myelogram - this doctor wasn't afraid of me!

At the first hospital I was sent to the radiologist was afraid to do the myelogram because I get autonomic dysreflexia when I have pain. (Blood pressure skyrockets and heart rate drops.) This radiologist wasn't afraid at all. He's the dept. head at a branch university hospital.

I was nearly an hour late because of an accident on the road. I called the department on the way down to explain. They said it was OK. The anxiety from being late made my blood pressure pretty high when I finally got there. I took my BP med. It didn't bring the pressure down enough, so I took another. I have talked with my doc about when to take this. It's OK since it's a small amount to begin with.

Finally got on the table. It hurts a lot to be on my belly. Thank goodness for Norco. (The first hospital doesn't allow you to take pain meds the day of myelogram because it might mess up your mind.) Cleaning the back with cold solution hurts a lot because of central pain syndrome. I barely felt the local anesthetic and didn't feel the spinal needle at all. Being tipped forward was no big deal. It's not that steep. Afterwards the CT was not a big deal either.

My only side effect was discomfort in my legs after the myelogram. The radiologist said that was normal. I needed help to walk for a while because my legs felt like blocks of wood, but 5 hours later it's wearing off. My legs aren't very good since I broke my neck, so it probably isn't a big deal either.

If you've read or been told how awful a myelogram is, don't believe it! Maybe some are, but that's not the norm. No headache, no leaking spinal fluid. Procedure no more painful than any other spine injection, and less than some of them.

Results of the myelogram are not impressive. There are sprinkings of "minimal epidural impression" (I suspect he means compression), and "mild narrowing," and "slight flattening of the cord" on all sections of the spine. The radiologist mentions "Schmorel's nodes," "osteophytes" and several "mild disc bulge(s)."

I'll make a bet this means go home and see your pain doctor, when/if I eventually get to see my neurosurgeon. He's moving to a different hospital. There's no use seeing another neurosurgeon. This one is a top university doc, has been dept. head for years.

I wouldn't have gone through this if my pain level and type was as anywhere as minimal as implied in the radiologist's report. My pain doc has already done every injection and ablation and won't give me a stronger narcotic. He doesn't want to see me until December.

Dixie,
Thanks for your note. The rad reported minimal spine issues, but the pain is severe, I'm sure you meant. Seriously, thanks for mentioning that the surgery you were told would most likely fail. It makes me less anxious about a response. I understand the report. I was hoping for something that could be fixed, something that might reduce at least a little pain. Deep down I know there's probably nothing to be done.

I love my pain doc, but maybe a second opinion ... You've made me think, is my pain relief 50%? Possibly. But the level is still about 8, keeps making me think about how long I can stand it. There is some pain I can ascribe to things like a bone chip in my shoulder and facet joint problems, which are at least somewhat amenable to ablations. The truly awful pain is Central Pain Syndrome, which is like having a bad case of shingles over more than half my body plus deep aches and stabs in joints, spasticity and unending muscle spasms. Meds, and I've tried about everything for nerves, don't touch it. Opioids were helping, but my pain doc is conservative - maybe a second opinion after I talk with the surgeon.

Well, sorry that wasn't very positive, but you really did help.