CHETNSUE
03-24-2005, 05:06 PM
Does anyone know about Myleograms and how they faired through the procedure? This is my next step in trying to figure out why I am still going numb after Suregery C5-C6-C7 ACDF. This took place on August of this year. I also had a Nerve Block on the C6 and the C7 area. I am now at this stage with the NS and the ORTHO telling me I need the Myelogram. My other option depending is the Nerve Stimulator. Please if anyone can tell me their thoughts I would really appreciate it. THANKS :confused:
Sponsor
kay1946
03-27-2005, 02:35 AM
Have had 3 myelograms. Last one was October 2002. Done as an outpatient and released an hour after the procedure. Didn't have any problems - just took it easy when I got home. Also showed the problem I had much clearer that the MRI.
Hope all goes well with your procedure. Good luck and keep us posted.
Hope all goes well with your procedure. Good luck and keep us posted.
CHETNSUE
03-31-2005, 04:54 PM
In addition my other symptoms I am now exhibiting pain in the shoulder area and top of the arms. It hurts to touch it or even wear a bra at times. Has anyone ever expierenced this. I am just getting worried that something else is going on and it is BAD news. Please help me in this matter, if you can.
Lyn in Michigan
03-31-2005, 10:51 PM
Chetnsue
Hi I just read your post and your story sounds very familiar. I had an ACDF on C5/6 & 7 Nov. 29 of 2003 for bulging discs, bone spurs, arthritis and degeneration and after the surgery I am still in the same pain. I have myolopathy in my left arm that runs down into my hand and my fingers go numb. My neurosurgeon told me that this should clear up after surgery but it might take up to a year, well it has been 15 months and my arm still aches and my fingers are still numb and tingly at times, especially when I am holding the phone for a few minutes or am typing on the computer. They seem to think that maybe I have fibromyalgia or chronic myofascial syndrome. It is not an easy way to find out is it!!! Now I had a "myelogram" 14 months later and the doctor told me that my second donor bone disintegrated but that was OK because my plate and pins were still in there and were holding my neck in place. (I am not sure I believe that but!!!) The myelogram was a bit uncomfortable but you will get through it. They say it is one of the best tests to tell what is going on. My doctor told me that if my pain didn't go away after the operation then he couldn't do much for me. First he offered me surgery and was going to take out my existing hardware and put in a new metal cage. When I started questioning him as to why when I came in 4 months after my surgery in pain that he didn't send me for a myelogram then. I upset him asking him too many questions so he told me that he couldn't do anything for me and to get a second opinion. This is my life, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to ask any questions!!! Oh well I am still in the same pain and now I am going for medial branch blocks into my facet joints because they think that is where the pain may be coming from. I had the first one done and got about 60% relief and then a week later had another one done and got about 40% relief. This is only a diagnostic test. They went into C3,4&5 for the blocks where those vertabraes are now degenerating and they said surgery would not help. They say they will now go under radio frequency and burn the nerves!!! I guess about now I will try anything. It is so confusing hearing so many different diagnosis (sp) from so many different doctors. I am so sick of listening to myself repeat my story and not getting any help.
Good Luck to you and if you have any other questions please feel free to post
to me.
Take care
Lyn In Michigan :angel:
Hi I just read your post and your story sounds very familiar. I had an ACDF on C5/6 & 7 Nov. 29 of 2003 for bulging discs, bone spurs, arthritis and degeneration and after the surgery I am still in the same pain. I have myolopathy in my left arm that runs down into my hand and my fingers go numb. My neurosurgeon told me that this should clear up after surgery but it might take up to a year, well it has been 15 months and my arm still aches and my fingers are still numb and tingly at times, especially when I am holding the phone for a few minutes or am typing on the computer. They seem to think that maybe I have fibromyalgia or chronic myofascial syndrome. It is not an easy way to find out is it!!! Now I had a "myelogram" 14 months later and the doctor told me that my second donor bone disintegrated but that was OK because my plate and pins were still in there and were holding my neck in place. (I am not sure I believe that but!!!) The myelogram was a bit uncomfortable but you will get through it. They say it is one of the best tests to tell what is going on. My doctor told me that if my pain didn't go away after the operation then he couldn't do much for me. First he offered me surgery and was going to take out my existing hardware and put in a new metal cage. When I started questioning him as to why when I came in 4 months after my surgery in pain that he didn't send me for a myelogram then. I upset him asking him too many questions so he told me that he couldn't do anything for me and to get a second opinion. This is my life, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to ask any questions!!! Oh well I am still in the same pain and now I am going for medial branch blocks into my facet joints because they think that is where the pain may be coming from. I had the first one done and got about 60% relief and then a week later had another one done and got about 40% relief. This is only a diagnostic test. They went into C3,4&5 for the blocks where those vertabraes are now degenerating and they said surgery would not help. They say they will now go under radio frequency and burn the nerves!!! I guess about now I will try anything. It is so confusing hearing so many different diagnosis (sp) from so many different doctors. I am so sick of listening to myself repeat my story and not getting any help.
