Just a personal health update....

Just wanted to give everyone an update on what's going on. Had my appointment with the surgeon today and my brain MRI came back clean, no tumors. I was glad to hear that but we are going to have to surgery. I have what's called a Chiari Malformation but he still doesn't think that's the cause of the cysts or syrinx in my spinal cord but he wants to go a head and do the brain surgery on that anyways. The two cysts in my spine are very large and advanced and he's almost sure that a surgery on them would leave me with some paralysis. He's not sure if doing the surgery on the Chiari malformation (CM) will allow enough pressure to be released so that the cysts will shrink but he feels because of the overall risk it's worth the shot. The CM surgery has some risk too but not as much. My surgery is scheduled on February the 5th at 7:30 AM. He said afterwards he will give it a couple of months to see if they start I shrink in size and if they do then we may not need the spinal surgery for a while. Basically the CM surgery will be removing some of the bone from my skull and first vertebra to hopefully allow for some room for spinal fluid to flow and allow the body to possibly fix the problem itself. As it is now there is so much swelling and pressure there isn't enough room for the fluid to flow to allow the body to possibly heal itself. His fear is that since I've had this from birth that my body may be beyond the point of healing the problem on its own. He said it's really hard to tell because the spinal cord is so unpredictable. 
I'm optimistic either way. I'm a pretty tough cookie. Unfortunately this will do nothing to relieve the pain I'm having which is worsening daily. I'm currently averaging 45-55mg of oxycodone daily and it's barely having any affect. 
The recovery will be at least 6 weeks. I'll be in the hospital for 4-5 days. The biggest risk is infection in the brain since it's opening the skull and cutting into the protective brain membrane. 
All in all I'm doing ok and trying to keep as busy as I can stand. Thank you all for the love and support you've given.

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A personal update on what is happening in my life

Travis Maddox Medical Expense Fund

Well I don't know where to begin. First of all I am so thankful and greatful to our dear friend Danae for setting this up. True friends are really hard to find and she's about as true as they get. For those that know me personally know I'm not the type to ever ask for anything. I tend to be a little stubborn that way. I tell myself I'm not asking for me but for my family. I'm thirty five and have a wonderful wife and four kids and have worked hard my whole life. I enjoy working and have been told I'm a workaholic. Guess my story begins with my whole life having bad headaches and pains. Usually I just tuff it out through those times and deal with it. I had been to doctors in the past but usually they would say I have a strained muscle or I'm over worked. In Oct of 2013 it began to get much worse. The back pain became severe and shot down my arms and I had a lot of numbness and started to notice difficulty with dexterity in my hands. Again I went to the doctor only to be told I had simply pulled a muscle in my back and should be fine in a few weeks. It never got better. It became very severe at times bringing me to tears. On January 2nd I was running the closing shift at my job and sneezed very hard and began screaming out in pain and ended up on the floor. My wife took me to the ER where they did a MRI and discovered that I had Syringomyelia. Of course I had no clue what that was but I knew from how the doctor was talking to me that it must be serious. Within a few days I was seeing a neurosurgeon and it seemed the news only became worse. I did have a Chiari Malformation of the brain but unlike most cases this was not the cause of my SM (sryingomyelia). He said it was a birth defect and I've had the cysts so long in my spine that the vertebras are growing around the cysts. The worst cysts was in my cervical spine area and is so large it is beginning to rupture. This he said is why my pain is so rapidly worsening and why I am daily losing the strength and the use of my body. I have my first surgery coming up soon and most likely several more after that. The pain I am going through cannot be fixed. It is something I will have to learn to live with and the loss of strength as well. Because my condition is so advanced I stand a very good chance of having some level of paralysis the doctor tells me.  I cannot work anymore and most likely never will. I am on a 5lbs weight restriction until further notice. My long term outlook isn't great. I am daily accepting this. I've already lost the ability to do so much. It's difficult not being able to pick up my children anymore or ask them for help for simple things like tying my own shoes or picking something up for me. They are troopers my kids, doing their best to understand this rapid sudden change and helping in every way they can. I know my life will never be the same and the goals I had for it are now changing. But I have not lost hope and I'm horrible at giving up. I am looking at this as a new adventure with new and exciting challenges. The one thing that does excite me is that I will be able to spend a lot more time with my family. 

The reason this fund was started was to try and help us get through this. Yes we have insurance for a while still and things like disability will kick in eventually but even with all that there are still expenses that can be difficult to cover. We live like most people pretty much from paycheck to paycheck. I'm already in need of home medical equipment. I can't stand long enough to really shower and I can't get out of a bath tub. I now use a cane to walk and soon will be in a wheel chair. I don't expect people to pay for my problems but those that are able to do a little it would be nice and lessen the stress a little for my family and it doesn't just have to be money. Your thoughts and love and friendship mean so much that no price can be put on that. Thank you all so much. I never dreamed I would be going through this but having a wonderful wife, family and friends is making all so much easier. 

I love you all so much. 

Travis 

Travis Maddox Medical Fund

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