View Full Version : 2-level cervical ADR with Dr Clavel in 2 days
Well, after everything I am finally here in Barcelona for my 2-level
cervical ADR (m-6 used in c3/4 and c4/5). I spent a few days in London "on holiday" before flying here, which was wonderful. Elaine & a taxi driver picked me up at the airport yesterday & took me to my hotel, The Mirror. It is very white & modern with lots of mirrors (not sure how much I'll like this after surgery!). Elaine is new to Dr Clavel but seems very nice. She sent me an email a few hours after dropping me off with a few restaurant suggestions and an offer of her tour services.
This morning I was picked up at the hotel by a taxi driver that Yolanda had arranged & he took me to Hospital Quiron for my pre-op. Yolanda is very nice. She efficiently brought me to a nurse who took my blood pressure & then gave me an EKG, then to a doctor who took my history & listened to my chest (yes, doctor, not nurse), then to radiology for chest X-rays, then to phlebotomy to get my blood drawn, and then finally to meet with Dr Clavel.
Dr Clavel is very calm & kind. Another doctor sat in with us as well, but Clavel himself will be doing the entire surgery. He checked my reflexes & my right side was indicative of nerve damage. He said that should all improve after the surgery, many things immediately, others will take a little longer. My biggest pain after will be my throat because of the surgery incision itself, and I may have some issues swallowing for a day or two after. Soft collar for 7-10 days to prevent any issues if I fall or get hit hard. Those are the major concerns for the next 2-3 months (falling & getting hit). I can use my neck & muscles right away, no restrictions. Amazing. Walking is very good, and they encourage me to walk around Barcelona as much as I am able.
Surgery is 1.5-2 hours, then 1-2 hours to recover from anesthesia, then to my room where my husband & I will stay until Sat am (he will have a bed). The hospital is new & modern and Yolanda said the nurses can accommodate my food preferences (I don't eat beef or pork). I have a feeling it will be very different than my US hospital experiences.
The taxi will pick us up at 7:15 am on Thursday & my surgery is right away that morning.
So that's the scoop. My husband is flying in from his Paris business trip tonight & I am going to head out to Las Ramblas now to eat & drink while I still can!
Amy
Buckeyeback
01-08-2013, 08:27 PM
You'll do just great, Amy! Dr. Clavel is a real professional. I like him a lot. It will be exciting to get rid of that demon (nerve pain) won't it? Enjoy the city, it is very nice. Good luck and let us know how you are doing when you can.
~Buckeyeback
mcjagger
01-08-2013, 08:54 PM
Your in great hands Amy...Estrallea and the rest of the nurses are great...stay ahead of the pain while at the hospital.....enjoy Barcelona while you are there, it is a great city....I'm trying to find an excuse to go back for my 1 year xrays :):).....go luck and wishing you a fast recovery!!!
pelada
01-09-2013, 02:23 AM
Good luck. I hope all goes well.
Amy,
You're going to do great tomorrow!
Good luck, Jeff
Thanks all. I am a little nervous, anxious and excited to get this over & be out of pain. I will try to post in the next few days with an update. For those of you who have been to BCN, any restaurant or sight-seeing tips? We'll be here for a week after surgery & hopefully I'll be feeling well enough to get out & about. :)
Most of Antoni Gaudi's work is in Barcelona and we visited the bulk of it. Easily our favorite was Parc Guell where we spent two days just strolling the grounds. After that we most enjoyed his magnum opus, the Familia Sangrada cathedral; which is still under construction over 100 years after the foundation was laid. After that ... probably just strolling the city, enjoying the architecture and ambiance.
Above all I enjoyed being able to open doors again, unaided and without pain.
Good luck, Jeff
2Confused
01-09-2013, 10:39 PM
Amy,
You will do great!! I loved dr. Clavel and his staff. I had never had any kind of surgery before & the only other time in an hospital was to have a baby. I must say, I think the experience, the incredible care and the team Clavel has spoiled me, not sure how I will feel about being in an American hospital should the need arise. Both my husband & I were totally impressed - with everything!
