Hi everyone,
I'm new here, so please be patient. I just went to a neurologist for a second visit after a cervical mri. He recommended me to a neurosurgeon, what does this mean, THAT I NEED SURGERY! For the past 8-10 months I have had problem walking and my hands being numb. In the recent 5-6 months the list got bigger and worse. I have tremors in my legs snd arms jump, index and middle fingers burn, palms of my hands hurt, middle back feels numb, elecrical sensstions down my arms and neither sitting or standing are a luxury at this time. How do you know if you have moderate or severe myyelopathy?
Can anyone help? THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!
Hi everyone,
I'm new here, so please be patient. I just went to a neurologist for a second visit after a cervical mri. He recommended me to a neurosurgeon, what does this mean, THAT I NEED SURGERY! For the past 8-10 months I have had problem walking and my hands being numb. In the recent 5-6 months the list got bigger and worse. I have tremors in my legs snd arms jump, index and middle fingers burn, palms of my hands hurt, middle back feels numb, elecrical sensstions down my arms and neither sitting or standing are a luxury at this time. How do you know if you have moderate or severe myyelopathy?
Can anyone help? THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!
You have a lot of the same stuff I'm dealing with. I would definitely get an appointment with a Neuro Surgeon. He/She can look at your MRI and tell you what's going on. For me it turns out I have Spinal Myelopathy due to 2 buldging discs. I know it's scary to think you may need surgery but better to go find out and get a second opinion if needed then to wait and have things continue to decline!
Hugs
The Following User Says Thank You to rockenmama For This Useful Post: kim1101 (11-23-2012)
You appear to have somewhat more than radiculopathy, which is when nerves are pinched immediately after leaving the spinal cord, and would affect only your shoulders, arms and hands. That you have trouble walking means that your spinal cord is itself being affected.
You need to see a surgeon, and you need to do it right away. Don't procrastinate and hope it gets better on its own.
If you want an explanation of the specifics of your MRI, post the report here....
. That you have trouble walking means that your spinal cord is itself being affected.
You need to see a surgeon, and you need to do it right away. Don't procrastinate and hope it gets better on its own.
If you want an explanation of the specifics of your MRI, post the report here....
This is what's going on with me. My cord compression is chronic. I was told by 2 different surgeons that surgery needed to be done asap since the spinal cord can only take so much AND the longer I wait the more chances that there is irreversable damage.
I had that too. I had severe pain plus weakness in my arms. My legs felt funny too.
And your doctors are right. Because I was jerked around by so many of them before finding one who was willing to do surgery my pain and weakness in my arms is permanent.
Last edited by Realhousewife; 11-23-2012 at 05:04 PM.
I had that too. I had severe pain plus weakness in my arms. My legs felt funny too.
And your doctors are right. Because I was jerked around by so many of them before finding one who was willing to do surgery my pain and weakness in my arms is permanent.
can you tell me how long you had it before getting surgery? I'm asking because I'm worried the same thing about me. Original injury was in 2001 however I fell on my face early last July and hyper extended my neck which caused the discs to be more on spinal cord. Had issue's within a week and it's been quickly down hill since then. Took me until October to finally get a cervical spine MRI since the doctors were barking up the wrong tree (they thought I had MS) and I was supposed to have surgery this past Monday however I couldn't get cardiac clearance. I'm hoping to be able to reschedule on Monday
Findings: The vertebral bodies are normal in height and normally aligned.
C2-3 level demonstrates a very small right paracentral dpur without effect on the cord or associated foraminal narrowing.
C3-4 also notable for tight paracentral spur and disk protrusion. There is no effect on the cord, but there is significant right foraminal narrowing.
C4-5 demonstrates a broad disk protrusion and spondylitic tidge. This is more prominent right of midline. This abuts the cord in the midline snd causes significant right foraminal narrowing. There is mild left foraminal narrowing at this level.
C5-6 demonstrates a large right paracentral disk protrusion abutting and markedly deforming the cord central and right of midline. Marked right foraminal narrowing associated with mild-to-moderate left foraminal narrowing related to unvovertebrsl joint overgrowth.
C6-7 demonstrates a small midline disk protrusion. This sbuts the cord, but there is no frank deformity of the cord surface. No significant foraminal narrowing related to this.
C7-T1 level is normal.
There is abnormal signal in the cervical cord demonstrated from mid C5 through mid C6. This is centered on the C5-6 disk space where there is a large right paracentral disk protrusion and spur deforming the cord. Presumably, this tepresents myelomalacia related to pressure effec. Elsewhere, the cord is normal in signsl characteristics. There is no syrinx.
Postcontrast images demonstrates no abnormal enhancement within the cord or elsewhere. The cervicomedullary junction is unremarkable.
To some extent, the import of the MRI report depends on what he means by "marked", which is not part of the minimal-mild-moderate-severe progression usually employed by radiologists. I'm going to infer from the context that "marked", to him, is one step worse than "moderate". Maybe he's using "marked" in place of "severe", and maybe he's saving "severe" for something even worse. Were it not for your symptoms, I might guess that "marked" has a more benign meaning. You can certainly judge that for yourself, though.
