Thanks for reading the 43rd edition of my newsletter. This newsletter tracks my research as I write a book about lumbar radicular pain… and another one about cauda equina syndrome!
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to send a quick email to let you know how the book on cauda equina syndrome is going! (see here for the background on the book...)
I've just finished the second draft and sent it off to Rob, my co-author. Once he's read it and given his edits, then we can send it off to the first test readers to see how they find it. I'm feeling really, really good about it. I think it's fantastic. I think we're meeting our aim of making the book practical and useful. But we'll see what the test readers say...
Since baby Hannah was born 11 weeks ago I've obviously had less free time to work on the book. But I've been surprised how much I have been able to do. As long as I wake up early, most mornings I can get two hours of work done on the book while she's still sleeping. And you can actually get a lot done in two hours a day!
Here's a screenshot of the current, very high-level structure of the book, (we really need to re-write the titles to be more catchy, though!).
The section on 'making the CES decision' is the core of the book. As well as key questions to ask to make a good decision, this section also includes guidance on how to escape analysis paralysis, how to refer patients smoothly, how to overcome any worries about calling A&E, how to work with your patient to draw a timeline of their condition, and more.
As always, I've tried to make it all as readable as possible, and never, ever boring.
There's still a lot more work to do, but we do hope to have it published by the Spring...
As for the title, I have a horrible feeling we're going to end up calling it "Cauda Equina Syndrome: The Musculoskeletal Clinician's Guide". Let's hope we can think of something better!
I'll be writing a year-in-review email soon, where I'll also let you know my plans for next year, including the all-important Sciatica Book 2…
Til next time,
Tom
P.S. If you've been practicing for just a few months or a few years, do get in touch about being a test reader for the CES book. We had a lot of responses but mostly from highly experienced clinicians and spinal specialists. This is great, but we also really want to hear from people who are just starting out or still finding their feet. Test reading doesn't mean giving expert feedback, it's just about letting us know what you liked and what you didn't like. Reply to this email to get in touch!