It has been 11 weeks today since my 2 level ADR with Dr. Clavel - my neck is great, although there is som residual nerve pain which comes & goes. I am hopeful that with time that too shall go away. If I "over do it", I get achy, muscles & possibly tendons below my neck, but stretching & rest stops the aches & pains fairly quickly.
Going to Dr. Clavel, getting the M6 discs is one of the best decisions I've ever made! Ranks right up there with marrying the most wonderful man!!! :clap::clap:
Good luck and keep us posted!!
mcjagger
01-10-2013, 11:44 PM
Hi Amy,
It's McJagger's wife, I just wanted to let you know that we hope you had great success today. James had his surgery on May 17th and we haven't looked back. It is truly a miracle and we hope & pray that Dr.Clavel has once again given another their life back. James was great when he first got out of surgery, you can search out his posts. The staff were so wonderful. I can't say enough great things about Dr. Clavel, Yolanda, Estrella .....I cried when we left the hospital. We hope to return soon to see everyone.
It truly is amazing how Dr. Clavel can put your mind at ease, before you know it, you'll be out enjoying the sights in Barcelona. We fell in love with the city. We met some other wonderful Americans while in hospital - we were in 501 at the end of the hall - truly felt like celebrities in the end suite...beside us was Steve (who had 3 levels done) & Sheila (an angel) then Mark & his beautiful wife Tamzin (sorry, I think I've spelled incorrect)... We all went to dinner at Cerveceria Cantalana address is Carrer de Mallorca, 236, 08008. Thanks to Mark for finding this place on Yelp. James & I went there again on our own. Food is so delicious and the price is great. The other place we enjoyed was Rias de Galicia - absolutely incredible meal. We went with the set menu & tried several things that we would not have if we didn't go with the set menu. Very tasty! Just a couple blocks from this restaurant is a fountain show. Very beautiful but if my memory serves me correctly - it is only on Thursdays, Fridays & Saturday....also near by is an old bull fighting arena that they made into a shopping mall.
We stayed at the Hilton by the beach. I travel a lot with my job so points came in handy. It is a great place for walking and there is a shopping mall across with a great Italian place called La Tagliatella. Tons of food - one entree can easily feed 2 and very economical. Also in the mall, there is a place called El campo, we called it Walmarto. Awesome price on food and the wine section was unbelievable.....I got lost in there. :jacks:
Park Guell was incredible.
Praying for a pleasant quick recovery from surgery! Like everyone says, take it nice & slow. James did and he's back to work healthy & pain free. :wiggle:
Be well,
Shirley
Hi all,
It's about 30 hours post-op now and I am doing well with my two new biotic M-6s. Dr Clavel was able to remove the ossification as well as the damaged discs, so the surgery was a complete success! I can feel some relief in my right hand & arm but my neck & right shoulder is still sore. Apparently part of the neck soreness is muscle strain from how you are positioned during the surgery, so hopefully that will be gone by tomorrow. I've been trying to stay ahead of the pain, but some of the pain meds make me nauseous, so I've also had anti-nausea meds.
I am also in Room 501! Beautiful views of the Mediterrian out one window, and from the "living room" you can see a castle! Very cool. We haven't ventured out of the room yet, so haven't met any other patients. I did meet Estrella when we checked in yesterday am, but haven't seen her since. The nurses are all very kind. We had a translator last night named Marco, who was also very kind. It's uncomfortable to swallow, so I haven't eaten much, and the food they've offered is just like US hospital food, so I haven't really been tempted either.
Thank you for the suggestions on things to do this upcoming week. Cerveceria Cantalana is also on my list of restaurants! Glad to hear first-hand that it's good.
I haven't sen Dr Clavel yet today, but one if his associates stopped by earlier - I forget her name - and she said he'd be by this afternoon. He is a very kind man that calms & comforts me with his demeanor & skill. I really feel like this was the right decision!
Buckeyeback
01-11-2013, 12:19 PM
So glad to hear that you are getting along well after surgery. Dr. Clavel is quite a man. I too was in room 501. I watched a little bit of soccer from the window during my room walks. :) Getting back to 100% may take awhile for you. Don't get discouraged if it takes longer than you expect. It took awhile to get messed up and all your soft tissues have to get used to moving properly again. I wish you all the best. :)
~Buckeyeback
Amy,
Congratulations on a successful surgery and welcome to the other side! I hope they have you up and around soon; that helped me feel better fast. Wishing you luck on swallowing, hoping that you'll be up to touring Barcelona and that you're recovery will be as successful as was your surgery.
