Good question! I just phoned my MD this morning to find out the
result of my second MRI. With any luck I will have an answer by this
afternoon --since he's a friend and coming to dinner tomorrow nite and I
have told him he will get no dessert if he fails on his mission --- but
seriously --a spinal biopsy?
Well, I got the results and my friend got his dessert! My second MRI
shows some continuing inflamation (or infiltration) between T8 and T10
--this is great news because there was initially lesions scattered
reandomly from T6 to T12. There is now some "thinning of the cord" at that
level too --who knows what that means --?continued irritation has not
allowed re-myelination? . In any case this is more or less in keeping with
the slow but continuing progress that I have experienced over the last six
months.
Spinal biopsy?????????????? WHAT FOR??? Once that piece of your
spine is "taken out" --it's GONE! If there is some concern about a primary
spinal tumor --then yes that might be appropriate --but if it's just to see
what inflammatioin looks like --I'd run (or wheel) the other way in a hell
of a hurry. October, if I am correct, is only two months ago --hell --two
months after my initial attack I was still trying to sit up without falling
into my knees and I had to brace my elbows on the table to cut my food. My
neurologist said there was no point of repeating the MRI until after six
months --which happened. Of course --with a worsening condition there are
a few questiions --like --is this indeed transverse myelitis! It's
possible if the initial "infectioin" is still brewing --then things would
be getting worse. Let's not forget the theory held by "most" is that this
is a condition caused by deposition of immune complexes, not direct
infection (which is not to say some unusual bug is still not hanging
around). Sounds complicated but I would submit to a spinal biposy ONLY is
alllllllllllll the other possibilities have been THOROUGHLY investigated.
There --that ought to annoy your physician -- "who the hell does this
guy think he is anyway?" --i can just hear him/her saying --;-)
Bryan