It’s now the one-year anniversary of my Tarlov Cyst operation on 11th Sept 2009!

It has been a long and painful journey for me.

I first noticed that something was wrong in 1996 when I developed neck pain. My US doctor prescribed Soma, a muscle relaxant, and most of the pain went away, only to increase over time and travel down to the lower back.

I now wonder why this doctor did not try to diagnose the problem?

Finally, the pain got so bad that in 2003 I decided to see another doctor, Dr. Mark Rubin, in Phoenix, Arizona. His treatment was to give me steroid shots in the neck. They worked, and the pain in my neck disappeared—but not completely—and not for long.

By 2007, I was developing severe pains at the base of my spine. I was existing on Motrin, Aleve—anything I could find at Walgreen’s or CVS Pharmacy, including the wonderful Capsicum Pain relief roll-on, which I used all the time for my lower back.

On July 24, 2007, I went back to Dr. Mark Rubin, who had given me the steroid shots in the neck. He suggested that I get an MRI, which I did on the very next day. It was done by SimonMed, who bills themselves as “the largest and most advanced medical imaging provider in the Southwest.”

Back at Dr. Mark Rubin’s office, his assistant, who looked like a dud, checked the MRI in front of us, and had nothing to say. I have no idea if Dr. Rubin, himself, ever saw the MRI.

In any event, Dr. Rubin’s solution to the problem was to give me a series of four steroid injections into my lower spine for a cost of $4,100. This was at our personal expense as we were not insured.

Dr. Rubin’s spinal steroid injections relieved the pain for about three months—then it increased.

From that point on, I took whatever I could to relieve the pain. By the middle of 2009, were living in Mexicali, and I was taking steroid pills for the excruciating back pain—pills which caused me to bloat up like a balloon.

By September of 2009, I had hit rock bottom, I was hopping around on my right leg, and using a cane to support my left leg which suffered from an intense pain which radiated down my leg from the base of my spine.

On September 3, 2009, I scheduled an appointment with a specialist in Mexicali, Mexico—Dr Carlos Maya.

Dr. Maya immediately prescribed an MRI which was done the next day, September 4, 2009, at Resonancia Magnetica in Mexicali.

The Mexicali MRI technician reported that I had a Tarlov cyst at the base of my spine!

Luckily, we had saved my old 2007 MRI from SimonMed. On it, the L3, L4, and L5 vertebrae were marked with circles indicating a possible herniated disk between L3 and L4.

What SimonMed failed to notice was something much more important – a Tarlov cyst (see the red arrow)!

With Dr. Maya’s explanation, even Jim and I could see the Tarlov cyst clearly on the old SimonMed 2007 MRI!

On the frame immediately to the right of where SimonMed marked the vertebrae, is a light oblong area – that is the Tarlov cyst – plain for anyone to see.

SimonMed had not marked it!

Thank God we came to Mexicali, and found a competent doctor, and an MRI service that was able to interpret their own MRIs—something that the expensive Dr. Rubin, and SimonMed were apparently unable to do—or did they even give a damn?

I can imagine how the actor Michael Douglas must feel, after numerous visits to his own US doctors who failed to diagnose the tumor in his throat! Michael Douglas, I am sure, gets the best medical care anyone can afford. How do you like that? No wonder his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones was furious! We pray that he will make a full recovery.

On September 11, 2009, I had a three-hour long surgery conducted by Dr. Maya with a neurosurgeon in attendance. They found not one, but two Tarlov cysts which they drained and treated. It was near my S1 spinal nerve.

I woke up from the operation with NO PAIN at all!  How mind-boggling and awesome is that?

The lower back had gone away completely!

Now came the difficult part—the post-op!  Dr. Maya ordered bed rest for four weeks to avoid scar tissue, and I obeyed.

This was unlike a certain US surgeon who “specializes” in Tarlov cysts, and who dopes his patients up with addicting Vicodin, and lets them move around immediately after the operation – generating scar tissue. I guess he wants to operate on them again (and again), or charge them for prescribing more opiates to feed their habit.

I was very lucky to have moved to Mexicali, and lucky to get the right surgeon, Dr Carlos Maya.

Who says medical care in the US is good? It is my Constitutional opinion that SimonMed didn’t do the job, and neither did the very expensive Dr. Mark Rubin.

With Jim’s fantastic dedication and help, the wounds from my operation healed completely.  There were ups and downs, but the trend was always up.

One year after my Tarlov cyst surgery, I can walk without a cane, pain-free. I know that my S1 nerve will take time to regenerate. I don’t put a lot pressure on my left foot, and avoid carrying five pounds of anything!

I still cannot walk around a huge place like Wal-Mart and look for items, or stand for long periods of time, as the pressure gets to my S1 nerve. It’s not pain, just nerve discomfort coming from the S1 nerve that I feel now.

