Hey folks. A quick update on something that's been going on for a while. 

Around September 2022 I started feeling a lot of pain on my left leg, but only while lying down in bed. This meant sleeping was a bit hard and I was only getting four hours a night.

I checked with my GP who initially thought it could be a muscle thing. When the meds didn't do anything I checked with a specialist I've been seeing since early in the year for an unrelated issue, in case the meds had any side effects like that.

The specialist requested an x-ray of my back, which came back negative, followed by a MRI. 

The MRI showed a tumour around my spinal cord. The specialist referred me to a neurosurgeon, who requested another set of MRI and CT scan to see if there are any other tumours. 

The good news is that there is only one tumour and the neurosurgeon thinks it is not (or at least those types aren't usually) malignant.

In any case I have surgery booked for end of January and an oncologist on standby. If the tumour cannot be completely removed then a round of radiotherapy maybe needed.

The plan is to stay in hospital up to eight days after the surgery then another two weeks at home. 

I still have pain on my left leg but now symptoms include tingling and the pain shoots up when I turn around too quickly or if I sneeze/cough - sometimes even if I yawn. And still the pain at night. I still sleep only four hours a night and sometimes have to take a nap during the day.

Things are not changing here though. I am still around and we have contingency plans in place. 

I hope you all have a good holiday break.