Good Luck to you and if you have any other questions please feel free to post
to me.
Take care
Lyn In Michigan :angel:
CHETNSUE
04-01-2005, 12:49 PM
Chetnsue
Hi I just read your post and your story sounds very familiar. I had an ACDF on C5/6 & 7 Nov. 29 of 2003 for bulging discs, bone spurs, arthritis and degeneration and after the surgery I am still in the same pain. I have myolopathy in my left arm that runs down into my hand and my fingers go numb. My neurosurgeon told me that this should clear up after surgery but it might take up to a year, well it has been 15 months and my arm still aches and my fingers are still numb and tingly at times, especially when I am holding the phone for a few minutes or am typing on the computer. They seem to think that maybe I have fibromyalgia or chronic myofascial syndrome. It is not an easy way to find out is it!!! Now I had a "myelogram" 14 months later and the doctor told me that my second donor bone disintegrated but that was OK because my plate and pins were still in there and were holding my neck in place. (I am not sure I believe that but!!!) The myelogram was a bit uncomfortable but you will get through it. They say it is one of the best tests to tell what is going on. My doctor told me that if my pain didn't go away after the operation then he couldn't do much for me. First he offered me surgery and was going to take out my existing hardware and put in a new metal cage. When I started questioning him as to why when I came in 4 months after my surgery in pain that he didn't send me for a myelogram then. I upset him asking him too many questions so he told me that he couldn't do anything for me and to get a second opinion. This is my life, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to ask any questions!!! Oh well I am still in the same pain and now I am going for medial branch blocks into my facet joints because they think that is where the pain may be coming from. I had the first one done and got about 60% relief and then a week later had another one done and got about 40% relief. This is only a diagnostic test. They went into C3,4&5 for the blocks where those vertabraes are now degenerating and they said surgery would not help. They say they will now go under radio frequency and burn the nerves!!! I guess about now I will try anything. It is so confusing hearing so many different diagnosis (sp) from so many different doctors. I am so sick of listening to myself repeat my story and not getting any help.
Good Luck to you and if you have any other questions please feel free to post
to me.
Take care
Lyn In Michigan :angel:
Well according what the NS, Ortho and PM say after the Myleogram depends on what the next step is. If there is a problem then there is talk of surgery to reapir the nerves. Or whatever is the problem. If there is no problem then I am to have a Trial basis on the Spinal Stimulator. please let me know all your thoughts. Any one can please help. I need the comforting. I am so scared, with all the numbing an pain I am going thru. :confused:
Hi I just read your post and your story sounds very familiar. I had an ACDF on C5/6 & 7 Nov. 29 of 2003 for bulging discs, bone spurs, arthritis and degeneration and after the surgery I am still in the same pain. I have myolopathy in my left arm that runs down into my hand and my fingers go numb. My neurosurgeon told me that this should clear up after surgery but it might take up to a year, well it has been 15 months and my arm still aches and my fingers are still numb and tingly at times, especially when I am holding the phone for a few minutes or am typing on the computer. They seem to think that maybe I have fibromyalgia or chronic myofascial syndrome. It is not an easy way to find out is it!!! Now I had a "myelogram" 14 months later and the doctor told me that my second donor bone disintegrated but that was OK because my plate and pins were still in there and were holding my neck in place. (I am not sure I believe that but!!!) The myelogram was a bit uncomfortable but you will get through it. They say it is one of the best tests to tell what is going on. My doctor told me that if my pain didn't go away after the operation then he couldn't do much for me. First he offered me surgery and was going to take out my existing hardware and put in a new metal cage. When I started questioning him as to why when I came in 4 months after my surgery in pain that he didn't send me for a myelogram then. I upset him asking him too many questions so he told me that he couldn't do anything for me and to get a second opinion. This is my life, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to ask any questions!!! Oh well I am still in the same pain and now I am going for medial branch blocks into my facet joints because they think that is where the pain may be coming from. I had the first one done and got about 60% relief and then a week later had another one done and got about 40% relief. This is only a diagnostic test. They went into C3,4&5 for the blocks where those vertabraes are now degenerating and they said surgery would not help. They say they will now go under radio frequency and burn the nerves!!! I guess about now I will try anything. It is so confusing hearing so many different diagnosis (sp) from so many different doctors. I am so sick of listening to myself repeat my story and not getting any help.
