Michael's Story

Hello all, 

My name is Michael Howell, and I am writing this from sunny Southern California, U.S.A. I am a 50 year old male, happily married with a total of 5 kids and 6 grandkids. I was diagnosed with adhesive arachnoiditis about 8 1/2 years ago. I was on vacation backpacking around Europe in 1980 when I had a nasty fall while in Germany. The pain was so great that I checked myself into a local University Hospital to get checked. They found that I had herniated 2 discs (L4-5 + L5-S1) and that emergency surgery was scheduled. But before they could do the surgery, they wanted to do a Myelogram to confirm the damage, and of course they needed to use a contrast dye to do the Myelogram.

That, in itself, was a very unique experience because I actually think I was dead or near death during the procedure for the Myelogram.... I could hear the doctors and nurses telling me to answer them, to respond to them, to come back, and I tried to but was unable. It was like I was floating above the table. I could see and hear everything, but was unable to do anything. The next thing I remember is waking up in my room. To this day I am not sure what happened because the doctors and nurses wouldn't tell me anything afterwards.

So anyways, I had the laminectomy to fix the disc problem unaware that it would be the myelogram that would come back to haunt me in my later life. I have since had 5 back surgeries (2 for fusion), and am loaded up with the latest and greatest in pain relief hardware available. I have a Dorsal Column Stimulator to assist in the relief of leg pain (both legs), and have had an Intrathecal Infusion Pump loaded with morphine for about 1 1/2 years. And on top of all that I am taking about 5-7 tabs of Lorcet, 10mg of Ditropan for urinary problems, and 50mg of Trazadone, just to keep me sane.

You may wonder why, if I have all this hardware in me, why I still take oral meds.... well, because my disease is progressing up my spinal column. I have an MRI every 6-8 months so that we can track the progress of the disease.

I am a computer graphic designer in my real life, working a full time job at a local newspaper. I also have my own home-based business designing advertising for clients as well as doing old photo restoration (which I like the best). I also do Web Page Design which I absolutely LOVE! I have even designed my own business web page, but want to do some more things to it before I post it. Also, as a class assignment, I designed an "Arachnoiditis" information web page that I have published (www.arachnoiditis.net), and continue to work on it when I can.

As my disease progresses, I plan more for the time that I will be unable to work full time. The hardest part of this was accepting that this is where I am  heading. I refuse to give up. I also advise people of the dangers of having anything penetrating the spinal column. Education, I feel, is the only real tool we have to fight this disease. The more educated the general public is about the dangers of spinal penetration, the sooner we and eradicate this disease. 

Michael