I woke up one morning and couldn’t move my legs
ok, maybe the title is a bit long.
It turns out that one day, at the ripe, young age of 25, you can wake up from a rather unpleasant dream you were having, roll around in bed in your Brooklyn apartment and curiously, not be able to move your legs.
For me, that was Sunday, March 31st, although as I would later mention to a multitude of doctors, nurses, students nurses and physical therapists, I started feeling what I think were related symptoms the day or two before. Friday I had gone to work feeling just fine and had a lovely ramen dinner with some friends from out of town. Saturday, I had gotten up, curious that my leg was being stubborn, “maybe I slept on it funny”, I thought but that was that. I did all of the things I needed to to get ready for the show I help organize that was happening that night. The show was a hit but I noticed my legs getting less and less useful as the night went on.
On Sunday I managed to get showered, get dressed and make my way downstairs to tell my roommates that I was going to the emergency room at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center because it was rated the best emergency room on Yelp! I got into a car from a car service, got admitted to the emergency room, waited several hours for anything to happen, got an X-ray, got a CT scan and then got discharged with “We’re not sure what’s wrong, please see a neurologist during the week. Our soonest neurologist appointment is on Thursday, probably Friday”. Oh, and they gave me a pair of crutches and a prescription for muscle relaxants and Tylenol. I used the crutches to hobble into a CVS and fill the prescription and then managed to make my way back home. Luckily, my roommates and a friend were still there and helped me up the stairs. I used ZocDoc to make an appointment with a neurologist for the next day and then fell asleep.
Monday was pretty rough. I woke up at 8, knowing full well I had to be on my way out the door by 11 to make my 1 pm neurologist appointment. Why? I never really learned how to walk in crutches, it’s actually a bit harder than I originally thought. Got to the neurologist’s office stumbling down the hallways of a Brooklyn medical building and sat down to fill out paperwork. When she called my name around 1:45 or so, I tried to get up but quickly took a stumble, somehow protecting my head on the way down, “Zis man needs to be RUSHED to the emergency room”, she said, in an accent that could only come from a former USSR country. They managed to sit me down, ask me some basic questions, probe me with some electrodes and sit me down again. At the speed of healthcare, the EMTs showed up and maneuvered me into a stretcher where I was then taken to The Brooklyn Hospital Center.
After filling out the same paperwork about a dozen times, I saw a doctor in the emergency room who said I needed a CT scan, an X-ray and an MRI. Wunderbar, Herr Doktor! I just had 2 out of 3 of those and they seemed fine to the slightly capable weekend staff of the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center. “Nono, we need to do them here”, because and this is an aside, requesting the records from the other hospital would have taken LONGER than just doing the scans again. After the CT and X-ray were out of the way we attempted the MRI. We attempted the MRI with my hands up like Superman, we attempted the MRI every which way they thought would help but no dice, my shoulders were just too wide to fit into their 20 year old MRI machine. That’s when they decided to transfer me. At the speed of healthcare, my paperwork was filed for transfer and I got moved out to the Lutheran Medical Center in Sunset Park. All the while I was super fortunate to have the company of my friend Sara, who kept me smiling and positive throughout the night.
We got to Lutheran at approximately 11:30 pm, the MRI room closed at 11 pm. My transfer had originally been for only an MRI but they decided to admit me instead and wait until morning when the MRI room opened.
That morning I went through all the questions they ask you for an MRI, are you claustrophobic? no, do you have any metal in your body or tattoos? no, the list goes on. What they don’t tell you about MRIs before you get them is that they are TERRIFYING. MRI machines have the ability to make you claustrophobic.
Anyway, the scans came back and my doctor said I had acute spinal stenosis in the lumbar region of my spine, hence, why my legs decided to shut down.The neurosurgeon quickly came in at noon to say that they had an OR slot available for me that afternoon and wanted to perform a laminectomy before my stenosis progressed and caused more severe Guillain–Barré syndrome. Some phone calls and some anxiety crying afterwards and the last thing I remembered from Tuesday was making a joke with the anesthesiologist before going under.
My cousin had made it to the hospital moments before my 7? 8? hour long surgery. When I woke up afterwards she knew I was fine because I was asking the nurse for my iPhone. I had a catheter in me and several IV lines and bandages. I was in the ICU for a couple days, after which I was moved to the neurology unit. A week or so later I got moved to the rehab unit and weeks after that I’m now in a rehab center in Smithtown, Long Island.
Many people have asked me what caused this awful episode of my life, I made sure to ask the doctors when I could but they said that my spinal narrowing was something genetic, my increasing weight probably did not aid the stenosis situation at the base of my spine but they’re somewhat puzzled at how sudden it all was. I had just gotten back from a weekend walking and exercising more than I usually do most weekends so I was puzzled as well. Sometimes it’s a lot of tiny things that add up, that’s what this felt like I suppose.
Will I walk again? Will I walk again normally? Yes and maybe but probably yes. Nerves take quite a while to heal, out of most of the things in our bodies, probably the longest. The doctors told me I had an excellent chance of a full recovery given how young I am. I’m kind of holding on to that, there are days that it feels much further than it probably actually is. Right now all I can think of is making it up the 4 flights of stairs in my apartment building so I can enjoy the summer. I need to make it up those stairs, if I can’t, it’s not worth me living in NYC anymore.
I’m really thankful for all the people who have helped me, who continue to help me, who send me encouragement and well-wishes and who visit me. There are so many of you and just one of me and I’m trying to recover as best I can so I can go to each and every one of you and give you a big thank you hug.