Good luck, Jeff
CanadianDean
01-11-2013, 04:12 PM
Great news! Welcome to the other side.
Dean
dustman9725
01-11-2013, 05:13 PM
Amy great news...Congrats. From what they say, it will be like a new life. Makes me smile. Don't overdo it and continued luck! ;)
Dustin
Hi all,
I'm about 65 hours post-op. I was released from the hospital about 11:45 am yesterday. It's good to be back at the hotel. The physical therapist came & helped me with some stretching & massaging. I have quite a bit of pain on the right side of my neck & my right shoulder. It helps a little if my husband rubs it deeply, but he can't do that 24/7 and the meds aren't doing much so it's 2:30 am and I'm wide awake (even tho I took a sedative at 11 am, per Yolanda's instructions). It hurts as much if not more than it did before surgery, and it's constant. The pt said my body needs to get used to my discs having the right amount of space again but ouch! How long did this last for you all? The swallowing is getting better, I can now feel swallows more in the back of my neck than the front, as I did at first. But this shoulder & neck pain is really tough to deal with. Suggestions/advice?
s7umks
01-13-2013, 01:24 PM
Amy,
Your symptoms sound very much like the ones I had when I had my two level m6c with Dr. Clavel last May. For me, I identified it as distraction pain. Meaning that with the two implants my neck grew 1/4" over the height of about an 1". I saw it as the nerves stretching beyond the amount that was comfortable. I woke each morning in Barcelona with a pain level of 6-7 which got my attention.
This pain decreased to zero in 4-5 weeks. I found that when I was walking that the pain greatly diminished and that waking from a nights sleep was my hardest time of the day. As long as I was moving I was fine. Subsequently, I had a strong inducement to walk all over Barcelona. I took Celebrex and the acetaminophen (from the hospital) and that seemed to help. Please check with Clavel about the Celebrex. He was ok with my taking it but he might have another thought about it now.
I also noticed that my nerve pain diminished in the hospital when I got an IV of metamizol. It is a short acting pain reliever that is neither a NSAID nor narcotic. I found out that it is available without a prescription at the Barcelona pharmacies (so is Celebrex). Metamizol is only taken for a few days at a time. Lastly, please take everything regarding the above with a large grain of salt. I don't want to come off as pushing medications but relay what helped me. I am only another spine patient that was trying to figure things out. Dr. Clavel would not want you to unduly suffer and he should be able to help with the pain.
In case you are wondering I am now in zero pain and I am profoundly grateful for the treatment I received in Barcelona. I hope that your recovery goes as well.
Mark
Mark, thank you for your note. If I still feel like this tomorrow, I will call Dr Clavel and ask for his recommendations. My pain is varying from a 5-7, but it's constant and usually closer to the 7. I had some relief after pt today for about 30 min. It rained today, so we didn't make it outside until about 2 pm. We walked about 3 hours. The walking does seem to help, but I am also having some trouble regulating my body temp and I felt extremely warm, even though it's a chilly day. I don't have a fever, but I feel the need to be cold or else I feel worse. Hopefully that too, will pass soon. I'm taking Motrin every four hours, and paracetamol every 4 four hours. I do have some nolotil that Yolanda said just to take when needed, no more than every 8 hours. It hasn't helped much.
Funny, I was prescribed all these drugs in the US when I was in my accident, but never took anything. Now's when I need them!
Will update tomorrow...hopefully another night's sleep will help.
2Confused
01-13-2013, 11:42 PM
Room 501 --- I was there too!
Hope you are feeling better & enjoying the city!!
2Confused
01-13-2013, 11:59 PM
Amy,
Funny you talk about being warm! I also felt too warm for days after surgery, and then suddenly I flip flopped and felt cold all the the time!!! I wonder if its the Meds???
I had some pain, I think mostly nerve pain & maybe distraction pain walking seemed to help up to a point, but after a point it would get worse... I would try to stretch the arms back to ease the pain & that did help. Leila, the PT, was a miracle worker... The Fisiocrem helps even now when I feel fatigued & achy. I even bought a tube to bring back with me! My nerves were severely compressed & I still have lots of lingering nerve pain. I have high hopes that with time the nerves will settle down.
