Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Just Throw It To the Cat


I was doing some homework last night, viewing the latest Tethered Cord video hosted by my brilliant surgeon, Dr. Bolognese at TCI. Skyler has an appointment with a neurosurgeon in late September to discuss the possibility of a tethered cord diagnosis and I want to make sure that I have a great deal of ammunition. You can watch the video by clicking on this link (Chiari TCS) http://www.chiariinstitute.com/Videos/index.html 

So what's up with the cat reference? Dr. B made a reference in the video to the filum terminale (a slender, threadlike prolongation of the spinal cord from the conus medullaris to the back of the coccyx) ~ basically the filum is connective tissue and is not a nerve structure (does not conduct electricity), loosely anchoring the spinal cord to the spine. His humor is so dry and totally unexpected from a neurosurgeon ~ he says that if you cut the filum terminale and throw it to the cat then you will be fine. LOL ~ What a great illustration! Amazing how such a harmless piece of connective tissue can cause so much damage!

He goes on to explain that if you have a boat anchor with a rope that is too small there will be some tilting of the boat. Love the way he explains things so simply so that you can understand what is going on. My instincts are telling me that Sky is wired the same way as me and I am praying that by having her detethered at an early age she won't ever have to have brain surgery. Praying that the tethered cord is obvious and visible so that there is no question that she has it.

4 comments:

RiverPoet said...

I was just watching that video the other night, because when I filled out the Tethered Cord questionnaire from TCI, it occurred to me that I might seriously have TC in addition to Chiari. But you're right, his humor is very dry. At least he HAS a sense of humor, though :-)

By the way, your cat appears to be less than amused that anyone would throw a filum terminale at him. LOL

Peace - D

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

Is that your cat? It looks so much like mine.
Beautiful!

Patti said...

Hi Lace~

Just finished watching Dr. B...WOW! He is so the guy I should be seeing about my problems. He is so wise about our issues and sees these things everyday. I am gonna find a way to get to him...pray, pray, pray!!
Hope you are well~hugs to you!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lace! I have been reading your blog for awhile now, but haven't left a comment. I have Chiari, TCS and EDS (aswell as. Epilepsy, Hydrocephalus etc etc!) I was De-Tethered in November 07 and Decompressed April 08 at TCI aswell. I have a website, if you would like to check it out! Would it be okay if I added your blog to my links page?

Take care and good luck with everything!

Kristen
www.freewebs.com/chiariwarrior