3rd injection next Friday

If your MRI is more than 12 months old, I would ask for another one for comparison views at this stage. I can't remember the date of your last one. If it's been over 12 months I would call the surgeon's nurse & request this be done before your appt towards the end of May. He would have it to review with you at the time of appt. This would not be an unreasonable request.

Obviously the injections are not giving any long term benefit, however, at the same time they are like putting a band aide on a cut. They are not a cure & will not correct your issues.

Just my 2 cents.

No, MRI is less than 12 months old. I thought the injections would do better than they did being previous injections worked very long term in my shoulder.

hello, another quick update from my C6 C7 injection yesterday. Unfortunately the tingling in the finger are there and prior to this procedure they are tingling more often. Good news is my range of motion is great but there is of course some neck pain. On my follow up visit I will let the Doctor know this. I want to know specifically if I would be a candidate for a disk replacement vice fusion and what are the requirements. Tricare will pay for it but I suppose that's not the only requirement. Anyway feeling good except for some tingling and slight bicep pain is gone now.

Jeez, I missed your two posts. I would not buy a traction unit to use without approval by your surgeon. Cervical traction should never be used without proper instruction by a licensed physical therapist. You run a big risk of causing further damage. The one area that is a big concern in your neck, I would be more concerned about paralysis using traction. I think because of the lack of severe symptoms you are forgetting how serious of an issue you have going on.

As far as a brace goes, again, discuss it with your dr. Back in the old days drs often put patients in back & neck braces. After many studies they found out braces can weaken the muscles further causing more problems. Therefore, drs stopped prescribing them for this reason.

Some surgeons will put a post op patient in a collar for a short period of time only. On the other hand, a lot of surgeons do not use them. It's a mixed bag depending on the dr.

I had horrible problems with traction. First time it was for my back & I was in traction 24 hours a day. Had to have someone take it off to go to the bathroom. The nurse came back to set the traction & did it incorrectly, the weights were not evenly distributed. I told the nurse she needed to check it, she refused. Four hours later my dr shows up & saw the amount of pain I was in & I told him what happened. I heard him yelling at the nurses station, lol. The traction was fixed.

When I did traction for my neck as an out patient at a hospital once again it was not set properly, which caused even more pain. Another day it was not set correctly & it nearly pulled my ears off the side of my head. Bottom line, you need to have someone with plenty of experience when using traction.

Isn't your wife going to be returning from deployment soon?

Bebbles, you sure have gone the long route on your situation. The mylo will hopefully give the dr the definitive answers he is needing. Often that is what it takes to get things confirmed.

Yes, we have had several members have a 4 level done & did well. It's not an uncommon surgery anymore. While it sounds restrictive a lot of our 4 levelers said they had just a little. Keep in mind, following post op instructions to the letter is crucial & listening to your body. You can use the search feature top right, type in chronic pain forum 4 level ACDF & you can read those stories. Abilene has a great story line.

Hi Darla,
Glad to hear you're doing better! Why was disk replacement not an option? What was your first week like? Thanks for any info!

Bebbles, check out this site, aans.org, it gives detailed information on who is a candidate for an artificial disc replacement surgery. This is a reputable site with excellent info.

Hi Bebbles, are you asking me? My surgery was long...I want to say around 5 hours. I had a drain in my neck and stayed overnight one night (in the hospital). I was able to walk right away and use the bathroom, so once the drain was removed the next morning I went home. It really was not that bad. The incision looked like I lost a bar fight, but after a few months you had to really look to find it. I did not have to wear a brace or collar. I had to go to a pain mgt appt the next week and follow up at the house dr the next week and wasn't comfortable but was able to do so. Not bad, really.

Hi Darla,
Sorry for so many questions but its been almost a year now so how is your mobility in your neck at this point? I was told that you loose mobility once you do any type of fusion in the neck. When you say you were uncomfortable was it more pain in some places than others or more tingling or both? Most of what I am having coming down the stretch is tingling in the right index and thumb and seems like some numbness is spreading in the fingers. I've had a few failed carpal tunnel surgeries and no one had mentioned anything about the neck possibly being the issue. In fact I had nerve compression surgeries done on the inner forearms which left just horrible looking scars and still maintained numbness and tingling in the finger tips. Wish I could take those surgeries back.

Bebbles, when you see your surgeon ask him to give you an estimate of how long he thinks the surgery will take. Each case is different, the skill & expertise of the surgeon, his technique & what is found once they can visualize things.

Keep in mind during surgery they give often use like a block to help with the pain. Once it starts wearing off things can go south, this is after you get home. This is why you need to take your medication on a schedule. Don't get in the "oh, the pain is not so bad, I won't need my pain pill". This is exactly how a patient often ends up in ER in severe pain. Hopefully you will be given muscles relaxers, this is a big complaint is muscles spasms. Ice packs, have those on hand.

If you have a positional bed great, if not a recliner is fine to sleep in. People often find it too difficult getting up & down out of bed at first. You do not want anyone to try to pull you in an upright position.

Consider liquids or soft foods like apple sauce or even yogurt. If you have trouble swallowing pills, put them in either of these. Stay well hydrated.

I would not focus on loss of range of motion & flexibility. Do not be surprised at first if your head feels very heavy. This is common, some have said it felt like they had a bowling ball sitting on their shoulders at first. You
should be sent to physical therapy at a certain point. This is very beneficial, it helps strengthen muscles & help a lot. With the newer fusions they do today patients do much better than the old style especially when there were several levels involved.

Your first 6 weeks can be a challenge. You are not going to be feeling great in a week or two. The surgeon does his part, then it's up to the patient to do his part for a successful surgery. It takes months for healing to happen & then around the 18 month mark you will know if you have any residuals from the surgery.

Start making a list of questions now to ask the surgeon; such as how long will surgery take, what activities should I avoid at first such as lifting, when can I drive, when will I do physical therapy, I think you have an idea where I am going with this. Just be smart about your activities, this is a surgery you only want to do once.

If I remember right, you have a daughter at home & she can be a great help to you too. Has your wife made it home from deployment yet?

Best thing I can tell you is when discussing surgery with others, 9 times out 10 you will be given the very worst case scenario. All of this will do is stress you out to the max. Kind of like telling someone I have a bad tooth that needs pulled & then you hear all about the worst tooth pulling case ever, lol.

You will do fine as long as you are reasonable about your recovery.

I take it a CT Myelogram with contrast is equal to or greater depth than an MRI stray dog?

I hope I did not sound like a worst case scenario! I am pleased with my results considering what I had going in. We are here for you bebbles!

Post Edited (Darla) : 6/8/2019 5:35:03 AM (GMT-6)