Sunday, May 18, 2008

My last kyphoplasty

Finally had my last kyphoplasty surgery on may 6th. NO CRACKED RIBS this time. Maybe my bones are getting stronger finally. Went home and had alot more pain this time. I may have had this pain on my previous 2 operations but didn't notice it because of the cracked ribs. Anyway, the pain lasted about a week before letting up. Has the whole kyphoplasty procedure done any good? I don't know. I have not regained any lost height to speak of. I haven't really started any physical therapy or exercises yet. That'll come next week. I seem to be a little more stable when I walk, but still have to use a walker for any distance walking. All I know is that when they dig me up 200 years from now, they'll say "What's with this dude with all the cement in his back?"

My voice still has not gotten back to normal. I keep thinking that its starting to change back to a more normal voice, but by the end of the day, it's back to being high pitched again. I have an appointment with the doctor re this next week and we'll see what he says. My oncologist says not to get the surgery to correct this unless it's a "slam dunk". We'll see. I'm tired of doctors and surgery and don't want to do any more unless it's life saving.

I also have an appointment at UCSF with my oncologist there. I'm going to have him review my last bone marrow biopsy and see where we go from here regarding treatment, if any. My blood tests continue to show stablilty with the leukemia. The only effects I have from it are my low platelets and my borderline anemia. My oncologist at Kaiser doesn't want to treat me since I'm so stable, but my concern is 2 years from now. That's when I have to decide about having the mini stem cell transplant procedure. If I undergo it, I have to be strong physically to survive, but it can CURE the leukemia. We shall see.

Off the subject, last December I got a new computer with the VISTA operating system, the "computer destroyer" version of vista. Last week I had to reinstall the operating system because it got so screwed up. Dealing with India for tech support was another experience. I am now very careful as to what goes on the computer and create a restore point before I add any software.
&^%$*#$ Microsoft.

1 comment:

Cory said...

Glad to hear things went well!