My current doctor, Martina Gallardo, a brilliant lady doctor in Mexicali (of course) has given me a clean bill of health.

She pressed every inch of my scar and spine, no pain…yeh! Dr Martina wants me to do simple leg lift exercises to strengthen my thigh muscles. I do them every night and it’s making a big difference. Hey, if it means I get slimmer thighs, then I’m there, with Jane Fonda!

These are very simple leg exercises; not the active physical therapy often recommended in the US which can only damage you after Tarlov surgery.

That’s where I am right now. I am not on any opiates; I still take my Lyrica, and Soma daily, along with Aleve or Motrin, when I need them.

I will continue to blog about it.

It has been 2 months since my Sept 10th 2009 Tarlov Cyst operation.  I am PAIN FREE, and walking.

Let me say that again – from the minute I came out of surgery right up until today, I have been 100% pain free.

Yes, there is discomfort due to the healing process after the operation, BUT NO PAIN, NADA! No pills, nothing!!!

This is what a successful Tarlov cyst operation should be like.

Jim has been doing all of the work, since my discharge from the hospital. He’s been a Godsend.

I work on my computer, while sitting on a sofa chair in our office.  Since my Tarlov cysts were located down at the S1 and S2, I need a soft cushion to sit on it at all times.  Jim had bought me a medical donut pillow, which has been great, also for going out to restaurants because the chairs are hard.

Right now, I am able to sit without the donut  pillow for hours. I was able to even clean the kitty litter box, which was a great feeling! I can bend!

With the passing of each day, I can feel my butt muscles getting stronger.  I do my own personal exercises where I flex my butt muscles several times. It’s a great feeling, as the progress I am making is visible to everyone, despite my very own impatience.

My last visit to Dr Maya’s office was in October 2009. I showed Dr Maya the one little wound, which was right at the top of the incision, and he advised Jim to pour hydrogen peroxide over it and keep it bandaged.  The length of the scar, from my tail on up is about 5 inches.

Dr Maya proclaimed: “You are cured, no need for any more visits.  Jim, I have told you how to heal the wound, and if you need to see me, just come in to my office! And, MaryAnn, make sure you don’t life heavy things yet”

I have kept to a fish diet.  There is a great seafood restaurant, not far from our casa, called Sonorense.  We go there often. Jim has a huge shrimp cocktail, followed by a steak and fries, while I stick to the delicious tomato-based steamed halibut and rice. For now, that’s the only seafood I am going to eat -  I stick to fish to avoid getting any keliods!

The weather is getting chilly here in Mexicali, up in the 80s during the day, and in the mid 40s at night.  I am glad I had my operation in September, as this Tarlov cyst operation is no walk in the park.  It would be extra tough for me to have such an operation in winter.

I take my donut pillow with me, whenever I go out now.  I’m taking no chances.  I can walk all over our home, and wherever we go – pain free. I can now wash the dishes, and even did a little dance with Jim at the Sinapsis Café.

Jim and I watched the great game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. Me sitting in my recliner chair, which Jim bought from our friend, Jorge, at his 2nd hand furniture shop, for $100. How can you beat that price?

Jim is getting me into football and I read an article where Tom Brady the Patriots Quarterback had a knee injury, and it took him up to a year to get back into shape, and to get his energy back. I felt darn good, reading that.  It means that the body needs all the time to heal up the outside and the inside wounds and it even takes time for a young guy like Brady to get his full energy back.

Jim and I were really disappointed over the coach’s bad call on 4th down, which cost New England the came which they had already “won.” Jim said, “Look’s darn suspicious to me – wonder if the New England coach was getting a little cash for that?”

Matthew returns from Vermillion, South Dakota, in a couple of days.  He was there to visit with family and friends, and collect the rest of his suitcases.  The South Dakota weather at 25 degrees freezing is too cold for him now, after having acclimated himself to sunny Mexicali.  Great— Jim and Matthew will cook the Thanksgiving turkey!  I can’t wait.

Our kids are not coming down; they don’t plan to travel, with the bad economy in the U.S. They are staying glued to their jobs.

I will continue to update everyone on my progress.

Thursday morning, September 10th – A nurse came in at 7:00am and inserted an IV drip into my right hand. “Getting ready for your operation,” she said. Mentally, I was ready and excited about this whole procedure.

At 8:45am,  the nurses came in with a gurney and transferred me from my bed to the gurney.  This was it!

Jim had arrived early to keep me company, and waited in my room, while I was wheeled out and into the operating room.

There, waiting for me were a neurosurgeon, two anesthetists, and two nurses.

Dr. Carlos Maya, my spine surgeon was outside, in the hallway, speaking to someone. The doctors and the nurses were dressed in green scrubs.

