 Neurosurgeon appointment Monday
Hello to everyone. I have never done any kind of post to a board before so advance apologies for improper etiquette. So here is my situation. Diagnosed with fibromyalgia.. 2 years ago went on Savella... At first it was great as a nerve block but over time had some unpleasant side effects so i have weaned off of it...this has been about 2 months ago... Meanwhile 6 months ago I fell in the tub and landed flat on my back even through the Savella i noticed pain at mid back and behind my left shoulder blade and at the base of my skull, also low back pain intermittent ... also my fine motor skills are compromised the general practitioner ordered MRI of my back. Below are the results. I cannot take narcotics ( side effects) nausea etc, have tried the tramadol and all those, don't seem to respond well to those either. I am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and had surgery for something similar? I am only 46 but feel 86 and don't want to be drugged my whole life. I am seeing the neurosurgeon Monday and would like to make sense of these MRI and be able to have an intelligent voice in what to ask for please help... Thank you :-)
MRI c spine results C SPINE
FINDINGS: Mild degenerative disc disease C3-C4 and C4-C5. Vertebral body height
and alignment unremarkable. Minimal hypertrophic degenerative changes C1-C2.
Predental and prevertebral space preserved. Posterior central and far right
paracentral disc protrusion hooded by spur occurring at the C3-C4 segment.
Greatest diameter of the posterior disc spur complex occuring right
paracentrally measuring 5.1 mm. This process is causing moderate right
subarticular facet recess stenosis. It is also causing severe right foraminal
stenosis with marked right exiting nerve root effacement. No significant thecal
sac or cord effacement. Moderate left foraminal stenosis also present at t
level with mild left exiting root nerve effacement.
No other areas of posterior disc herniation seen. Spinal cord free of
intramedullary abnormal signal. Visualized brain structures at skull base
unremarkable. Paravertebral soft tissues unremarkable.
Lumbar MRI
HISTORY: Status post fall 6 months ago.
COMPARISON: None
TECHNIQUE: The examination was performed on the GE Signa 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner.
Sagittal fast recovery fast spin echo proton density, sagittal fast recovery
fast spin echo T2 fat suppressed, axial T1 weighted conventional spin echo, and
axial fast recovery fast spin echo T2 weighted images were obtained.
FINDINGS: The paraspinal soft tissues are unremarkable. Vertebral body heights
and alignment are maintained. Bone marrow signal is unremarkable. Conus
medullaris terminates at T12-L1. There is mild L5-S1 disc space height loss and
disc desiccation.
The following levels were evaluated axially:
At L3-4, there is no evidence of spinal stenosis or neural foraminal narrowing.
At L4-L5, there is mild broad-based posterior disc bulge. There is no evidence
of spinal stenosis or neural foraminal narrowing.
At L5-S1, there is minimal posterior disc bulge. There is no evidence of spinal
stenosis or neural foraminal narrowing.
Impression:
IMPRESSION: Minimal lower lumbar spine degenerative changes. No evidence of
spinal stenosis or neural foraminal narrowing. No acute abnormalities
identified.
MRI THORASIC SPINE SPINE WITHOUT IV CONTRAST, 2/28/2013 6:02 PM
INDICATION: Thoracic spine pain
TECHNIQUE: Images were obtained of the spine spine with multiple pulse
sequences in multiple projections without IV contrast.
FINDINGS:
There is no acute bone edema. The spinal cord is normal. The spinal canal is
patent. There is no significant foraminal narrowing. There is slight kyphosis
due to mild disc narrowing in the central spine. There is slight wedging of T6
vertebral body but this is an old finding. The paravertebral soft tissues look
normal.
Impression:
IMPRESSION:
1. No acute spine process.
2. Minimal disc narrowing without significant spinal canal or foraminal
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