Hopefully your pain is temporary and you will be feeling better soon.
Honestly, we did not see as much of the city as we would have liked, but between the pain & an unusual level of extreme fatigue I did not play super woman post -op and try to see everything... I just did not have the energy and by mid day a nap was all I wanted! Resting, napping & the wonderful massages that Leila did every evening eased the pain more than anything....
Don't know about anyone else, but the surgery wiped me out.... I'm almost 12 weeks out & still become very fatigued, exhausted by about 3:00 daily. I'm usually a very energetic person, but there are days that I stop (self Employeed) and head home for a nap!
Take it one step at a time & don't over do it! Feel better soon!!!
Mark, thank you for your note. If I still feel like this tomorrow, I will call Dr Clavel and ask for his recommendations. My pain is varying from a 5-7, but it's constant and usually closer to the 7. I had some relief after pt today for about 30 min. It rained today, so we didn't make it outside until about 2 pm. We walked about 3 hours. The walking does seem to help, but I am also having some trouble regulating my body temp and I felt extremely warm, even though it's a chilly day. I don't have a fever, but I feel the need to be cold or else I feel worse. Hopefully that too, will pass soon. I'm taking Motrin every four hours, and paracetamol every 4 four hours. I do have some nolotil that Yolanda said just to take when needed, no more than every 8 hours. It hasn't helped much.
Funny, I was prescribed all these drugs in the US when I was in my accident, but never took anything. Now's when I need them!
Will update tomorrow...hopefully another night's sleep will help.
2Confused
01-14-2013, 12:09 AM
Mark,
Did your nerve pain go away in that 5 week time frame you mentioned??? My right arm is driving me crazy, with pain under the shoulder blade, across my shoulder & down my arm, no longer down to my fingers, except on rare occasions. The left is much better since the surgery& only bothers me if I am on my feet too long or over do it. I am so hopeful that it will completely go away and that I did not wait too long for surgery & cause permanent damage.....the effervescent acetaminophen helped along with Novotil the I got from Dr. Clavel. Not sure if that is the same Meds you took or not.
Thanks for your input!
D
Amy,
Your symptoms sound very much like the ones I had when I had my two level m6c with Dr. Clavel last May. For me, I identified it as distraction pain. Meaning that with the two implants my neck grew 1/4" over the height of about an 1". I saw it as the nerves stretching beyond the amount that was comfortable. I woke each morning in Barcelona with a pain level of 6-7 which got my attention.
This pain decreased to zero in 4-5 weeks. I found that when I was walking that the pain greatly diminished and that waking from a nights sleep was my hardest time of the day. As long as I was moving I was fine. Subsequently, I had a strong inducement to walk all over Barcelona. I took Celebrex and the acetaminophen (from the hospital) and that seemed to help. Please check with Clavel about the Celebrex. He was ok with my taking it but he might have another thought about it now.
I also noticed that my nerve pain diminished in the hospital when I got an IV of metamizol. It is a short acting pain reliever that is neither a NSAID nor narcotic. I found out that it is available without a prescription at the Barcelona pharmacies (so is Celebrex). Metamizol is only taken for a few days at a time. Lastly, please take everything regarding the above with a large grain of salt. I don't want to come off as pushing medications but relay what helped me. I am only another spine patient that was trying to figure things out. Dr. Clavel would not want you to unduly suffer and he should be able to help with the pain.
In case you are wondering I am now in zero pain and I am profoundly grateful for the treatment I received in Barcelona. I hope that your recovery goes as well.
Mark
Slackwater
01-14-2013, 12:23 AM
del.txt
Will update tomorrow...hopefully another night's sleep will help.
