My AVF story

[dennysr]

Hello to all.
Last May I started feeling numbness in my feet and started developing bowel/bladder problems. I'm a 55 year old male so I thought okay maybe prostate. Went for a physical. While waiting for the results, I went for a ride on my Harley. After about an hour I noticed I was having trouble raising my feet off the pegs. This presents a problem when you are an hour from home! I headed back to the house and had to sit for about 10 minutes before I could lift my foot high enough to put down the kick stand. I made it into the house and my legs gave out completely. Next morning I could walk again but was feeling leg numbness. I told my friend who is a chiropractor about it and he insisted I get mris done. Got 2 of them done (lumbar & thoracic) and my family dr couldn't figure it out. After almost 2 months he refered me to a nuerologist and he suspected a dural avf. He refered me to a neurosurgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. By this time I was walking like Frankenstein, but still moving. He scheduled me for an angiogram and found it at the T-12 area. I had surgery Sept 10, 09 at the Cleveland Clinic. On day 2 I was able to get up and walk to the bathroom, discharged on day 3. I went straight home with no rehab or PT. I started walking at a local cemetery (inspiration!! LOL) and worked my way up to walking a mile by the time I went back for my 6 week check up. The following week I went back to work. I just had my 6 month follow up with an mri and was told the inflammation was almost gone from my spinal cord. I still have some numbness in my legs and feet and they put me on gabapentin for spasms in my legs. It may go away, it may not. The odd part was that I never had any pain, before or after. After reading some of these threads I realize that I was very fortunate. My best wishes to those who continue to suffer and I hope you improve. If you need treatment and can get to Ohio, the Cleveland Clinic has some of the best drs in the world. I highly recommend them.