“Buenos dias,” I smiled. “Buenos dias,” they all answered returning my smile.

The two nurses started to wrap my lower legs with gauze bandages and fitted each leg with a dark blue Velcro-like stocking to hold the bandages up.

Dr. Fernando, the anesthetist, spoke English to me, asking me how I liked Mexicali.

“I live here in Mexicali,” I answered. He was surprised at that, and we continued to chit chat about life and food in Mexicali.

As Dr. Maya entered the operating room also dressed in green scrubs, everyone fell silent.

Dr. Maya sat down next to me and said, “MaryAnn, I will make sure the cyst is out, and that you will have no pain. Don’t worry – everything will be fine.”

As soon as Dr. Maya finished speaking, Dr. Fernando showed me two syringes, saying, “Which one would you like, the one to put you to sleep, or the epidural?” He looked at me and said, ” I suggest the one to put you to sleep.”

I agreed. Dr. Fernando said, “You will have no pain, as I will inject the anesthetic into your IV drip.

In no time, I was out.

Three hours later, I woke up in the recovery room. There was no headache, and no side effects. I felt great!

Jim was standing just outside the room peering in. “MaryAnn, Dr. Maya found a second cyst, one inch long – you had twins, Honey,” he smiled.

Here in Mexicali, the doctors keep their patients in the recovery room for at least two hours to make sure that they are fine before returning them to their rooms.

At 3:00pm, I was wheeled back to my room and transferred to my bed. “You did just great, Honey!” Jim kissed my forehead and grinned.

The first thing I did was wiggle my toes – yippee! They all worked!

“Jim, I have no more pain,” I said, sleepily.

“Wow, that is amazing, MaryAnn! Dr. Maya is a genius!”

There were now three tubes coming out of me, my IV, a tube from my spine to drain the blood, and a catheter for the bladder.

Through the IV, I was given pain medicine, antibiotics, and medicine to calm my tummy.

For the rest of the day, I slept.

When I awoke to have a light dinner, Jim was there. He had arranged to feed our pets, and decided to spend the night in the room with me, sleeping on the sofa.

Jim and I slept very well that night. Jim was relieved that everything had gone so well, and, for the first time in 13 years, I had no pain in my back.

Around 9:30am the next morning, Dr. Maya came to pay me a visit. He explained that, in addition to the cyst we knew about which was about half and inch long, he had found a second, larger, cyst about an inch long.

He then looked me over and removed the small plastic tube draining blood from behind my spine by simply pulling it out very slowly.

When he was finished, Dr. Maya wrote out a prescription for an anti-inflammatory, a pain killer, and an antibiotic, and told me I could go home, anytime, but that I had to rest in bed for four weeks. The healing was important, especially the internal healing. The two cysts were in the middle of spinal nerves, and if scar tissue formed there, it could push on the nerves, causing pain.

“You come to see me at my office on September 25th,” he said.

“Dr. Maya,” I said, “you are a genius – thank you so much!”

Dr. Maya looked at me, and pointing upwards with his finger, said, “No, it’s God.”

I have been plagued with a back pains since 1996. Originally, a doctor had prescribed Soma to relieve the pain. Later, as the pain increased, and Soma did not help, I had treatments of steroid shots from a new doctor in the States.

First, I had three steroid shots in my neck, and that helped, but not for too long. I then had another three shots into my lower back which relieved the pain, but only temporarily.

None of my U.S. doctors made any attempt to diagnose the cause of my condition.

It was only when we came to live in Mexicali that I was diagnosed with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) in 2008.  I had an MRI taken of my lower back, due to my increasing back pains here in Mexicali. My spine surgeon, Dr Carlos Maya, detected a slight scoliosis, but thought my condition might be due to a herniated disc. At the time, it did not appear to be so serious as to operate. (I covered this in my prior page, “Healthcare we couldn’t afford in America.”)

After that visit to Dr. Maya, my back pain continued to worsen, and my ability to use my left leg was getting less and less. My lower back was in burning pain and there was numbness, tingling sensation from my lower back all the way down to my left leg.

This change in my ability to walk frightened me. I was disintegrating rapidly.

Now, in 2009, I went to see Dr Carlos Maya again and he sent me off for another MRI.

After collecting my new MRI, my husband, Jim, and I arrived at Dr Maya’s a bit early, at 6:00pm. We also had the results of my blood test for Dr. Maya. His waiting area was swamped with patients.

In Mexico, you don’t make an appointment with your doctor (and wait a couple of months like in the U.S.) – you just go to his office.

As usual Dr. Maya’s reception room was swamped with patients.  We waited and, finally, at 7:00pm the receptionist said it was our turn to see the doctor.

Dr. Maya greeted us with his usual friendly attitude, a nice comparison to the grave attitude of some of my U.S. doctors.

