Doctors: Soares has too much backbone; Councilman faces surgery and two to three months in bed

City Councilman Tony Soares will check into Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore on August 6 to relieve a nerve problem in his neck and upper back that could leave him paralyzed if it is not taken care of, the councilman said this week. Right now, Soares has almost no feeling in his left hand and some numbness in his right at times, because the vertebrae in his back are pinching against his spine. Doctors hope to relieve the problem by shaving away a portion of his backbone and fusing a number of the vertebrae together. Soares says he expects to spend at least eight weeks recovering from the operation at home in a heavy-duty neck and back brace. Although the councilman said that he did not plan to go to his advertising job in Manhattan during his recovery period, he said that he planned to only miss one city council meeting. Soares, who stands only 4-feet 2-inches tall due to a form of dwarfism known as Achondroplasia, said that this sort of ailment was common among people who are short of stature. “I have just as many vertebrae but they are stacked up in a much smaller space,” he explained. “They are going to take care of the problem by taking out a part of my backbone, but I think I have enough of that to go around.” Johns Hopkins has earned a reputation for administering high quality services that treat people who have complications related to dwarfism, Soares said. His primary surgeon, Doctor Michael Ain, is also short of stature. The councilman said that he initially felt numbness in his hand while working out on the treadmill at the YMCA about a year ago. “These things come and go,” he said. “But this one just kept getting worse. Now it is bad in my leg too. My right hand is where the left was about a year ago. The doctors say there is a 1 to 2 percent chance that this procedure will leave me paralyzed, but there is a 100 percent chance that I will become paralyzed if I don’t do it.” The outspoken councilman, who has been an ardent critic of Mayor Anthony Russo, said that he still planned to keep abreast of city politics. “I’ll bring my I-Book [computer],” he said. “I intend on functioning as a council person all the way through the process. I won’t be able to yell as much because my jaw will be restricted. But that will probably make some people really happy.”