My trip to Cedars-Sinai

[jimc]

I saw Dr. Schievink at Cedars-Sinai yesterday. My wife and I debated whether or not I should make this trip, because starting last Wednesday, I started to feel a lot better. By Monday (Memorial Day), my head hardly hurt at all. I haven't felt this good since the last 2 weeks of December. We decided that given my complicated history of alternating cranial and spinal leaks, I should go to LA and see what Dr. Schievink thought. That way, if my head leak bursts open again next week, I'll be a patient of his and able to contact him.

I was supposed to get a CT myelogram this morning, but Dr. Schievink said that since I was feeling so much better, he thought it might do more harm than good. My wife and I had had that same thought, so I was pleased when he brought it up right away. Instead, I'm going to have something called an MRI myelogram this afternoon. It's non-invasive.

If I can get through this week without having my head leak re-open, I'll feel a lot better about my situation. In the past, I've never gotten past 8 days from the time a spinal leak healed before my head leak re-opened and filled my head with CSF.

Jim

[LauraL840]

That sounds pretty positive!

I can't wait to read about the MRI myelogram and results! I sure hope it gives you something concrete so they'll know where to begin treating! What was your impression of Dr. S? I like his conservative approach towards invasive testing, that's pretty much the place where we (my dh) is at in our opinion of puncturing holes in his dura to tell us (what????) what we already know! LOL

Good luck!

[jimc]

I thought Dr. Schievink was good, though he didn't see me for that long. I just found out that the MRI myelogram consists of 3 separate MRIs, so I'll be in that tube for quite awhile this afternoon.

Jim

[guineapig]

so wouter thought punching a whole in your spine might do more harm than good. hmmmm, he is getting conservative. if so, i think eman's experience was wouter's teacher; very expensive lesson at eman's expense. usually he proposes LPing like it’s stock in some company he owns.

the benefit of a blood patch aside, i have had improvements in head pain over days, week, weeks for no apparent reason, only for it to get worse again. but, as always, every icher is unique.

did the mri include gadolinium contrast?

[jimc]

The MRI did not include contrast. I got lucky. A coronary MRI machine opened up because the guy in it freaked out, and it was a much faster machine. The 3 MRIs took only about 45 minutes, not the 90 they said it would.

I don't have enough experience with him to evaluate Dr. Schievink yet, other than the fact that he was conservative when I thought he should be.

Jim