I wish a good night's sleep for you and that you get rid of the pain. You have my best wishes from California, S
----------
slackwater_sf
In my last post, I was in a lot of pain, about a 7-7.5. Most I've been in. I was discharged Sat am and Sat pm and all of Sunday were very hard. Monday am Yolanda called & when I told her how I was feeling, she said she would email me a new rx for FORTECORTIN. The hotel front desk printed it for me, I brought it to the closest pharmacy, the pharmacist reached under the counter, handed me a box and 15 Euros (about 21 dollars) later I was out the door. Literally a one minute transaction. The medical system is amazing here. The FORTECORTIN is for me, a miracle drug. It's a steroid that works on bdecreasing inflammation in the nerves. With 3-4 hours, my pain went to a 3.5-4, and it stayed that way most of the day. My husband and I walked to Sagrada familia (about 45 min away), toured it, stopped for tea/coffee (the break was good), then walked back to the hotel to meet Leila. She is a miracle worker! I always feel so much better after her visits. She did the first massage with Fisiocrem that you mentioned, Donna, and then she did a demonstration on Stephan so he'd know how to properly help me. After she left, we again went for a long walk (walking really helps) and ended up at Gresca for dinner. Highly recommend, especially for those who stay at The Mirror as it's just about 3 blocks away. It's been written up in the NYT and was truly an event. It was the first real meal I've eaten and I wasn't that hungry, but portions are small so it was perfect. Make sure you have the egg soufflé with truffles and the spiced chocolate for dessert! I don't eat meat but my husband does so he had their tasting menu which included (among other things) sardines, cod, sweetbreads & pigeon along with a delicious piña colada dessert. I started to fade at dinner - they eat so late here!- and had more pain last night, but was able to sleep after taking a nolotil.
So between the steroid and the 4-5 hours of walking, yesterday went MUCH better. I'll keep you posted as my progress of healing continues. Thank you for all your support & well wishes!
TPatti
01-15-2013, 08:46 AM
I am glad you are doing better, you will be in my thoughts for continued improvement!
Amy,
That's great news. I'm glad you found something that works for you and that you'll be able to see some of Barcelona.
Good luck, Jefff
2Confused
01-15-2013, 11:16 PM
Amy,
So glad you are doing well!!! The medical care in Spain really has opened my eyes to how screwed up our system is. Especially in regards to medications! So many I talk to who have had surgery in the states walk up on a morphine drip & are comatose, doped up for days post op. I never felt drugged, yet when the nerves became painful I was given something to ease the pain..... Yet not one time did I feel "over medicated"!!!
Glad you discovered the Fisiocrem the stuff is amazing and another patient is bringing me another tube back when he returns from his surgery.
So glad you are going well.... Keep in touch! And enjoy walking the beautiful streets of Barcelona!!
Hi all,
Not sure if I should post my updates somewhere else, but since I already have this thread going, I will post it here.
12 days post-op and I have been home in sunny 77 degree San Diego for 4 days. It is so good to be home & back with my kids & my dog & sleeping in my own bed. We flew BCN-London after my one week post-op with Dr Clavel, and spent the night near the airport. I am glad we broke the trip up like this as it's a long haul home. The next morning (8 days post-op), we flew from Heathrow-LAX. It was my husband's birthday, so with that plus my surgery, we splurged & went first class on Virgin Atlantic. London was hit with a major snowstorm the day we flew out & my husband nearly had a heart attack getting me safely across the ice/snow to the airport. Hundreds of flights were cancelled but ours left (two hour delay, but it wasn't cancelled!). Since we were able to hang out in the Virgin Lounge, it was not exactly a bad situation (free massages, drinks & food!). The flight home was about what you'd expect a 10+ hour flight to be, but it got us safely home where a car met us & drove us the 1.5 hour ride back home to Carlsbad.
So to backtrack - the last time I posted I was just given Fortecortin, which is a steroid that reduced the inflammation in my nerves. That was on Monday (my surgery was on Thursday) and Monday was a really good day, pain-wise. However, Tuesday was not good and Wed. am I was back in touch with Yolanda/Dr. Clavel asking for help. My shoulder and right side of my neck were back up to a 7. Dr. Clavel prescribed Lyrica. This RX has a ton of side effects, including weight gain (grrrr) but I was desperate. The ibuprofen and the accord (paracetomol) did nothing, and even the metamizol was not touching the pain. The Lyrica helps a bit, but it makes me feel like I've had a few too many glasses of wine....which may sound good, but it's not at 10 am. Since it's not quite been a week, I'll continue with it for a while longer, but it doesn't seem to do much other than make me feel loopy.
