The Results Are In!

The results are in, but before I reveal them you have to put up with a little story…Did you really think I would just post the results?

I got a call on Tuesday from my neurosurgeon’s secretary that the results of my MRI’s were in and the doctor wanted to see me to discuss them on Thursday.  My brain immediately said “ut-oh this can’t be good” I told it to shut-up, but it kept taunting me with “what if’s”.  My appointment was at 3:00pm and my wife Joyce kindly reset her work schedule so she could go with me, she’s awesome.  Having experienced long waits every time I go to Albany Med I made sure we got there early in the hopes of being called earlier.  It worked, they called my name just before 3:00pm, this was the shortest wait I had ever experienced in the neurology waiting room.  The nurse showed us to the exam room, checked my vitals, forced me to fill out the same freakin’ forms I fill out every time I go there, then as she left she said that the doctor would be right in.  Sweet! We were both feeling good about the pace that the appointment was progressing at.  The good feelings didn’t last…10 minutes became 20, then 30, then 40.  At the 40 minute mark I was sick of waiting so I stuck my head out the door to see if anyone was around that I could complain to, no luck the hallway was empty.  The one thing that kept me from losing my mind was being there with Joyce.  Her presence has the ability to keep me relaxed without her having to say a word.  So how did I repay her for spending her afternoon at the hospital with me and keeping me from going mental?  I ended up subjecting her to my comedic stylings, and best of all the awesome video of “Let’s Have a Party Albany”.  This was a cheesy ode to Albany, NY for its 300^th birthday back in 1986; you couldn’t turn on a radio back then without hearing it.  For your viewing pleasure Let's Have a Party Albany

We were heading into the 60 minute mark so once again I got up and stuck my head out the door.  This time there was a woman standing there talking to someone; that someone turned out to be my neurosurgeon, I quickly retreated back into the exam room.  As I retreated we made eye contact; he shot me a quizzical look that said “what do you think you’re doing, now get back in there” I felt like a kid that got busted by dad trying to sneak out after curfew.  Oh, it took him another 5 minutes to knock on the door and come in.  He actually apologized for keeping us waiting; that was a first, I’ve never had a doctor apologize for that.

On to the results:

We learned a new word yesterday, that word is Pseudomeningocele.  Of course when the doctor first said it all either of us heard was pseudoblah-blah-blah.  So what is pseudomeningocele? It’s an abnormal collection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the soft tissue in the back of my head.  In other words my patch is leaking.  My first thought was “oh crap here we go again, he’s going to tell me I need surgery to fix it”...WRONG!!!  Because my symptoms have been slowly improving surgery is off the table for now.  If my symptoms come back or I experience new and/or strange symptoms then there are two options available.  The first thing we can try is to go to a specialist that will use CT to direct a needle filled with tissue glue to try and seal the patch and then aspirate the fluid on the way out.  The second option is of course my least favorite; the neurosurgeon would do another more invasive surgery and I would end up with a shunt to drain the CSF. 

So there you have it, you learned a new word and you got treated to a blast from the 1980’s.  Best of all…I am feeling better and don’t need surgery!!!