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Dre Armeda

and I love tacos

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You are here: Home / Archives for injury

injury

A Rollercoaster of Mind and Body

Dre Armeda · Apr 29, 2016 ·

Thank you for all the texts and messages wishing me luck with the neurosurgeon visit yesterday. A lot of you have asked status and I haven’t shared with many as I am trying to wrap my head around it all.

What the hell is going on?

After a ton of tests and doctors visits, yesterday I received a prognosis from a neurosurgeon that came recommended by my Godparents, Dr. Abshire of Temecula Valley Neurosurgery. This is my second neurosurgeon opinion after countless MRI’s, nerve studies, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture and cupping treatments, sports medicine and orthopedic surgeon visits, physical therapy and so on.

Dre MRI Neck Cervical

During my visit yesterday, Dr. Abshire recommended a level 2 Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) on discs C4/5 – C6/7. ACDF is a surgery to remove a herniated or degenerative disc in the neck area of the spine. The incision is made in the front of the spine through the throat area. After the disc is removed, a bone graft is inserted to fuse together the bones above and below the disc space. Level 2 means I would be getting two done at once which is not awesome. Here’s a good simulation of what happens during an ACDF:

Looks pretty nasty, doesn’t it?

Symptoms and lack there of.

Now, for context. Anyone who has seen me or trained with me over the last 6-7 months knows that my left arm has completely atrophied (Hard to tell in the picture with these tiny guns of mine).

Left Arm Atrophy

What has most likely happened is C5 has bulged enough that it is sitting on the main nerve root that controls signals to parts of my arm. I have lost deltoid and bicep strength and range of motion to a point where I couldn’t lift my arm to hold a toothbrush or pour a cup of coffee. I had to learn how to protect that vulnerable arm on the mat. I have spent a tremendous amount of energy and countless hours on the mat retooling my Jiu Jitsu game in an effort to work around the dead arm. It was painstaking and saddening to feel like I was starting over again, but I did it. I never quit and I feel like a monster right now.

One Arm Bandit
Took 2nd at the Jiu Jitsu World League 2016 Las Vegas Super Championship with one dangling arm ๐Ÿ™‚

It has been a huge challenge. The arm has certainly started improving over the last 3 months which has helped, but not considerably. I still get the sensation of pins and needles down the shoulder and to the bicep with certain neck/head movements. This is a symptom that shows that the nerve is still alive but still being impinged. My arm and shoulder still become extremely fatigued during training or when I work movements that use the Bicep and Deltoid. It’s super annoying!

The thing that really puzzles me the most about all of this is that I don’t have consistent pain, and have not since the last impactful episode occurred last summer. The first signs of neck issues started in March of 2014 where I kinked my neck warming up for Jiu Jitsu NoGi. I couldn’t move it hurt so bad. That kept recurring randomly every few months until June of last year when I started losing strength and motion.

Physical Therapy

Since then, I get sore but it’s not continual pain. It’s discomfort, soreness, and a ton of pins and needles. It is knots along my shoulder-blade and a crackling sensation when moving my neck left or right. However, no consistent pain, and that really concerns me. This lack of pain leaves me in a place not knowing what the right solution is, and the neurosurgeon’s don’t seem 100% confident in their prognosis due to there being no consistent pain.

So what’s next?

I am not quite sure. I know I have a lot of unanswered questions that I need to consult with Dr. Abshire about. In our initial discussions it doesn’t seem like there are a lot of options. Another viable direction with no long-term impact studies, especially when correlated with combat sports, is complete disc replacement. There have been short-term studies with good results but not enough data to make a determination that this direction is a long-term solution.

It is likely that if the ACDF surgery is the only answer, it won’t be something I am willing to do until after summer. Again, I am not in pain, I am just living with one functional arm and discomfort. I will keep researching and hunting for viable alternatives, and most certainly I will keep training for the time being. This may be the end of my Jiu Jitsu road, at least the paved road I have become accustomed to walking upon. I will enjoy every last roll until the bitter end.

~One Arm Bandit

Something Doesn’t Feel Right? Trust Your Gut!

Dre Armeda · May 21, 2015 ·

It has been a rough month with an injury causing me pain in my lower abdomen. I have been in and out of the doctor’s office the last 4 weeks or so running labs, ultrasounds and being checked for various things. Finally, this week I got some closure.

I reviewed my ultrasound with the doc yesterday and they found an inguinal hernia. In layman’s terms:

An inguinal hernia occurs when soft tissue โ€” usually part of the membrane lining the abdominal cavity (omentum) or part of the intestine โ€” protrudes through a weak point in the abdominal muscles.

This is something that could have been there for years and I just started feeling symptoms. It could have been that my journey to better health opened the door to preexisting issues from my lets say more “husky” days. I am sure my ab strength wasn’t doing great at the point I weighed the most. ๐Ÿ™‚

In any event, I went and saw the surgeon this afternoon, and I will indeed need surgery to correct the hernia. They will be fixing me via a laparoscopic surgical procedure that includes some camera action to find the tear(s). I hope the footage is good!

Needless to say I am very disappointed. I am making progress on my weight which is awesome, I am floating around 200 (competition weight) and looking now to get to 185 standing. I am registered for a couple upcoming competitions that I am sure I won’t be ready for considering recovery. My Jiu Jitsu game feels awesome, I feel confident about my technique and it seems only when I feel this way am I presented with another injury, issue, or adversity.

That’s OK though, because I’ll get through it like I do every other time, it’s just rather frustrating. Ultimately I have come to the conclusion that I can’t change my path completely, I just have to learn to better deal with the challenges that I am presented with, and keep on, keeping on! I’ll get to my finish line one way or another!

See you on that mats…..soon enough!

Oss

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Dre Armeda, MBA, CISSP

Dre Armedaa

Head of Global Security Products at @GoDaddy, Dad to 5 girls, Navy Veteran, Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Brown Belt, Angels & Chargers loyal, Jeep head & taco lover.

Vice President of Product – Resume

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