this message board is absolutely awesome

[donteventhinkaboutit]

hi everyone,
i just thought i would put in my note to say i wish i knew this place when i had my surgery in feb. 98, fusion in c5-6 and c6-7 with plate and my own bone graft. everyne is so nice here and the answers to questions that can be found are just absolutely amazing!
well my surgery has been like i said in 98 and i was never really relieved of any pain it was either mild or just totally unbearable. well needless to say i got a not so friendly doc and he has put me through hell ever since. after all this time i finally decided to show up at a different hospital without my records. i felt like other docs would read my file first and make their determination on my file.
well no lie i think i waited about an hour i was sent to xrays and believe it or not they found the problem that no one else seemed to find. between c6-7 never healed so this whole time my neck has been unstable and the cause of my pain. it got so bad for me that after all this time and everone saying everything is ok i thought i was going crazy. i actually went to counceling! i started to think that i was going crazy.
anyway i will be going in for more surgery soon and hopefully this will give me better results.

i just want to add that this board is just the best thing i ever came across, because even though you try to explain to people how you feel it just doesn't seem that some people really understand unless they have been through it. the depression that this alone caused was just awful. but i have been on here the last couple of day and reading some messages and it is nice to know that after all this i am not going nuts!!!

i wish everyone well
thanks for listening
andrea

[IonMan]

Welcome to the board. I hope things work out better for you this time round!!

Cheers
Cliff

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Cervical myelopathy with frank cord compression from bony impingement.
22 Apr 03 C5 corpectomy, a C4/6 strut graft with allograft bone & titanium hardware.
15 May 03 Heart Attack, 16 May 03 Balloon Angioplasty & Stent implanted.

[KeithEugeneW]

I'm so glad you finally got the fresh look at your neck so that they could find the obvious. Too many doctors who had preconceived notions of what was there could not see what was the problem, it was easier to say you were nuts instead. I know from my own experience that I suspect that my wife and a couple of friends thought my neck and shoulder pain were all in my head. After my wife went to the surgeon's office with me and saw the x-rays and MRI's, and heard what the doctor had to say, she finally saw what the train wreck in my neck looked like and maybe she finally understands. I was even starting to doubt myself at the beginning, before I had the MRI, thinking maybe this whole thing wasn't really that bad and that it was all just my imagination taking over and causing the pain. Now if I could just get my mind to believe nothing is wrong and ignore the pain, I could dump all these pills and I'd be all set! Good luck to you on your second fusion attempt. I know they have some devices out now that you can wear that help aid the fusion process, so you probably want to ask about those. I understand smoking hinders fusion also, so if you can, try to quit smoking for at least the healing time, if you smoke. Please keep posting and let us know how this works out for you!
Keith

[melanie dawn]

Andrea,
I am so glad you found the board and I would like to welcome you aboard!!This is truly a wonderful place, and the level of support and caring by members is amazing.
Good for you , going to a hospital without records. I too have been given the "it must be in my head routine". This is one of the worst offences that the medical community can do to a patient, not to beleive them, and to discredit their pain is so damaging. I am glad that you have found the answers to your pain, and that the upcoming surgery will give you the much deserved relief.
Mel

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Congenital Cervical Stenosis,complicated by:
Paracentral Disc herniations ,bone spurs C4/5,C5/6,C6/7
Advanced myelopathy inc. walking difficulty, loss of gag reflex with swallowing problems, neurogenic bladder, occipital neuralgia, spacticity

[This message has been edited by melanie dawn (edited 06-03-2003).]

[joprud]

Hi Andrea,

Just wanted to pop in and say WELCOME...Sorry that you too went through the "it must be in my head routine"...GRRR...I wish you all the best on your upcoming surgery...Again, welcome aboard.

Take Care,
Joanne

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• Sept‘63,fall on back on stairs,compression fractures of T6 and T8
• 1993 X-ray Diagnosed DDD
• Nov,2002 MRI C4-C5 posterior osteophytic bar effacing ventral thecal sac, stenosis of neural foramina.C5-C6 posterior disc protrusion effacing VTS. Stenosis of neural foramina.C6-C7 posterior disc herniation effacing VTS.stenosis of neural foramina.C7-T1perineural cysts in both neural foramina.left convex scoliosis mid thoracic spine.wedging of T7. wedging of T5.degen.end plate changes at T8-T9. L4-L5 diffuse disc bulge effacing VTS.hypertrophy of facet joints,central spinal stenosis.L5-S1 posterior disc protrusion with associated tear of annulus fibrosis. hypertrophy of facet joints.S1-S2 Perineural cysts involving S1-S2 nerve roots.
• So far have tried: meds,physio,acupuncture all to no avail.