Neck fusions

    • Anonymous
      June 26, 2006 at 3:25 pm

      I don’t know if my headaches are inspired by CIDP or slippage in vertebrae C6 and C7. I do have both. :confused:

      When I saw my neuro last Jan. he suggested I might want to get a fusion.:eek:

      My question: Have any of you out there had this done? And if yes, how did it turn out? 🙁

    • Anonymous
      June 26, 2006 at 4:09 pm

      hi have you tried pain management techniques for your neck? there are a couple that i have done and they worked. it does depend on what the problem is and so forth but you might want to look into all your alternatives before doing a risky surgery like fusing. one therapy i used was called prolo therapy. it sounds and feels worst then it really is. i got over 75 injections in the base of my head/neck ocipital areas. these injections are just like sugar injections, they actually make the area think it has a new injury and repairs itself to make the tendons and ligaments stronger in the process. my neck is now 60 percent stronger then what it was prior to therapy. in another part of my back i did the pain injections, they worked well but i didn’t get to get the third injection because i came down with gbs the morning i was supposed to get my last one. i would recommend them anyway. surgery was my last choice and chance of being pain free and that isn’t a garuanteed result with fusion surgery anyway. take care.:)

    • Anonymous
      June 26, 2006 at 5:19 pm

      Dear Angel
      Thanks for your comments. My app’t with my neuro is aug 23. I am going to search as much as I can before then. I have a good doc. patient relationship with this doc. I will talk about all my options, whatever they are. I have already been through a bunch of them w/o satisfaction
      🙂
      Be well
      Patricia

    • Anonymous
      July 6, 2006 at 11:20 am

      I had problems with I think it was my C6. My discs had actually compressed. What they did was they removed the back part of the discs and then put a piece of donor bone in between the discs to separate to the appropriate distance. They then put a metal plate with screws to hold into place so that is could fuse all by itself. That was almost 2 years ago and I haven’t had any problems once I recovered from the surgery. The problem I had pre-surgery was actually severe pain in my back between my shoulder blades causing problems using espcially my left arm because it hurt so much.

    • Anonymous
      July 6, 2006 at 1:24 pm

      Thanks for the comments and explaining what happens.

      Patricia

    • Anonymous
      July 6, 2006 at 1:35 pm

      Patricia,

      I awoke January 3rd 2004 unable to turn my head. I had numbness in both hands and a pain radiating across my shoulder down to my elbow. I also had pain going to the top of my head. Subsequent MRIs showed herniated discs C3-C7 and Stenosis of the vertabrae. March 1st of 2004 my surgeon did an anterior cervical fusion C3-C7. This was done by jacking the vertabrae apart and inserting cadaver bone wafers. A titanium plate and screws were applied to complete the fusion. I recovered the feeling in my hands and the pain was alleviated. I was still having some problem with my right leg and foot. The MRI showed a bruise on the spinal chord. They suspected this may be the cause of the problem in the leg. I struggled getting around using a cane. After falling several times, I was given an AFO for the right foot. I found this cumbersome and impossible to drive. Upon seeing my primary care physician after one of my falls, he said he didn’t like the way I was walking. He sent me back to the surgeon. The surgeon sent me to a neurosurgeon for a second opinion. They decided that the stenosis could be causing the problem with my gait and that I needed a second surgery. Sept 10th they conducted a posterior approach cervical lamenectomy and fusion. I was laid up for about 2 months and had no improvement to my gait. I was taking physical therapy and I was riding my recumbent exercycle 30 minutes daily. But I was still unable to walk without support. I got a rolling walker and returned to work. The next time I saw my Primary care physician I had fallen again. He said I needed to get more aggressive with my recovery or I would end up paralyzed.
      I signed on again with physical therapy. I was getting stretched and and exercising to improve my leg strength and core muscles. The problem being that the more I exercised the worse I was getting. My therapist said I might not get any better. I agreed I was getting worse. Returning to the surgeon, he sent me another round of MRIs Brain to Tail. Reviewing them he said that I had been through enough and another surgery wasn’t warranted. He referred me to Neuro. I went to the neurologist and he suggested I have a nerve conduction study. I then saw the neurosurgeon and he suggested I might have NPH. I returned to the neurologist and he said he didn’t agree. He ran the EMG and said that my nerves were weak and slow. Set me up for a spinal Tap. The results of the Spinal tap showed Inflamation and he diagnosed CIDP. I was set up for IVIG therapy in December. I had a minor increase in strength and felt a little better overall. I had another round in January and again in February. No change after either and I was continuing to weaken. In March he started me on High dose Prednisone(60mg). I have continued to weaken. I no longer can do stairs and I have given up the walker and taken on the wheelchair. He is weaning me from the prednisone and referring me to another neurologist. I am currently awaiting an appointment with him. Sorry for the long story but I just never have put it down to words. I feel the surgery was successful in aleviating the pain and numbness I had prior. The CIDP had compromised my recovery. Since you already have CIDP I don’t know what to advise. If it’s just a herniated disc Physical therapy might be benificial.

      Good luck and God Bless

    • Anonymous
      July 16, 2006 at 10:15 pm

      rbtro
      This is a really late response to your message. It gives a lot to think about. My CIDP must be a slow mover because I had my dx in 1987. Of course that was years after I had my dx that there was “nothing wrong”. :rolleyes:
      I do have several other problems: fibromyalgia, Chronic myofacial pain, migraine, old age, probably the cause of them all.

      My comic husband always said he wanted to die young and have a good looking corpse. He made it to 74 after 10 years of Alzeimer’s. That took a toll on me–36 hour days, as they say.

      I’m waiting for my app’t with my neuro, about 4 weeks from now; I plan to discuss options. Maybe there is a less severe treatment that would help. (I am basically a coward.)

      It sounds like you have worse problems than me.

      Thanks and take care
      Patricia