Who wants updates on Lex’s arm?

You want updates on Lex’s arm.

I mean, maybe you do, but it’s my podcast.

Why I get to decide what people want.

And today what people want, they want updates on my arm.

So here we go.

Your Daily Lex.

Previously on Lex’s arm.

So for close to a year, I’ve been dealing with numbness and tingling on the right side of my left arm.

And then over time, I started also have biceps pain on that same arm.

Sometimes, initially, it was only coinciding with when the arm was numb.

And then it was just any time that arm would go numb.

I’m sorry, any time that biceps could start hurting, whether or not the rest of the arm was numb.

And so I saw an orthopedist who initially had me do some exercises at home.

And that didn’t work.

And he said, let’s do physical therapy.

And I did months of physical therapy.

And it would often help in the moment, but it did not cure the problem.

So then he referred me to another doctor, a pain management specialist at the practice, who said, we’re going to do a shot in your neck between two cervical vertebrae.

And we’re going to basically anesthetize the nerves.

I’m not a doctor.

Don’t worry about it.

I’m forgetting this right.

And so we did that.

And it definitely helped.

It made the frequency of the numbness and the biceps pain decrease.

And it made the severity, when it happens, often decrease.

But it still happens.

It’s getting more intense when it does happen.

And it’s starting to happen more.

So when I had my follow-up with a pain management specialist yesterday, he’s like, honestly, I think we’ve exhausted all the options.

I think you need surgery.

And he said, actually, the surgeon who would work on this is here today.

Let me see if you can come in and see him.

And so that doctor did come see me.

And he’s like, yeah, you got to do this specific procedure.

And I recommend it.

An ACDF, as you and I both know, since we’re all doctors, an anterior cervical discectomy infusion.

As described to me, they’re going to cut open my neck on the throat side, which surprises me.

I thought they were going to the back.

And find the vertebra that they want to remove, take it out, and then put in a plastic one instead.

And fuse them together, I guess.

And then they use titanium screws to attach to things.

And this, I guess, ensures that there is more spacing between those vertebrae so that we’re not pinching a nerve.

Or whatever it does.

It ends up so that it’s not pushing on a nerve that is currently being affected.

The doctor, I was pushing him like, well, will it work?

Because, you know, I’m a little disheartened by it.

I’ve done all these things, and I’m still dealing with this all the time, and I don’t want this to be the rest of my life.

Sometimes, like if I’m pouring from a pitcher or pouring out cat or dog food, I suddenly spill it because I’m not anticipating how numb my arm is going to be when I use that action.

And I do all these things it turns out with my left hand, which is the one that’s armed.

The left hand is attached to the arm that has the issues.

Anyway, he’s like, I’m 100% convinced it will cure the pain situation.

He’s like, I’m very confident, but not 100% confident that it’ll cure the numbness as well.

Numbness, the doctor was saying, is trickier.

Nerves sometimes just can be stubborn about it.

But since your numbness responded well to the shot, there’s good reason to be optimistic that this procedure would also help with the numbness.

Scary time.

As you may recall also, my father is a retired orthopedic surgeon, and I was texting him while I waited for the second doctor, and he’s like, I’d love to talk to him.

I’m like, I don’t know, they’re squeezing me in, we’ll see.

I asked the doc, hey, spinal specialist orthopedist, my dad was an orthopedist for many bajillions of years.

I’m like, I’d love to.

And I thought my dad was going to ask him, like, what do you see on the chart or on the MRIs that’s making you feel like, and my dad was like, how many of these procedures have you done?

And how many years have you been practicing and whatever else?

And honestly, the surgeon in the room loved it.

He was grinning the whole time.

He enjoyed these questions, but we hung up.

He’s like, I like that.

I like that your dad wanted to know that I was the right person to do this.

And I really am.

I’m doing five of these procedures on Friday, meaning today.

So I haven’t scheduled that procedure yet, but I’m going to do that procedure.

I’m also scared.

You know, of course, you ask about the risks.

And, you know, one risk he said is like, if it were 20, 30 years ago, the big problem is you can’t hold a cordless phone between the crook of your head and shoulder sometimes because people lose that full head side to side motion in that one direction of getting your ear to shoulder.

He’s like, that’s one side effect.

Another is for a couple days afterwards, it can be harder to swallow because of how close we’ve been to your throat when we go in.

He’s like, the serious side effects are, you know, I’m right by your spinal cord.

So if I screwed up, you’re paralyzed for life.

And I’m like, well, that seems like a serious one.

He’s like, well, it’s about the same odds as if you get on an airplane and it crashes and you die.

I’m like, well, I wouldn’t want that to happen either.

So, yeah, I’m almost certainly going to do it.

And day of, I’m going to be free and terrified.

So that’s my story.

Anyway, happy Friday, August 22nd, and have a wonderful weekend.

This is my, oh boy, I just gave myself such an emotional wallop.

This is my last weekend with all five of us here because we start the trip to Boston with Ani for college on Monday.

It is here.

Yikes.

Goodbye.

Lex.