Dr. Clavel wants me to continue with the ibuprofen for a month for ossification reasons, so I am doing that, but otherwise I don't have any medicinal pain relief.
I am varying between a 4-7 pain-wise. I can deal with pain less than a 5, but when it gets higher than that, it is tough. Last night was really bad, with the right side of my neck & my shoulder just burning with pain, and pain shooting down just below my elbow. I had a long walk on the beach yesterday, and my pain was about a 5 during the day, but it was 7.5 last night. I ended up taking a oxycontin that was prescribed to me when I was in my car accident in April 2011. I never took the pain killers then, so it's ironic that I took one now that I have had surgery to correct the problem.
At my post-op appt a week after my surgery, Dr Clavel said the pain is normal and it's just my nerves finding their way back down a now not-compressed path. He said it should subside in about 2 months.
Besides the pain, my right arm feels weak. I am trying not to use it much, since that makes it hurt more, so maybe that's the problem. Typing/texting and other small movements bring immediate pain to my arm/shoulder & right side of my neck. I am doing my exercises that Laia gave me (how I miss her and her healing hands!).
I am still not driving since I am very careful with my neck and the Lyrica makes me loopy.
Has anyone else had pain like this? Honestly, it's worse than before the surgery. It is maybe slightly better than a week ago, but not much. What do you all use for pain control? I do not like having to take medicine and rarely use it, so the fact I am seeking pharmaceutical help is indicative of the pain I am feeling. Do you think I should follow up with Dr Clavel or my doctor here in the US? The "good" thing is, although I get occasional flare-ups during the day, it's really only a 7 at night. Strangely, nights are worse than mornings (it was the other way around in Barcelona).
On the plus side, my incision is healing nicely, I am sleeping much better and my body temperature seems to be back to normal (that was a weird side effect!). Other than the pain, my neck is great - rotation, etc.
I'd love to hear from others who have been through this and hear what you did for pain control.
I'm going to try to upload a picture of my new bionic neck (my two M-6s are so pretty!), and one of Dr Clavel, Yolanda & me. The two of them - along with Laia, the physical therapist - are an amazing team!
I should also mention that I had a good-sized ossification removed that Dr Clavel felt was a direct result of my car accident. Maybe this is part of my pain issue, since they had to literally use a hammer & drill to cut into my bone?
I also want to say that my heating pad is my best friend right now, I use it every evening and it really seems to help. In Spain I bought (with Laia's approval) those patches that heat up (they look like large bandages). These were especially great on the flights home. Dr. Clavel said that tells him that I have some muscle tightness as well, probably due to compensating for my burning nerves. :chainsaw:
Jstuckey
01-22-2013, 03:15 PM
Glad everything is going great for you and you're home safely. Keep up the good work.
Amy,
I'm sorry to hear that you're having such a problematic recovery. Here's hoping that it eases up soon. Please keep us posted. And, thanks for posting your picture. It's always cool to get a look at each other.
Good luck, Jeff
Lillyth
01-23-2013, 12:03 AM
I should also mention that I had a good-sized ossification removed that Dr Clavel felt was a direct result of my car accident. Maybe this is part of my pain issue, since they had to literally use a hammer & drill to cut into my bone?
I've been wondering how much the bone is going to hurt myself. As a result of my Hoffman's/Babinsky's I have a nice large contusion on my left shin. I have been probing it gingerly thinking that might give me an indication of how much cutting into the bone will hurt? Anyone with ossification removed feeling this kind of pain? I think you should call Dr. Clavel and talk to him about all this, rather than your stateside doc. He probably won't know what's what.
I really hope your pain eases up soon!
JeffR
01-23-2013, 12:33 AM
I'm a lumbar rather than a cervical but I can relate to some of what you are saying, there is an element of a step back post surgery for some and it takes time to work out. For me it was wicked hip pain and some numbness on my left side thigh (same side as my incision). Time as physio have sorted this out.
As for meds I did everything through my primary care physician- and did percocet for breakthrough pain, tylenol 3 for regular pain and lyrica for a little rough patch I had. In your case I would keep clavel in the loop but obviously a US doc has to prescribe meds.
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