Diagnoses, Procedures, and Medications

 Diagnoses and year of diagnosis:

• TMJD (temporomandibular joint disorder) - around 2008: Causes jaw pain and I grind my teeth at night.
• Torn meniscus in left knee- 2009: Caused knee pain and catching/popping, resolved with surgery
• Benign tumor behind left knee- 2009: Causes no symptoms
• Sinusitis and allergy rhinitis- 2009: Sinus pain and pressure along with infections, greatly reduced by surgery
• Chiari 1 malformation- 2009: Descended cerebellar tonsils, headaches, neck pain, and neurological symptoms
• Vitamin D deficiency- 2009: Can lead to bone disorders and malabsorption of calcium, under control with supplements
• Mild cervical scoliosis- 2010: May attribute to neck and back pain
• IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)- 2010: Nausea, bloating, reflux, and bowel issues
• Anaphylaxis (unknown cause)- 2010: Severe, life threatening allergic reaction of unknown cause
• POTS and NMH Dyautonomia/Autonomic Dysfunction- 2013: Makes heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, perspiration, digestion, and all other involuntary functions not regulate correctly
• Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome- 2013: Hyper mobile joints, prone to dislocations and subluxations, bruise easily, scar poorly, and heal slowly
• Torn TFCC (cartilage complex) in right wrist- 2013: caused severe wrist pain with movement in any direction, resolved with surgery 
• Craniocervical instability-2013: skull is unstable on top of the spine causing headaches, neck pain and popping, and other neurological symptoms such as ringing in the ears and difficulty swallowing 
• Tethered Spinal Cord-2014: spinal cord is attached to the bony spinal column causing leg and back pain, numbness, and bladder and bowel issues, resolved with surgery
• Gastroparesis-2015: delayed gastric emptying, causes nausea, bloating, low appetite, reflux

Surgeries:

• Left knee arthroscopy for torn cartilage- October 2009
• Endoscopic maxillary sinus surgery for polyp removal- April 2012
• Wisdom teeth extraction (all four)- July 2012
• Posterior Fossa Decompression with duraplasty- December 2012: Chiari surgery to create more room for my brain
• Right wrist arthroscopy for torn cartilage- August 2013 
• Port Placement- November 2013 
• Craniocervical Fusion-December 2013 
• Tethered Spinal Cord Release-June 2014
• Left hip arthroscopy for torn cartilage-May 2016
• Craniocervical Fusion Revision- February 2017
•  VP Shunt Placement- March 2018
• Craniocervical Fusion Revision and Extension (to C5)- April 2018

Medications:

I take daily:

• A multi vitamin (I take a pre-natal vitamin because it has more minerals and vitamins in it, which is good for me because with gastroparesis my nutrition is not ideal).
• A calcium supplement
• A vitamin C supplement: helps with bruising, wound healing, inflammation, and collagen production 
• A vitamin D supplement
• A magnesium supplement- helps loosen muscles and reduce nerve pain
•  Sodium chloride 500 mg tabs 4x a day: raises blood pressure and blood volume
• Midodrine 10 mg 3x a day: for low blood pressure, works by constricting blood vessels
• Bisoprolol 5 mg: Decrease heart rate upon standing
• Dexilant  60 mg ER1x a day: acid reflux

I take as needed (PRN)

• Zyrtec for allergies
• Phenegran 25 mg for nausea 
• Celebrex 200 mg: anti-inflammatory for joint pain due to EDS  
• Domperidone 10 mg: helps speed up gastric emptying time

In addition to these I do bi-weekly allergy shots at a maintenance dosage of 0.2 ml and do 1 liter saline infusions (IV) every other day