This mommy-to-be was greatly surprised by her harrowing diagnosis.
At 36 weeks pregnant, an expecting mom, known online as Liz Bear, began experiencing trouble walking.
She alerted her doctors to the concerning impairment, but was dismissively diagnosed with sciatica, a pointy pain that radiates down the back and into the legs. It’s a condition most individuals experience during their third trimester of pregnancy.
Nevertheless, the true source of Bear’s pain was anything but common.
“Doctors were flawed,” the married mother lamented within the closed-caption of her trending TikTok testimonial with greater than 1.5 million views. “I had a spinal AVM. Needed 2 surgeries and needed to relearn to walk.”
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A rarity, spinal AVM, or spinal arteriovenous malformation, is a tangle of blood vessels on, in or near the spinal cord. It’s an abnormality that typically develops within the fetus, in line with Johns Hopkins Medicine, and most of the people aren’t even aware that they suffer with the condition until it’s diagnose via X-rays, MRIs and CT scans. Without treatment, a spinal AVM can rupture, causing bleeding into surrounding areas.
In a separate video, Bear revealed that she was temporarily relegated to a wheelchair after undergoing an embolization — a procedure that uses tiny particles, corresponding to tiny gelatin sponges or beads, to dam a blood vessel — in addition to AVM resection. Through the resection, a neurosurgeon uses a microscope to delicately cut off its blood supply and ultimately remove it from the body.
“Spinal AVM resection is a scary procedure with a protracted and difficult recovery,” Bear penned within the caption of the clip, featuring footage of her in fighting back tears as she began learning how one can walk again in physical therapy.
“As my physical therapist rolled that mirror in front of me, my heart sank, to my stomach and my eyes stuffed with tears,” she admitted. “It was the primary time I saw myself in a wheelchair and leg braces after my 1 embolization and a pair of surgeries to remove my spinal AVM.”
Bear confessed that being faced with the truth of her condition was nearly greater than she could bear.
“Nothing prepares you for this moment where you see this latest, broken version of yourself,” she said. “Not knowing for those who will ever get back to the best way you were before.”
“The fear that floods through your body might be debilitating, but you’ve gotten to stay hopeful,” she encouraged.
Bear went on to share a further post of herself in physical therapy, walking with the support of a Ekso GT, which she explained to be a “robotic exoskeleton used for over-ground gait training in individuals with a neurological diagnosis.”
“It helps people re-learn the right step patterns and weight shifts involved in walking,” she continued, partly.
“It was such an incredible feeling to take those steps.”
And digital audiences were, too, amazed by her inspiring recovery journey.
“God bless you Liz!!! You’re so strong and kept going,” cheered a supportive commenter.
“Beautiful improvement. What a journey you’ve been working through & achieving! Keep going!” a separate cyber spectator chanted.
“Yes ma’am!! Praise God for restoring what was lost!” one other raved.
Other commentators, nevertheless, blasted health care providers for sometimes shrugging off pregnant women’s concerns as mere gestational pangs.
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“So typical of doctors [and] nurses while pregnant. ANYTHING you raise with them ‘You’re pregnant, it’s normal,’ without even a re-assessment,” rebuked a author.
“I’m so afraid of this,” said one other. “I keep telling doctors that I’m struggling to walk and so they’re like, ‘Oh it’s pregnancy.’ ”
“Doctor told me I used to be overreacting [to] the pain after having a baby,” one other added. “I had endometrial cancer.”
But in response to her comments, Bear credited her obstetrician for helping her get the correct care that she needed.
“If it wasn’t for my amazing OB also advocating for me things could have turned out loads worse,” Bear wrote. “She pushed for a neurological seek the advice of after I delivered.”
Elsewhere within the comments, she said, “I used to be completely shocked once I discovered [about the spinal AVM].
“Never had any symptoms my whole life. Until pregnancy.”
This mommy-to-be was greatly surprised by her harrowing diagnosis.
At 36 weeks pregnant, an expecting mom, known online as Liz Bear, began experiencing trouble walking.
She alerted her doctors to the concerning impairment, but was dismissively diagnosed with sciatica, a pointy pain that radiates down the back and into the legs. It’s a condition most individuals experience during their third trimester of pregnancy.
Nevertheless, the true source of Bear’s pain was anything but common.
“Doctors were flawed,” the married mother lamented within the closed-caption of her trending TikTok testimonial with greater than 1.5 million views. “I had a spinal AVM. Needed 2 surgeries and needed to relearn to walk.”
Commercial
A rarity, spinal AVM, or spinal arteriovenous malformation, is a tangle of blood vessels on, in or near the spinal cord. It’s an abnormality that typically develops within the fetus, in line with Johns Hopkins Medicine, and most of the people aren’t even aware that they suffer with the condition until it’s diagnose via X-rays, MRIs and CT scans. Without treatment, a spinal AVM can rupture, causing bleeding into surrounding areas.
In a separate video, Bear revealed that she was temporarily relegated to a wheelchair after undergoing an embolization — a procedure that uses tiny particles, corresponding to tiny gelatin sponges or beads, to dam a blood vessel — in addition to AVM resection. Through the resection, a neurosurgeon uses a microscope to delicately cut off its blood supply and ultimately remove it from the body.
“Spinal AVM resection is a scary procedure with a protracted and difficult recovery,” Bear penned within the caption of the clip, featuring footage of her in fighting back tears as she began learning how one can walk again in physical therapy.
“As my physical therapist rolled that mirror in front of me, my heart sank, to my stomach and my eyes stuffed with tears,” she admitted. “It was the primary time I saw myself in a wheelchair and leg braces after my 1 embolization and a pair of surgeries to remove my spinal AVM.”
Bear confessed that being faced with the truth of her condition was nearly greater than she could bear.
“Nothing prepares you for this moment where you see this latest, broken version of yourself,” she said. “Not knowing for those who will ever get back to the best way you were before.”
“The fear that floods through your body might be debilitating, but you’ve gotten to stay hopeful,” she encouraged.
Bear went on to share a further post of herself in physical therapy, walking with the support of a Ekso GT, which she explained to be a “robotic exoskeleton used for over-ground gait training in individuals with a neurological diagnosis.”
“It helps people re-learn the right step patterns and weight shifts involved in walking,” she continued, partly.
“It was such an incredible feeling to take those steps.”
And digital audiences were, too, amazed by her inspiring recovery journey.
“God bless you Liz!!! You’re so strong and kept going,” cheered a supportive commenter.
“Beautiful improvement. What a journey you’ve been working through & achieving! Keep going!” a separate cyber spectator chanted.
“Yes ma’am!! Praise God for restoring what was lost!” one other raved.
Other commentators, nevertheless, blasted health care providers for sometimes shrugging off pregnant women’s concerns as mere gestational pangs.
Commercial
“So typical of doctors [and] nurses while pregnant. ANYTHING you raise with them ‘You’re pregnant, it’s normal,’ without even a re-assessment,” rebuked a author.
“I’m so afraid of this,” said one other. “I keep telling doctors that I’m struggling to walk and so they’re like, ‘Oh it’s pregnancy.’ ”
“Doctor told me I used to be overreacting [to] the pain after having a baby,” one other added. “I had endometrial cancer.”
But in response to her comments, Bear credited her obstetrician for helping her get the correct care that she needed.
“If it wasn’t for my amazing OB also advocating for me things could have turned out loads worse,” Bear wrote. “She pushed for a neurological seek the advice of after I delivered.”
Elsewhere within the comments, she said, “I used to be completely shocked once I discovered [about the spinal AVM].
“Never had any symptoms my whole life. Until pregnancy.”
