of
the day off work and drove straight to his rooms. Thinking he was there of course. He wasn’t – he was in theatre. The
receptionist had empathy with me and made me another appointment closer to the
one I already had.
To make a long story short
long Dr Sam said that he wanted me to see Dr Neil an Orthopaedic Surgeon as
there are some changes in my cervical spine.
Yes I agree, but in my humble opinion, they are insignificant. I recon
for my age also bearing in mind the surgery I had; it was still in pretty good
shape. Dr Sam said that it might be a
while before I get to see Dr Neil and will therefore take my CT scan to a Dr
Sandy, for a second review. He will see me for a review when we have both reports
– those from Dr Neil as well.
Little did he know what a
lucky Girl I am. I got to see Dr Neil
the very next week. As expected he sent
me for an MRI and Bone Scan. Well, I have
had the results and as expected in my opinion they are pretty
insignificant. I see both doctors on the
same day – Dr Sam at 9am and Dr Neil at 3pm on Wednesday September 4th.
Well, now that I have
updated my blog I feel a little lighter!
I know there are some time delays in between but for good reason. I have been down and out with a terrible flu
which ended up in bronchitis. I am much
better thank you. I also managed to wean myself off all pain meds. I just feel my body will benefit from it. Thankfully
my pain threshold is pretty high. I try
to focus on what I should be grateful for and keep busy with the little things I
love to do. During one of my ‘bad’ days
I stumbled across this beautiful story.
I was deeply touched and my ‘misery’ suddenly seemed to disappear… Make
sure you watch the follow up as well.
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