"My recovery from cervical myelopathy"

My symptoms started in September but I did not get diagnosed until December when I was referred to the Spinal team and saw Faye, who, after an MRI, referred me for surgery under Mr DeSantos.

Unfortunately as with all NHS specialist teams, there are long waiting lists, which are totally out of the control of the departments and within the months of waiting for my surgery, my symptoms (cervical myelopathy) became so severe that I went from living a normal active healthy life, to someone who was not able to walk, write, hold anything; un able to do up laces or buttons; being mentally and emotionally broken, and a shadow of who I was before.

My operation date was eventually put in for the beginning of May and a few days before I had a phone consult with Mr DeSantos, who, at my request, spoke candidly about the potential risks of the operation and the need to remove the disc and insert a cage, that would then fuse the two vertebrae together. Despite the high risks of the operation, having the procedure was my only option, as without it I would have ended up with paralysis from my neck down.

Today I have had my 6 week post op appointment, and Mr DeSantos was truly amazed and delighted by the improvement in my symptoms. Thanks to the total excellence of Mr DeSantos and his entire team, I now have my life back. I still have very minor symptoms, but they are nothing to the dark place I was in before my operation. I will never be able to thank my amazingly gifted, surgeon enough, and the entire theatre team, who kept me safe during what ended up being a 4 hour plus operation due to complications, which Mr DeSantos had warned me may occur.

I Would also like to thank all of the ward staff on the fantastic Dyball ward, and also Heidi, (secretary to Mr DeSantos), for her patience when I was regularly phoning, asking for an update on when my op may be 😊.