Reply To: Advice please

I have and have had stenosis. In my case, the recommendation for cervical level spinal surgery came years before a diagnosis for CIDP. I did have cervical surgery.

Following surgery several things happened.

1. The neurosurgeon stated emphatically, “..the areas where you have trouble have nothing to do with the region I operated on.”

2. The neurosurgeon had his nurse tell me, “Do not return or attempt to get an appointment without a referral from a neurologist.”

3. The ensuing nerve conduction (NVC) and muscle testing (EMG) operators all wrote in their reports something such as this- “…cervical radiculopathy, resolving.’ It is my belief they said so based on a bias of knowing about the cervical surgery.

Well, they were all wrong and he was impolite, at best.

I. too, would be reluctant to undergo surgery understanding that there is another possible cause of radiculopathy. On, the other hand, if you have nerve root pinching and smashing going on at the levels being considered for surgery I would ask more than one doctor, “show me and get the nerve tests results for that area.”

No matter the cause, nerve compression and damage left untreated does not bode well for a healthy future.