He took a quick look at the results of my blood test, and said, “Good.” He then took a look at my MRI and after a brief inspection said, “You have a Tarlov Cyst.  See this white spot right here…that’s a cyst on your spine.  That cyst may have been your problem, all along.”

Dr. Maya then opened the radiologist’s written MRI report. It confirmed what Dr. Maya had seen – that I had a Tarlov Cyst.

“You know, this is a very rare condition, “said Dr. Maya. I have seen it only twice in twenty years.”

“To be sure where the pain is coming from, I want you to have a nerve conduction test,” said Dr. Maya, writing down a referral, “and see where the pain in your back is coming from for me to operate. You will see Dr. Zazueta – this is very important!”

Well, I was in a state of shock, and so was Jim.  I had a cyst in my lower spine!

I had never heard of a nerve conduction test. It sounded like a great idea, especially since it could determine where the pain was coming from.

On Saturday, Jim took me to Dr. Zazueta’s office. Even though the nerve conduction test involved sticking some small needles in my back, it was not painful.

Jim collected results of my nerve test from Dr. Zazueta on Monday, September 7th, Labor Day, but it was not Labor Day in Mexico.

With the test results, we went to see Dr. Maya at 7:00pm. As usual, his waiting room was filled with patients – patients with arm slings, patients with canes like me, a woman who had her neck in a brace, a young boy with a bandaged left hand, all waiting to see Dr. Maya. There were patients holding onto their MRIs, sealed in big flat brown paper envelopes.

There was also an Englishman waiting for his turn. Jim started talking to him. The fellow works in Mexicali, and had a back operation done by Dr Maya, and was waiting for his final checkup. He was very pleased with his operation.  His wife, a Mexican lady, and new baby were there with him. Even the baby was smiling.

There were so many people that the receptionist had to bring in more chairs.

I was looking forward Dr Maya’s explanation of just what my nerve conduction tests showed.

Finally, our turn came. Dr Maya opened the sealed envelope from Dr. Zazueta, and confirmed that my “new friend,” the Tarlov Cyst was giving me all the excruciating pain from my lower back down to my swollen left leg.

Just like a nerve irritating a tooth, my Tarlov Cyst was sitting between nerves on my spine! Dr Maya made me lie down on the couch, and did his own nerve test.  He checked both of my lower legs, with a sharp object, and asked: “Which leg feels this pinch? Right leg or left leg?”

I said, “My right leg feels the sharp prick – the left leg not so much.”

“That is consistent with your tests,” said Dr Maya as he helped me off the couch, and back to my chair.

“Are you ready to have the operation?” Dr. Maya asked.

“Yes, Dr Maya.  Right now, I am in so much pain, this is no life,” I said.

“Dr  Maya, I want to check into the hospital as soon as possible.  At this point in my life, I am in so much pain, that I find it difficult to walk.  The medications that I am on, especially the cortisone pills have made me into a bloated moonfaced person. What day do you think will be good for you to operate on me?”

“Thursday morning, at 9:00pm is a good time. Wednesday, I will be going to Tijuana, to do an operation and I will be back in the late afternoon. Yes, Thursday will be fine.” said Dr Maya.

I couldn’t help but think of an American lady with a similar condition. She has a blog, too. She called a specialist, and he did not return the call for five weeks. When he did, he gave her instructions as to what tests she must take and to “send them in.” The poor lady is dealing, at least so far, with a voice on the telephone. All I can say is “Viva Mexico.”

“Can I check in Wednesday evening?” I asked Dr. Maya.

“Yes, or Thursday morning – it’s up to you,” he answered.

Since my operation was scheduled for early morning, Jim and I agreed that it would be best to check in the evening before.

Dr. Maya recommended a not-so-expensive hospital, as the operating room was just as good as those in the big name hospitals here.

Jim and I wanted to save money, but I really did not know what to expect of a “not-so-expensive” hospital. Still I had faith in Dr. Maya’s recommendation.

Wednesday evening, I packed a bag, and Jim drove me to the hospital – Centro Quirurgico del Vallee, or Valley Surgical Center.

The hospital was a small, one-story affair. I noticed that the reception room was immaculate as Jim checked me in.

After checking in, a nurse walked us down a beautiful hallway, and into a large immaculate private room, with a private bath – WOW!

“What’s this? The Waldorf,” said Jim as he looked around.

Jim stayed for awhile, but didn’t know if he could sleep over, so he went home.

After Jim left, was I afraid? Yes! I had no idea of how I would come out of the operation. I had heard of so many cases where such operations did little to reduce the pain. I was also worried that something might go wrong. We were dealing with spinal nerves. Would I walk again?

Stay tuned – I hope to see you all on the other side of my operation.