Good Luck to you and if you have any other questions please feel free to post
to me.
Take care
Lyn In Michigan :angel:
Well according what the NS, Ortho and PM say after the Myleogram depends on what the next step is. If there is a problem then there is talk of surgery to reapir the nerves. Or whatever is the problem. If there is no problem then I am to have a Trial basis on the Spinal Stimulator. please let me know all your thoughts. Any one can please help. I need the comforting. I am so scared, with all the numbing an pain I am going thru. :confused:
valleygurl
04-01-2005, 05:34 PM
I read your post and thought i would share my experience with you. I herniated at C 4-5 and 5-6. The pain and symptoms you are describing sounds like i felt at the time i initially herniated. I had a myelogram prior to surgery and then had my surgery on 4/5/04. I had a ACDF with titanium cages and bone matrix.
I am not trying to scare you anymore than what you already are but when i had the myelogram it was absolutely horrible. I could tolerate the needle going in but when they injected the dye it was really weird. I could feel the dye going in and i could absolutely feel the dye traveling up and down my spine and it was sooooooo painful.
Since the surgery i am still in a great deal of pain everyday. The pain is worse now than before the surgery. I kept telling the NS about the pain and all he kept telling me was that he had a 100% success rate with this type of surgery. Finally he agreed to investigate where the pain was coming from and he ordered another myelogram. I was mortified!!!!!!
So i went in for the myelogram, i was all prepped and medicated for it, they put me on the table and the NS had the needle in his hand getting ready to insert it when i reminded the NS of my previous myelogram and how painful the dye was. He then said, " forget it, i am not doing it. I am not going to chance it". He then ordered a CT instead. I still wonder what he meant when he said he didnt want to chance it.
Anyway, according to my doctors myelogram protocol after you recover in the recovery room and sent home, you must remain on total bedrest with a couple pillows under your head to raise you up a bit for a total of 24 hours ONLY getting out of bed to use the bathroom. The reason for that is to avoid a spinal fluid leak or a spinal headache. I didnt have any problems with that however i did suffer long term pain at the needle puncture sight in my back.
If you need a myelogram to get to the root of your problem then it is well worth it. They show the doctors so much. Luckily when i had the CT it showed the doctor that i did indeed have a reason for the pain i was experiencing. I wish you lots of luck!
ValleyGurl
I am not trying to scare you anymore than what you already are but when i had the myelogram it was absolutely horrible. I could tolerate the needle going in but when they injected the dye it was really weird. I could feel the dye going in and i could absolutely feel the dye traveling up and down my spine and it was sooooooo painful.
Since the surgery i am still in a great deal of pain everyday. The pain is worse now than before the surgery. I kept telling the NS about the pain and all he kept telling me was that he had a 100% success rate with this type of surgery. Finally he agreed to investigate where the pain was coming from and he ordered another myelogram. I was mortified!!!!!!
So i went in for the myelogram, i was all prepped and medicated for it, they put me on the table and the NS had the needle in his hand getting ready to insert it when i reminded the NS of my previous myelogram and how painful the dye was. He then said, " forget it, i am not doing it. I am not going to chance it". He then ordered a CT instead. I still wonder what he meant when he said he didnt want to chance it.
Anyway, according to my doctors myelogram protocol after you recover in the recovery room and sent home, you must remain on total bedrest with a couple pillows under your head to raise you up a bit for a total of 24 hours ONLY getting out of bed to use the bathroom. The reason for that is to avoid a spinal fluid leak or a spinal headache. I didnt have any problems with that however i did suffer long term pain at the needle puncture sight in my back.
If you need a myelogram to get to the root of your problem then it is well worth it. They show the doctors so much. Luckily when i had the CT it showed the doctor that i did indeed have a reason for the pain i was experiencing. I wish you lots of luck!
