End of week 18. A little improvement in shoulder (deltoid) strength. I can now reach the center of the steering wheel on my car. About 2 inches higher than I could reach 3 weeks ago. No improvement in bicep strength, but I can feel some movement of the muscle when I try to flex it (its alive at least). The nerve pain in my arms is still pretty bad, mostly later in the day. I'm being told that this pain will likely persist until the nerves have regenerated. Gabapentin relieves it most of the time, but there are days that I have to take oxycodone to get any relief.

I have also been dealing with this new problem that causes buzzing in my arms, legs and shoulders when I tilt my head forward. The surgeon says its called L`Hermittes sign. It is usually seen in MS patients when the disease attacks the myelin that surrounds the spinal cord. This causes mixed signals to the brain. In my case, the surgeon says that it is caused by my spinal cord touching (rubbing against) one of the remaining rear spinal bones (a result of the posterior decompression surgery). Apparently, this is something that I either have to live with, or have another surgery to remove more spinal bone. I think I'll live with it. There is also a chance that it will go away on its own after my nervous system settles down.