Jesus Sanchez. Syringomyelia and Scoliosis

Published by ICSEB at 25 May, 2006

Date of intervention: April 2006

My name is Jesus, I was diagnosed with Syringomyelia when I was 20 years old, now I am 42. However when I was 14 I already had compensated Scoliosis and was told it could be corrected with exercises and a hard mattress. It was like that.

Until I was 20 years old I had a normal life but one day while I was shaving my right hand did not respond, I had no strength and did not control it well. I went to the emergency room and when I saw a neurologist he asked me if I always walked like that, as he said I had a spastic walk. They did a lot of tests on me, until they told me I had a cavity in the spinal cord and that it was a progressive disease. Little by little I was getting worse, I noticed instability and I stumbled a lot with little strength and little sensitivity in the right part of my body.

They operated me in 1985 in the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid through the traditional way, which was breaking the cervical vertebrates, with a horrible post surgery. When I recovered myself I had to use a crutch to be able to walk.
A couple of years later they operated me again the same way, because it had reproduced again, this time I came out in a wheel chair.

In 2006 and looking through the Internet I found the page of the Institute Neurologic of Barcelona. I got in contact with Dr. Royo and on the 25th of May he operated on me with the technique of the filum terminale very little invasive but effective seeing that I had respiratory problems that prevented me from breathing right and after the surgery they disappeared.

If it had been possible to have this simple surgery when they had diagnosed me the Syringomyelia, I would not be sitting on this wheel chair for sure. Which is why I am willing to spread out this technique to have it used as a first intervention since it is so effective and little aggressive.

I congratulate and thank Dr. Royo for his work and I encourage the people who suffer from Syringomyelia that they please get in contact with the Institute Neurologic of Barcelona.

If you want to contact me, my e-mail address is:
[email protected]