t12 bone burst and terrified

[Chris74]

I haven't had any of those tests but I did touch my anus and couldn't feel it tighten. Actually it felt like it stays tight, I dunno. But I can stop my urine stream sometimes

Hey can I make afo's work if I can't feel or move my calves, ankles, or feet? Rehab comin up soon and I'm nervous. Want my 'S' segments bad!!! Hate this injury!! Tops of my legs gettin strong tho...

[Chris74]

Chris- Are you straining to void? Or is it more natural? Urodynamic testing to my knowledge gives you an idea of what the pressures are at different volumes. Not sure it is intended to predict or measure return of bladder sphincter function. I may be wrong.

When I am full and feel a strong sensation that I have to pee I can urinate but still have to strain to empty. I think when you are able to relax and pee then things may be returning. If you have to strain you are probably forcing yourself to leak. Urodynamic may be able to let you know if this straining is safe or not.

If you are not emptying, then cathing would be wise. It is not good to have urine sitting around your bladder too long.

I can relax or strain, same outcome. Its like them old men I've heard in bathrooms, little comes out then stops, little comes out then stops. Even if I bear down, don't matter. I flush my system with water throughout the day and pee around 100ml bout every 20-30 mins. Still cath tho and always get around 300ml. However the last couple mornings I've woke up like 8hrs after a cath with no leakage. Its almost like my lifelong bed training is coming back. I dunno man this sht sucks. What a fkd up injury...

[Chris74]

Practiced walking on my hands and knees for the 1st time yesterday. A little wobbly at 1st but moved right along. I need some leg braces bad. I bet peeing standing might help.

[Chris74]

Could it be possible I still have swelling and as that goes down I get more segments? I'm bout 2.5 monthsout how long does that kind of swelling last? I blew up my t12 ad have rods going from t9-L2 with so called severe compression. I'm guessing I fell on my butt but nobody said anything bout my conus. This shtz ridiculous I know that...

[SCI-Nurse]

This shows where the conus (tip of the spinal cord) sits in relationship to the spinal bones (vertebrae). You can see that a fracture of T12 would line up with the conus in most people:



(KLD)

[Chris74]

I jus don't understand why I got most of my L segments but ain't reaching my S segments. Drivin me nuts!! Could it be because of swelling?

[Chris74]

Because apparantly I'm getting signals below my injury point.

[SCI-Nurse]

I jus don't understand why I got most of my L segments but ain't reaching my S segments. Drivin me nuts!! Could it be because of swelling?

Not sure what this means. Do you mean to say that you have deficits in your lumbar segments but not in your sacral ones??

Bowel and bladder are largely (although not entirely) controlled by sacral segments, which also controls sensation on the backs of your legs and your genitals, while lumber would be innervating the sensation on the front of your legs and most your leg muscles. S1 controls your big toe extension.

It is possible to have an incomplete conus injury. Or do you actually have a cauda equina injury (CES)??

(KLD)

[MFlounlacker]

Chris- Let me break it down for you. It really doesn't matter where/how you are injured. It sound like you have alot of preserved function and are showing signs of improvement. This is what is important. Knowing whether you are conus or caude equine or thoraclumbar or your ASIA score are no more important than knowing what your neighbor had for breakfast. They mean absolutely nothing as of this point. Yes some time in the future when they actually have some sort ot treatment for SCI it may be necessary to know more precisely where one is injured in order to properly treat the injury, but currently we are not at that point.

My advice and I know it is hard to do is to stop worrying about your injury. That is the past. Take advantage of every improvement therapeutically and functionally, but worrying about how you are injury is academic until they have treatment options for us. Currently they don't.

I stand by my origianl comment. Sounds like you may be experiencing a return of bladder function however, cathing 300 ml is not a small amount. It is not a large amouint either, but it is not small. You still need to cath. If you can relax a pee I would say you should continue to do so as this may help strengthen that muscle, if you are straining, you may want to have urodynamics to make sure it is safe.

Otherwise keep cathing to make sure you are empty.

[Chris74]

Yeah I'll Dec keep cathing, too scared of an infection. Plus I keep my system flushed during the day. Thanks for the feedback.

[darkeyed_daisy]

Hey can I make afo's work if I can't feel or move my calves, ankles, or feet?

Yes you can. I have really good movement in my knees but nothing in the ankles or feet. If you don't get any movement back in the ankles, they will put you in a static AFO which doesn't move at the ankle at all. If you get some reflex back in the ankle, they will do a hinge on the AFO.

I walked many years with just AFO's but I am back to using a cane now.

[darkeyed_daisy]

I jus don't understand why I got most of my L segments but ain't reaching my S segments. Drivin me nuts!! Could it be because of swelling?

Because lots of time your injury level does not equal you function level. I have a break at T12 and a crush injury to L1 and L2 but my function level is an S1.

I never got the Sacral function back. But I have L2 and L3 which is where the crush for me is. I have the front part of my thighs but I don't have S1 to S5.

L1 to L5. The cutaneous dermatome representating the hip girdle and groin area is innervated by L1 spinal cord. L2 and 3 cover the front part of the thighs. L4 and L5 cover medial and lateral aspects of the lower leg.
S1 to S5. S1 covers the heel and the middle back of the leg. S2 covers the back of the thighs. S3 cover the medial side of the buttocks and S4-5 covers the perineal region. S5 is of course the lowest dermatome and represents the skin immediately at and adjacent to the anus.


http://www.sci-info-pages.com/levels.html

I don't want to discourage you but just be prepared in case your Sacral nerves don't come back. It just depends on how bad the initial injury was. There really seems to be no two injuries the same.

[SCI-Nurse]

As we often must say here, don't confuse your fractures (if any) and your actual neurologic cord level of injury. Especially in the lower cord, there can be quite a difference.

While it is not necessary to have an ASIA (now called the ISNCSCI) exam, knowing your exam scores (sensory and motor) and your AIS type (A,B,C,D, or E) makes it easier to see what return you have had since your initial injury, and makes it easier for both you and your physician to anticipate and manage problems associated with specific types of injuries.

(KLD)

[Chris74]

Same here, I have the fronts of my thighs but not the back. Struggling with this crap bad.

[flying]

Hey just take it one day at a time. I did not start to get back the front of my thighs until 7 to 8 months post injury, and still have nothing below the knees. How are your Gluts doing?