Anyway, that cord deformity at C5-6 seems to be the worst of it. All the foraminal narrowing would affect only what's downstream from the narrowing - that is, your shoulder, arm and hand - and only on the right side. Bilateral effects, and symptoms in the legs and feet, cannot be caused by your foraminal problems, but only by cord deformity.
Sending you to a surgeon does not necessarily mean you need surgery. Surgeons, though, by necessity, must be better than anyone else at reading MRI's (better even than the radiologists), and they are the ones who can make decisions about the need for surgery and what type of surgery might be employed.
My amateur's guess is that you will need to have that C5-6 disk removed and the C5 and C6 vertebrae fused. This is a pretty routine surgery and should result in minimal loss of axial range-of-motion. I would stress, though, that if you need it you need it now. Your condition has gone too long already. If you need further motivation, read up on myelomalacia.
I strongly recommend that you aim to get THREE opinions, even if you have to pay out of pocket. My suggestion would be to try to line up all three opinions now, as doing them in serial would result in too much elapsed time. And get absolutely the BEST surgeon you can find. While this may be a routine surgery, you do not want someone practicing on you.
Last edited by WebDozer; 11-24-2012 at 01:11 PM.
The following user gives a hug of support to WebDozer: kim1101 (11-24-2012)
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can you tell me how long you had it before getting surgery? I'm asking because I'm worried the same thing about me. Original injury was in 2001 however I fell on my face early last July and hyper extended my neck which caused the discs to be more on spinal cord. Had issue's within a week and it's been quickly down hill since then. Took me until October to finally get a cervical spine MRI since the doctors were barking up the wrong tree (they thought I had MS) and I was supposed to have surgery this past Monday however I couldn't get cardiac clearance. I'm hoping to be able to reschedule on Monday
Seven months. The longer the cord is compressed the less likely the symptoms are reversible. I had pain in my arms for all seven months but the weakness was something that happened practically overnight. The week before my surgery the neurological tests were fine-the day of surgery they weren't.
These doctors like to take the conservative route first. If you aren't having any neurological deficits than PT, epidurals and pain meds are tried first. Never mind the fact that if you have severe cord compression and any kind of minor accident you have a great chance of becoming paralyzed.
The following user gives a hug of support to Realhousewife: kim1101 (11-26-2012)
The Following User Says Thank You to Realhousewife For This Useful Post: kim1101 (11-26-2012)
I went to my GP today and she signed off on the paperwork. Sorry, I forgot to tell you
I just had turbt surgery for bladder cancer a few months ago and my urologist gave me the
Ok and was waiting for Gp. Now I can move forward.
Thanks Again!!!!!
I went to my GP today and she signed off on the paperwork. Sorry, I forgot to tell you
I just had turbt surgery for bladder cancer a few months ago and my urologist gave me the
Ok and was waiting for Gp. Now I can move forward.
Thanks Again!!!!!
Seven months. The longer the cord is compressed the less likely the symptoms are reversible. I had pain in my arms for all seven months but the weakness was something that happened practically overnight. The week before my surgery the neurological tests were fine-the day of surgery they weren't.
These doctors like to take the conservative route first. If you aren't having any neurological deficits than PT, epidurals and pain meds are tried first. Never mind the fact that if you have severe cord compression and any kind of minor accident you have a great chance of becoming paralyzed.
ya I've been having the pain as well as numbness/tingling for 5 months now and weakness for almost as long. The main reason they are wanting surgery ASAP is due to the greater chance of being paralyzed. The original cord injury was in late 2001 and when I fell in the early summer it exasburated (sp?) I fell twice in a week and they feel that it was due to cord compression injury so there's no telling exactly how long the cord has been compressed other than the fact that it has been flattened and has edema on it from swelling
Thanks for responding! Wish I could say I feel better but I don't *sigh*
Last edited by rockenmama; 11-26-2012 at 05:37 PM.
I went to my GP today and she signed off on the paperwork. Sorry, I forgot to tell you
I just had turbt surgery for bladder cancer a few months ago and my urologist gave me the
Ok and was waiting for Gp. Now I can move forward.
Thanks Again!!!!!
Glad to hear everything is in order and you can move forward!!! Can you keep fingers crossed that I get clearance tomorrow and can say the same thing??
Good luck to the both of you. Like Webdozer said, find a surgeon who is experienced in this type of surgery. Mine has over 30 years of it. You don't want some resident or fresh out of med school doctor. I know they have to start somewhere but don't be a guinea pig for any medical professional. If possible find one that does strictly spines or one that has spines as an area of specialty. If you get an orthopedic doctor make sure he isn't a "jack of all trades" and has a fellowship in spine surgery.
The following user gives a hug of support to Realhousewife: kim1101 (11-27-2012)
The Following User Says Thank You to Realhousewife For This Useful Post: kim1101 (11-27-2012)
