Listen to your body and your little inner voice

Just wanted to catch you all up. As most of you know, since June when I got an MRI done on my neck I have been going back and forth to doctors to see what my options were in regard to the pain in my neck, back and arm. I had seen a total of 4 doctors who all said I needed surgery. I wasn't comfortable with this option but who was I to question a doctor.

I was still in pain so I decided to try a little alternative medicine. I went to see Sarah Bell (http://tigerheartatlanta.com/) for acupuncture. After two sessions the pain was gone. Literally gone. I could not believe it. Thank you Sarah!!!!

After the 4th doctor told me I needed surgery I decided to go ahead and schedule. The surgery was scheduled for Friday August 22 at 11 AM. I had a sore tooth all week but was just ignoring it. I figured the pain meds from the surgery would take care of the ache and I could deal with it after. I did the pre-op for surgery on Wednesday and was very anxious. I had a strange feeling inside. I was really nervous about the operation. I talked to my doctor and said I wasn't in any pain and felt funny having surgery without any pain. He said it was just nerves and I should proceed as planned.

I decided to see my dentist on Thursday AM for the tooth ache. He agreed that there was a problem with the tooth so he took the crown out and told me to come back after surgery to deal with the tooth. I went to work and continued to struggle with the thought of going in for surgery the next day. I called the doctor, family, friends. Do I go through with this or not?? Something was telling me no but I thought it was just nerves so the surgery was on.

I went to Sheilah's house as planned after work. The nerves and apprehension were undeniable as was the continued tooth ache. By 7 PM my mouth was swollen and I was running a slight fever. After a call to the dentist and a run to CVS for antibiotics, the surgery was cancelled. A trip to the oral surgeon the next day and the severely infected tooth was extracted.

A conversation with my Mom lead to a final meeting with a orthopedic surgeon who happened to be a friend of Fr. Morrow a priest I have known my entire life. I met with Dr. Warner Woods on Wednesday. Dr. Woods who has been a surgeon for over 50 years (yes he is in 80's and does consultation but no longer performs surgery) looked at my films and said there was NO WAY he would perform this surgery. Case upon case that he has seen with similiar displaced disks have healed themselves. Fusion of the spine is not a one time thing ( of course no one ever told me this). If you fuse one disk 9 times out of 10 you will be back in a few years to fuse another disk and so on and so on. He suggested I keep doing what I am doing and he would be surprised if we took another MRI in a year that the disk would have healed itself. I asked why 4 surgeons had told me I needed surgery. He was embarrassed for his profession but feels it was all about money. It is an easy operation for the surgeon (not for me) and the competition forces many surgeons to perform operations that really aren't needed. He reassured me that I was fine, young and healthy. Cut back on my running a little and all would be fine.

So long story short, the surgery is off. I am very relieved and feel blessed. Listen to that inner voice. Hopefully it will not take an horrible tooth ache for you to pay attention.