hayden1107
07-15-2004, 04:43 PM
Hi there.. :p ..
Well I'll start off by saying I am 19 years old with a lot of lower back and leg pains. So I went through a CT Scan in February and now I've had my MRI done but I wont see my specialist for a couple of weeks because he's on vacation. So I would really like to know what my MRI results mean, and if I go through surgery, what I should be expecting before, during, and after!
I would really appreciate all the help I can get because I am completely terrified... :eek: I hate having this problem because I am only 19 years old and I can't play with my son, or live a life with my friends, or even live any active life. It's so frustrating, because all I do is cry about it.
I live in Canada so my health care is free so therefore if surgery will help me than I will go through with it, but I don't know if that would make a difference, but I really did wish people who had/have my problem didn't have to worry about the costs of treatment, I wouldn't want to worry about money on top of all my current problems.
The reason why I am like this now is because I had my son on May 2nd 2002 and my car accident was May 10th 2002. I was the driver, and I was t-boned on my side by a stupid guy who doesn't know what the red light means, my car was written off, so I have had this problem for 2 years now.
My first pain wasn't that bad and I went through accident benefits against my insurance company, so they sent me to kineseologists and different other kinds of doctors, all of them said it was my siatica and it will heal itself within a year.
So I waited and waited, during the 2 years wait, my pain increased(left leg has numbness, tingly, soreness and back is like arthritis). Now I can't walk short/long distances, sit in one position, stand for short/long periods.
I went down to a walk-in clinic here in winter 2003/2004, since nobody was listening, or understanding me before, those doctors decided it was time for me to go for a CT Scan. I went for that in February 2004, when those results came back, I was referred to my orthopedic surgeon, who ordered a MRI, which was done in June 2004, he also gave me 2 options, which were back surgery but taking a high risk of undergoing future back surgeries or the Cortizone shot every 3 months for the rest of life but those shots could make the pain go away, but not heal me and could worsen things. But I now have my MRI results back and it says:
Technique:
A routine MRI of the lumbar spine was performed. No previous imaging available. There is some motion artifact on several of the sequences.
At L5-S1, there is a very large central/left paracentral focal disc protrusion. The disc extends posteriorly into the canal over approximately a 1 cm distance. In transverse dimension the herniated disc fragment measures approximately 2.1 cm. There is complete effacement of the thecal sac and severe mass effect upon the traversing left S1 nerve root. There also appears to be mass effect upon the traversing right S1 nerve root.
The remaining discs demontrate normal signal intensity and morphology. No central or neural foraminal stenosis at any other level. The lumbar vertebrae are normal aligned with normal marrow signal. I understand from the clinical history that there is a bilateral spondylolysis at L5. This is not readily apparent on the MRI. There is a mild scoliosis convex to the left.
The conus medullaris is difficult to evaluate due to motion artifact.
Summary:
Very large focal disc protrusion at L5-S1 with severe mass effect upon the thecal sac and traversing nerve root. The spondylolysis that is apparently present, is occult on MRI.
When my pain starts I have to bend and twist around to stretch my back and nerve, and most of the time I feel better for a while, but the pain always came back eventually. My left leg is the worse, but now my right leg is starting with the pain, near my thighs I feel it. It was never like that before. But a couple of days ago, I ran after my son for 2 seconds, and now the upper left leg has constant ache, could I have caused more nerve damage? My reflexes are normal in the right leg, but my left foot doesn't react like its supposed to, but my knees are fine. If you have any questions that could help me through all of this, ask away! Thank You for all your help!
Well I'll start off by saying I am 19 years old with a lot of lower back and leg pains. So I went through a CT Scan in February and now I've had my MRI done but I wont see my specialist for a couple of weeks because he's on vacation. So I would really like to know what my MRI results mean, and if I go through surgery, what I should be expecting before, during, and after!
I would really appreciate all the help I can get because I am completely terrified... :eek: I hate having this problem because I am only 19 years old and I can't play with my son, or live a life with my friends, or even live any active life. It's so frustrating, because all I do is cry about it.
I live in Canada so my health care is free so therefore if surgery will help me than I will go through with it, but I don't know if that would make a difference, but I really did wish people who had/have my problem didn't have to worry about the costs of treatment, I wouldn't want to worry about money on top of all my current problems.
The reason why I am like this now is because I had my son on May 2nd 2002 and my car accident was May 10th 2002. I was the driver, and I was t-boned on my side by a stupid guy who doesn't know what the red light means, my car was written off, so I have had this problem for 2 years now.
My first pain wasn't that bad and I went through accident benefits against my insurance company, so they sent me to kineseologists and different other kinds of doctors, all of them said it was my siatica and it will heal itself within a year.
So I waited and waited, during the 2 years wait, my pain increased(left leg has numbness, tingly, soreness and back is like arthritis). Now I can't walk short/long distances, sit in one position, stand for short/long periods.
I went down to a walk-in clinic here in winter 2003/2004, since nobody was listening, or understanding me before, those doctors decided it was time for me to go for a CT Scan. I went for that in February 2004, when those results came back, I was referred to my orthopedic surgeon, who ordered a MRI, which was done in June 2004, he also gave me 2 options, which were back surgery but taking a high risk of undergoing future back surgeries or the Cortizone shot every 3 months for the rest of life but those shots could make the pain go away, but not heal me and could worsen things. But I now have my MRI results back and it says:
Technique:
A routine MRI of the lumbar spine was performed. No previous imaging available. There is some motion artifact on several of the sequences.
At L5-S1, there is a very large central/left paracentral focal disc protrusion. The disc extends posteriorly into the canal over approximately a 1 cm distance. In transverse dimension the herniated disc fragment measures approximately 2.1 cm. There is complete effacement of the thecal sac and severe mass effect upon the traversing left S1 nerve root. There also appears to be mass effect upon the traversing right S1 nerve root.
The remaining discs demontrate normal signal intensity and morphology. No central or neural foraminal stenosis at any other level. The lumbar vertebrae are normal aligned with normal marrow signal. I understand from the clinical history that there is a bilateral spondylolysis at L5. This is not readily apparent on the MRI. There is a mild scoliosis convex to the left.
The conus medullaris is difficult to evaluate due to motion artifact.
Summary:
Very large focal disc protrusion at L5-S1 with severe mass effect upon the thecal sac and traversing nerve root. The spondylolysis that is apparently present, is occult on MRI.
When my pain starts I have to bend and twist around to stretch my back and nerve, and most of the time I feel better for a while, but the pain always came back eventually. My left leg is the worse, but now my right leg is starting with the pain, near my thighs I feel it. It was never like that before. But a couple of days ago, I ran after my son for 2 seconds, and now the upper left leg has constant ache, could I have caused more nerve damage? My reflexes are normal in the right leg, but my left foot doesn't react like its supposed to, but my knees are fine. If you have any questions that could help me through all of this, ask away! Thank You for all your help!