Good evening to the two of you who might see this blog post! I know I haven’t posted in a while. Shit has been real – to say the least. This whole year has kind of been like living in the Twilight Zone. While I have made two new bike purchases in the past 16 months, these bikes have only been ridden about 10 thousand miles – combined. Granted, since I brought my German Shepherd into my life, for which I am truly blessed, I don’t take long road trips on the bikes. I trailer them so Jaeger can come along. After all, he’d be so disappointed if I took a vacation without him. Other than trips to check in on my 92 year old mom, which is seven hours each way, there was only one trip to the mountains. But the rides were great:

Over the past 18 months, I have had issues with my left hand getting numb while riding. Sometimes, while I was riding, it would progress from numbness to painful burning. And on one ride in the Blue Ridge Mountains, because of heavy traffic, I really suffered debilitating pain. Since I had carpal release surgeries, in 2018, I thought it was a recurrence of CTS. Hell, I even started wearing a wrist brace. But I got no relief. After returning from the Appalachians, after my July 4th weekend trip, I actually rode very sparingly. And when I did ride, it was short jaunts. There was even one stretch I didn’t start any of my bikes for 10 days. While that isn’t uncommon for 95% of the alleged Harley-Davidson riders, it is for me. Especially during the peak of riding season.

Fast Forward

Being that I am a very fucking stubborn Boomer, I didn’t do much of anything but deal with it for the past three months. That changed about six weeks ago when I started seeing a chiropractor my 5th Group brother recommended to me. They served together, and after Dr. Joe was done being a Special Forces sniper, he went to school to be a chiropractor. The first couple treatments with him almost laid me low. The pain I endured after those first few adjustments made me pray a bit. But they started helping. But only for a few days. Joe actually told me I should go see my primary care physician and perhaps get some imaging done of my neck.

After an initial X-ray, my doc told me my neck was a damn mess. She ordered an MRI and an EMG (nerve conduction test). Then, after the results of these, she sent me to a neurosurgeon. It turns out, that I have severe cervical stenosis and myelopathy. The stenosis (narrowing of the path of the spinal cord through the cervical spine) is something I could just grit my teeth and live with. It is causing my radial nerve to be impinged. Which is really the only symptom I have – numbness and burning in my left thumb and index finger. But it was enough to finally get this old wooden head off his butt and to a specialist. But what the MRI also showed is that I have myelopathy between C5-C7. This is way worse as it means my spinal cord is actually being constricted and pressured. This can cause problems with fine motor functions – like buttoning your shirt, picking up a small item or even the gait you walk with. In more severe cases it can also cause bladder and bowl incontinence. Fortunately I am not experiencing any of those things yet. But the neurosurgeon advised that those issues are small potatoes. With my spinal cord being compressed, a small fall or minor accident could cause paralysis or death. His suggestion? Posterior cervical fusion from my C3 vertebrae to T1 vertebrae. Something like this:

Obviously, this was not something I ever imagined needing. Because this surgery, from the back of the neck (posterior), is both extremely painful and requires, a significant amount of recovery time, I am not anxious to have it. Not to mention that the success rate is 50/50 – or 60/40 – depending on what you find on the interwebs or who you talk to. Needless to say, I have two additional consults scheduled with other neurosurgeons. If you are the praying type, please send a few prayers up for your ever lovable Grey Beard Biker.

So, yes, getting old isn’t for wimps!

The Original Grey Beard Biker™
Email: gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@AlchemyShootist on X