Sonny’s Spinal Surgery Recovery !

Hello, friends, family, colleagues, clients and kind strangers!

This is Sonny asking for your help getting through a major spinal surgery. As many of you know, I’ve been living with a post-viral demyelinating autoimmune disease called small fiber neuropathy for almost two decades now. Five years of biologics and other immunosuppressive therapies put my disease into remission around 2016, but unfortunately, covid caused a severe relapse.

Since my relapse, I’ve had a host of neurological and inflammatory issues, including vision loss, muscle weakness, motor issues, vascular brain damage, and more. This past June, a routine MRI to monitor changes to my brain found a small brain tumor—thankfully benign, and for now, asymptomatic. But to say it’s been a crazy year for me medically is a hell of an understatement.

Speaking of which, on to the reason we’re here! A combination of intermittent weakness and mechanical/occupational damage has caused a severe disc herniation in my cervical spine. The herniation is pressing on both my spinal cord and the nerve branches exiting that area. After monitoring the deterioration for over a year, my care team has decided it’s time for surgery!

On Wednesday, January 29th, I’m going in for a cervical disc arthroplasty, possibly even a fusion if there are structural issues identified during surgery. I have a lot of confidence in my care team at Weill-Cornell, and my surgeon, Dr. Virk, is confident that we’ll be able to do the simpler disc replacement, and that my age and physical condition make for a promising outcome!

What’s the catch, then? Well, for one thing, I’m expected to be out of work for eight weeks while I recover and do physical therapy to make sure the disc replacement/fusion does its job, and to prevent future damage!

That’s where you come in, my friends. Me and my wife October are counting on your support to help us while I’m out of work. I’ve set an amount that would cover my normal expenses over eight weeks plus a little bit extra to soften my re-entry to tattooing after my recovery.

If we’re able to meet the goal we set, I’d like to give back to the community that’s supported and sustained me by sharing 25% of anything extra with local charities/emergency funds like mine.

I love and appreciate every one of you. Whether you can give a nickel, a dime, or a simple well wish, I’m grateful deep down to my crooked little bones! I’m excited to get some relief, and I can’t wait to get back to work doing the thing I love most: adorning your body with “sick tats.”

yours in gratitude,

sonny