What happened

Life happened.

I’ve been thinking about how to briefly summarize the most significant diagnoses and surgeries in my life so far. 'Brief' is perhaps a matter of perspective.

1988 (at age 4): Diagnosed with scoliosis. Treatment: from that point on, wearing a brace and weekly physical therapy.

1998 (at age 14): First major surgery. Spinal fusion from the 4th thoracic vertebra to the 4th lumbar vertebra (TH4-L4).

2017: Diagnosed with Chiari Malformation. Second surgery: decompression, craniectomy.
2017: Diagnosed with a pineal cyst. It’s monitored annually. As long as it doesn’t change or cause problems, it will remain where it is. Nothing can be ruled out, but surgery would be risky.

2021: Fourth surgery: Neurolysis of the C2 nerve roots and C2 rhizotomy. Muscle tissue had adhered to my nerves, so the nerve roots were permanently severed.

2022: Blind blood patch attempt for a CSF leak. I had a CSF leak near the 4th thoracic vertebra (likely since the first surgery in 1998). The screw there is very close to the spinal canal. Before this blood patch, I had countless doctor consultations and examinations due to positional headaches, which I eventually learned to live with. The leak was never detected through imaging. However, the theory emerged that it was located around the 4th thoracic vertebra, so a blind patch attempt was made at that level. A CSF leak is closed by injecting one’s own blood at the site, which clots and seals the hole.