Posted 4/1/2009 11:49 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Michael, Jan, Big George and Spunkers,
Glad to meet all of you. Looks like there are now five of us with OPLL. I’m almost 57. I was in an auto accident in March 2007 and diagnosed by my primary doctor with a slight neck sprain. When my neck started stiffened up and continued to be very painful, I started going to a chiropractor. I’ve been going down hill ever since the accident. I thought chiropractic was helping but more problems kept popping up. I had unexplained right wrist pain, my feet began hurting with a burning pain, my right shoulder started hurting on and off. I’ve had numerous aches and pains. I get tingling, numbness in my hands when driving, burning pain down the insides of my legs, burning pain in my right lower abdomen. I could probably write a book. I do get fatigued easily. I sometimes have dizziness when turning my head. I wake up in the night with shoulder pain. When lying down my eyes water. I get burning on my lips and tongue.
I no longer go to the chiropractor. He did some adjustments that gave me shooting pains from my neck to the top of my head. He did try and help. I have been diagnosed with carpel tunnel and tarsal tunnel syndrome. I went to Heart Scan and had my abdomen scanned. The scan showed that I had cervical stenosis with degeneration. I shared that information with my chiropractor and primary. They both said that was a normal part of aging. I talked my primary doctor into to sending me to Dr. Gillum at UCSF in San Francisco . She found degeneration at C4, C5, C5 and C7 with a compressed spinal cord and referred me to a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon found in addition to degeneration that I was born with a narrow spinal canal and had OPLL. He wants to do a laminoplasty from C3 to C7.
Dr. Gillum doesn’t want me to wait too long to have surgery. However, I don’t have any major problems walking and can still work. I appear healthy. The surgeon said I might not be able to use my right arm very well for at least 4 months. I’m pretty freaked out by this. I need a second opinion. Finding a better surgeon than at UCSF will mean some research and travel. Does anyone know the top surgeon for OPLL in the United States ? I plan to buy the book on OPLL.
Also, I’m looking for a new primary doctor. I’ve had my thyroid removed in 1999 and parathyroids were damaged. I have to take calcium all the time. I feel like the hypoparathryroidism may have caused the OPLL instead of some recessive gene. It was not symptomatic until the auto accident.
I appreciate your thoughts on all of this. Thanks!
Birgitta