Word Frm the Doc
I called the neurosurgeon’s office to voice my concern that the right-side numbness seems not to be going away. The nurse I talked to hunted up Dr. Newell, the surgeon, and called back. Word is that in most cases, the numbness goes away in a few months, but there’s no way to tell the extent of the nerve damage except by the length of the recovery. Obviously, it’s more than anyone (the three neurosurgeons who looked at my MRIs and did a bunch of tests on me) thought was there.
Dr. Newell said it is likely that the numbness will very slowly go away, but that it’s quite possible that it won’t ever go away. He said the only thing to worry about is if I develop weakness or lack of coordination on that side (that requires the dubious assumption that I had some coordination before the surgery). Since I’m doing spinning 4 days a week and walking 3 miles a day, that’s not a problem. I guess I’ll resign myself to having this numbness a long time. The good news is that nothing’s getting worse!