I am posting three documents at the bottom of this entry for your viewing pleasure. Yay! This will be a gripping page-turner that will thrill you so much you won't know what to do with yourself. You can gain a lot of detailed information from these documents about what you (or another patient) have to do prior to surgery as well as the detailed explanation of the surgery itself. If you have any questions, comment below or feel free to send me a private message. I will do my best to answer them based on my personal experience.
Surgery Instructions. This is what you must do prior to surgery. I did not copy the back side of the page that had directions to the hospital, hotel information etc. because you can find that online.
What To Bring With You for Surgery
This information was supplied from Dr. Feigenbaum's office.
Pre-operative Clearance
Dr. Feigenbaum will send orders to your primary care physician for lab tests and an EKG. The results must be faxed to his office before you will be allowed to have surgery.
Operative Report
I was confused by this at first because of the description of the nerves/cysts. These are NOT where your cysts are located. They are the name of the nerve root that the cyst is in. I had one that was treated (sliced open, drained, packed with fat, sutured, wrapped) and the three others did not have to be cut open.
I believe I received a post-operative summary from the Neurologist who conducted the ongoing intraoperative nerve monitoring. They do send you information on what they will be doing. This monitoring is very important because it allows Dr. F to see if anything happens when he touches a nerve. They insert needles into many parts of the body (while you are asleep) and monitor nerves in upper torso, below the waste, and nerves related to bowl and bladder functions. When you wake up from surgery, you may see some slight bruising or blood spots where the needles were inserted. All of us girls had the same bruise on an area of our hand.
I've had some recovery regression since I posted last. Intense nerve pain returned to my legs and pressure over my sacrum. The first time was after I walked for 20 minutes. I was down for 2 days. This makes no sense since I am usually able to get out for a bit. I did have to climb up a hill, which engaged the piriformis muscle and I believe triggered the sciatic nerve. Then, for no apparent reason, I could barely walk for two days and have spent my time in bed since I last posted. The weather had not changed and I had done nothing on my feet to aggravate it. The only thing I can think of is that it may have been because I was going through a period where my nerves were regenerating/growing. That causes pain.
Below, you will see a picture of my spinal canal pre-surgery and post-surgery. You cannot see all of the cysts from this view but you can see that the large one is compressed, the nerves and cerebral spinal fluid now flow freely through the end of the spinal canal. In the "after" picture, there is a slight bulge from the bovine pericardium (cow heart) wrapping.
Surgery Instructions. This is what you must do prior to surgery. I did not copy the back side of the page that had directions to the hospital, hotel information etc. because you can find that online.
What To Bring With You for Surgery
This information was supplied from Dr. Feigenbaum's office.
- Medications
- Pair of shoes that are easy to slip on and off to avoid bending
- Comfortable clothing that will not rub your incision site
- Personal hygiene items (basic products will be provided such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb and lotion.)
- If you so choose, you can bring your pillow and blanket.
- Please remove all jewelry for surgery, including body piercings.
- Those with long hair, please put your hair up in a pony tail with a non-metal hair tie.
Pre-operative Clearance
Dr. Feigenbaum will send orders to your primary care physician for lab tests and an EKG. The results must be faxed to his office before you will be allowed to have surgery.
Operative Report
I was confused by this at first because of the description of the nerves/cysts. These are NOT where your cysts are located. They are the name of the nerve root that the cyst is in. I had one that was treated (sliced open, drained, packed with fat, sutured, wrapped) and the three others did not have to be cut open.
I believe I received a post-operative summary from the Neurologist who conducted the ongoing intraoperative nerve monitoring. They do send you information on what they will be doing. This monitoring is very important because it allows Dr. F to see if anything happens when he touches a nerve. They insert needles into many parts of the body (while you are asleep) and monitor nerves in upper torso, below the waste, and nerves related to bowl and bladder functions. When you wake up from surgery, you may see some slight bruising or blood spots where the needles were inserted. All of us girls had the same bruise on an area of our hand.
I've had some recovery regression since I posted last. Intense nerve pain returned to my legs and pressure over my sacrum. The first time was after I walked for 20 minutes. I was down for 2 days. This makes no sense since I am usually able to get out for a bit. I did have to climb up a hill, which engaged the piriformis muscle and I believe triggered the sciatic nerve. Then, for no apparent reason, I could barely walk for two days and have spent my time in bed since I last posted. The weather had not changed and I had done nothing on my feet to aggravate it. The only thing I can think of is that it may have been because I was going through a period where my nerves were regenerating/growing. That causes pain.
Below, you will see a picture of my spinal canal pre-surgery and post-surgery. You cannot see all of the cysts from this view but you can see that the large one is compressed, the nerves and cerebral spinal fluid now flow freely through the end of the spinal canal. In the "after" picture, there is a slight bulge from the bovine pericardium (cow heart) wrapping.
To see the post-op report and documents, click HERE.
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