Spine Doctor says ...

The MRI showed that the third vertebrae was fractured and there was shadowing in the 6th vertebrae both looking like cancer. The result was me spending more time laying flat and not moving. “Same vertebrae that Christopher Reeve broke,” I heard.

By Saturday afternoon I got a room out of the emergency ward. On Sunday I talked with the spine doctor. He filled in a lot of blanks. Most importantly he felt that the extreme measures to keep me stiff as a board and immobile were overkill. He said I could go home!! I just had to wear this very fashionable neck brace collar and avoid strenuous stuff. Driving is a no-no (something about only being able to see straight ahead). As for the bad bone in my neck he said that what people are seeing may be where a tumour had been before the chemo had destroyed it. The results had left a very weak bone that had broken. His preference wasn’t surgery. It was to wait and see how/if the bone healed on its own (4-6 weeks). At some point he said surgery would likely be needed as a preventative measure for future problems, but if the bone healed on its own, that surgery could be put off.

The radiation oncologist will look at things tomorrow and decide if he wants to radiate my neck. We’ll see what he says and also ask how that would affect the bone healing on its own.
So I am on my way home and will know more tomorrow after the radiologist and spine surgeon consult.