![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Tom-Anselm-1.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1\")
\u201cThe following is a public service announcement.\u201d
\nWhen you see this, it\u2019s usually something that has to do with health. This one today is no exception.
\nAbout a year ago, I tried to use the pandemic down-time to get in shape. I noticed that my left triceps had turned into what could politely\u00a0 be characterized as \u201cold lady flappy underarm.\u201d Couldn\u2019t even get a two-pound weight up over my shoulder. Nuttin\u2019, honey. Went to an orthopedic doc, got the x-ray, no damage\u2026
\nDiagnosis: I am old.
\nTurns out, that was probably the first sign of what has recently been discovered, in the last six weeks, as\u2026 wait for it\u2026 cervical spondylosis with myelopathy and radiculopathy. Try saying that 3 times fast.
\nSo this summer my arms and hands were achy, especially in the mornings. Like I\u2019d just spent 8 hours chopping wood. Thought, well, this is tendonitis. Went to my GP, late July. Saw the Nurse Practitioner. No exam. Take some ibuprofen and let us know how it goes, she says. Well, dang it, we could have done this by phone. I wanted my $35 co-pay back. Meds didn\u2019t help. Went to a different ortho guy. Does a 3-minute exam and says\u2026 \u201cLet\u2019s get some x-rays of those shoulders, and \u2026 neck.\u201d
\nNeck, says I to the empty room. What the \u2026?<\/p>\n
\u00a0 <\/strong>Comes back with the images. \u201cWell, my man\u2026 What we have here is an ugly neck.\u201d Take my Advice; Don’t Mess with a Pain in the Neck By Tom Anselm \u201cThe following is a public service announcement.\u201d When you see this, it\u2019s usually something that has to do with health. This one today is no exception. About a year ago, I tried to use the pandemic down-time to get in shape. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,35,9,13,16,17,20,21,40,25],"tags":[1293,1294,576],"class_list":["post-24587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alton","category-blackjack-spanishlake","category-columnists","category-entertainment-travel","category-ferguson","category-florissant","category-hazelwood","category-health-seniors","category-il","category-missouri","tag-pain-in-the-neck","tag-public-service-announcement","tag-tom-anselm","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSo, yeah. First off, I am not his \u201cman\u201d and, second of all, he could have been just a bit more professional dropping that bomb on me, dontcha think? He says I should see his \u201cneck guy.\u201d A surgeon. A SURGEON!? This dude was, as my grandkids say, a \u201ctool.\u201d Hell, he was the whole box.
\nSo, with apologies to John Steinbeck, this has become \u201cThe Fall of My Discontent.\u201d I was pretty much floored by this news. Some old neck bones seemed to have fused, pinching the nerves that go to the arms and hands.
\nSo instead of the \u2018neck guy\u2019, my next appointment 10 days later is with the NP. She says, \u201cLet\u2019s get an MRI.\u201d I\u2019m like, I waited 10 days to hear this? Does anyone in your office know there\u2019s this invention called a telephone? And this thing that Al Gore invented, The Internet, where one can actually write an electronic letter to someone? Quickly, Jill is losing confidence with this group. Not to mention another $35 co-pay.
\nSo this here M.R.I\u2026 ever done one of these? I had not. It felt like 30 minutes in a metal trash can with a railroad gang
\nbanging sledgehammers. (This, by the way, took another week to schedule. Confidence continuing to wane.) Well, to my wonder but not really surprise, the test confirmed that I indeed had an \u2018ugly neck.\u2019 No physical therapy, nothing a well-respected chiropractor who saw it could do to fix things. Impingements, misaligned vertebrae, bone spurs galore\u2026so yeah, just a veritable \u2018buffet of wrong\u2019 going on in the neckish region.
\nTurns out, this kind of thing seems to be pretty common amongst \u201cThe Gang with Too Many Birthdays.\u201d Age being the main culprit, and narrowing of the canal that contains that good old thing we all need to work well\u2026 The Spinal Cord. Also turns out that docs who do this delicate work are in high demand, weeks sometimes months into the calendar before they have even see you, much less do the job. It sure ain\u2019t a buyer\u2019s market here, friends and neighbors.
\nThe story continues, in that I think now I am finally going to see the surgeon to review the MRI. Welllll, the next visit is with\u2026 yeah, you guessed it, the NP, who says the doc saw the MRI, says surgery is the trick, now \u2018Let\u2019s get a CAT Scan to see just how to do the operation.\u201d Still haven\u2019t met the surgeon, STILL could have done this with a phone call. And now I\u2019m out another $35. Seeing a pattern here? Confidence slips to below 10%.
\nSecond opinion time. Called our son\u2019s friend Todd, who was in this business. He gave me great advice and reminded me that his cousin, my college soccer teammate, Kevin, had a neck thing a few years ago. Long story short, Kevin\u2019s doc is one of the top guys in the game. But he\u2019s not in STL anymore! So Kevin, who is on a fly-fishing vacation, calls the guy, gets a name of another excellent surgeon. Call him and get in within a week. To see an actual Docter.
\nWe meet, great exam, reviews all the tests, and (without calling it an \u2018ugly neck\u2019 or referring to me as \u2018my man\u2019), sets me up for surgery the second week of October. Just. Like. That. Thank you, Todd and Kevin. And The Lovey Jill, my Esteemed Medical Advocate.
\nNow, for the Public Service Announcement.
\nFeeling numbness or pain in your arms or hands, balance issues, anything that seems out of whack? Do not mess around!
\nCall everyone you can think of who can help. Get the best doc you can find. Follow up on everything. And take nothing for granted.
\nAs good old Kevin said\u2026 \u201cThis is your $#@#%$& SPINAL CORD, for *&^%$%# SAKE!\u201d
\nOh, yeah\u2026 and wish me luck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"