ValleyGurl
CHETNSUE
04-01-2005, 06:08 PM
Thanks for the input. I just hope that I don't have to go thru Surgery on my neck again. I know that it would be different from I originally had, ACDF w/ own Bone. C5,C6 and C7 area. This was done on 8/04/05. For the most part the surgery helped all my symptoms, but this is a new one. I mean I had numbing but it wasn't when I laid down, nor di the pain radiate in the shoulders on out. This pain is something new all together. Some days are worse than others, pain level sits at around 7 to 8.
tgent
04-01-2005, 10:03 PM
Anytime you hear someone say I'm not trying to scare but..take it with a grain of salt. I will tell you my personal experience with two myelograms. The first one showed what the neuro surgeon suspected.The c3-c4/c4-c5/c5-c6 discs had to be replaced with cadaver done and even more work was done in the spine. Dec 08,2004 I had ACDF 3 levels and only stayed 1 &1/2 days in hospital. At home, 6 weeks later, I was still hurting in the back of my neck so the doc ordered a 2nd myelogram. The nurse taking all of my info before the procedure learned from me and records that I had a previous one and she asked if I was nervous and I said yes. She then gave me a shot of demerol in the rear end and I did not feel any pain not did I really care what was happening. The procedure only takes a few minutes then they wheel you out into the makeshift recovery room(Hallway with the curtains drawn) and snoozed for about 2 hrs then they sent me home, on the passenger side of my car. They do say to go to bed for 24 hrs. I laid back in my recliner for a while, then went to bed and woke up the next day and felt fine. The 2nd myelogram reveiled a protruding disc c6-c7 which was not operated on before. Also the doc that does your myelogram in Tn. is an anesthesiologist. By the way I am a 59 yr old male, if that matters.... Good luck...
CHETNSUE
04-07-2005, 10:19 AM
dizzy: Well tomorrow is my Myleogram and I am kinda anxious about having this procedure done. Anything that has to do with the Spinal canal I feel uncomfortable, and leary about having something done in that area. I have an Appointment with the Pain Management Doc on Tues and the on the 18th I have an appointment with the NS. I will then know for sure what the heck is going on in my Neck. I will write back and let you know how the Test went. :confused: :
gaugreg1x
04-07-2005, 07:43 PM
Greetings.. I had ACDF of C5-6 on June 30,2004, and am still having considerable pain (no numbness at least). Several weeks ago believing the pain to be primarily muscular, the neurologist injected Botox into several areas. Unfortunately this, (hopefully just temporarily) has made things much worse. I see him again tommorow, and am going to discuss getting a myelogram, so let me know how yours goes.
Greg
Greg
CHETNSUE
04-11-2005, 11:55 AM
Well to let you know that I am not a happy camper......I had the test done on Friday and it was painful and uncomfortable. My head hurts and my back and shoulders hurt also. When they numbed me I figured I would not feel too much, I was wrong.....when he put the needle in I squirmed and grunted and sighed. I told him that it hurt on my right side and then when they tilted the table into the dive position I had a horrible headache and started seeing funny things. the sight thing only lasted about an hour but I still hurt in the head and shoulders and part of my back. I go see the PM tomorrow and hopefully he can tell me what the films say. I am scared to find out what is going to happen next. This is one test I would not wish upon my worst enemy. :nono:
CHETNSUE
04-13-2005, 03:45 PM
This is to let you know what the PM Doc had said: He said that the results showed that there were nonew problems and no blockages. That in itself is great news, but that does not help me with my numbness and pain I am still having. He then said since the NS had said if there were no problems on the Myleogram then we proceed with the Spinal Cord Stimulator Trial. This will take place on 4/25. Now like I said it is a trial and I will have it in me for roughly 1 week or so to see if there will be any improvement. If there is at least a 50% or more than I will be getting the real deal put in permanently.
Does any one know anything about these and does anyone have one that can enlighten me about what I am going to be undergoing. Also I hve to have a Psychological eval for this to be done. I am scared and excited about this. Please anyone who can give me insight I would gtreatly appreciate it. Thanks.
Susan :wave: :angel: :bouncing:
Does any one know anything about these and does anyone have one that can enlighten me about what I am going to be undergoing. Also I hve to have a Psychological eval for this to be done. I am scared and excited about this. Please anyone who can give me insight I would gtreatly appreciate it. Thanks.
Susan :wave: :angel: :bouncing: