surgery recommended-but I have No PAIN
 

Hi everyone--Loulou here. I am hoping someone out there has had a similar experience, and can provide some advice!

In August of 2008, I woke up with a numb left forefinger. No pain, just numbness. Wound up at a neurologist's office, who noted hyper reflexia in both legs--and sent me for an MRI.

The MRI shows two herniated discs--C3-4, and C6-7, and the accompanying bone spurs. I have been told (and I can see it pretty clearly on the MRI) that these discs and spurs are compressing my spinal cord (the situation is exacerbated by the fact that I have a congenitally small spinal canal).

I am 45, in excellent health (other than this @#$%&*)
and I am (have been) very active--I ski at a high level, windsurf, kiteboard, do yoga regularly (but NO MORE HEADSTANDS--EVER).

I have seen three neurosurgeons (Dr. Ron Rich, Dr. Patrick Hsieh of USC, and Dr. Justin Paquette of Cedars-Sinai), the head of orthopedic surgery at UCLA (Dr. Jeff Wang), and a spinal pain specialist at Cedars-Sinai (Dr.Avrom Gart)--and the advice from all (except Dr. Gart--who said I don't need surgery) is that if I am to continue in my active lifestyle, I need to have surgery, and that fusion is the "gold standard". They want to fuse in both spots.

The numbness has long gone away, and I have no noticeable symptoms (i.e no weakness, no balance problems) other than the hyper reflexia in my legs.

Any advice? Of course, I don't want to have surgery--but I also am not willing to not ski, etc., nor do I want to end up paralyzed!!

I am in such a quandry--I appreciate any insight you may have. :)

THANKYOU!

Loulou

Wow. I can certainly see your quandary. It would be hard to go under the knife when you're symptomless, but maybe better now than later when the situation could become emergent. I kind of think that if something were bugging my spinal cord, particularly that high up, I'd get it taken care of. And if your legs are hyper-reflexive, something up there is probably still being irritated.

On the other hand, if it ain't broke......

As you can see I have no idea....mainly chimed in to commiserate. I'm sure others will have more helpful comments for you.


Good luck!
Adrienne

If it ain't broke.....
 

I have to agree with Adrienne. My wife was originally diagnosed with 3 bad discs and told she needed fusion right away by a couple of doctors. They made it sound like her head would just fall off is she didn't.

Yesterday she got concurring diagnosis from 2 ortho/ professors that she only had ONE bad disc and whenever the pain got too bad she could call and set up surgery. No big rush.

I noticed they want to fuse on the basis of 1 MRI. If it were me, I'd want additional testing done and maybe get an opinion from another orthopaedic surgeon. You might want to get your MRI films and Radiologist report (they are yours) to do some research on your own. The best source of info I've come across is this support forum. It's a great "best practices" sounding board also. Most of all, don't let anyone rush you into a life altering decision until you're comfortable with your path.

Good luck,

Bob

One solution is to find yourself a surgeon and solution that you like and believe in. Get yourself set up with the surgeon, see him/her, pursue the testing recommended, basically get everything done except for scheduling the surgery, then wait for a while and watch your progress with another MRI after some wait. If things are going fast, you shouldn't lose too much by waiting a little while and things aren't moving too fast you have time to pursue your life until the need arises for surgery. One thing you should discuss with the eventual surgeon of choice is the effect of two bad disks on a bad skiing/windsurfing fall. You might need to back off the high level pursuits until you confirm that the disks aren't degenerating quickly.

Good luck in making an informed decision!!!
 

Hi Loulouinla,

You are very close to Dr. Delamarter in Santa Monica who is a leading ADR surgeon. You might want to make an appointment with him and get his opinion. For a small sum you can answer a questionnaire and send a CD of your MRI to Dr. Bertagnoli, ProSpine, Germany (I think I paid thru PayPal). He has a lot of experience and will make a recommendation. Take your time, research, compare and ask questions so that you can make the best choice available. :)

Best wishes and a Happy and Healthy New Year, Sandy

I understand and sympathize with you, while I did have pain, quite significant in fact, it was not the pain that finally drove me to the surgery, it was the numbness, didn't want that the rest of my life and it was getting worse. I also understand how doctors like to make it sound like you need the surgery tomorrow or ELSE! I was told in 2000 that I "had to have" the surgery, even back then I knew artificial disc were on the horizon and said no thank you and stuck it out til 6 weeks ago. Right now I'm glad I went ahead with it, but if you'll read in my treads you'll see that about a month before the surgery I was feeling fine, up til the day of, but I knew it wouldn't last, it never did for me.
Bottom line is that no one can make the decision for you, just be as informed as you can about the consequences on both sides.

Wow--THANK YOU ALL!
 

I kind of feel like Blanche DuBois right now:)--I appreciate so very much everyone taking the time to reply.
I am going to do everything suggested--It is truly the most helpful advice I have had...
Hope everyone has a great (low-pain, no pain) 2009--

Sincerely,
Loulou (in L.A.) :)

Be kind to yourself!
 

Hello

My thinking before surgery

1. Will surgery fix me or make things worse?

2. Am I ready to give up some of my sports?

**(Did not want to screw up my surgery)**

3. Need to ask for help (no more superman thinking)

4. Am I ready to deal with a bad surgery?

5. Is my family ready to deal with the outcome of my
surgery?

6. Enjoy the things I like to do before having surgery, without making my spine worse.

------------------------------------------------------------

1 year later

Having surgery is never a magic fix

I've given up some of my hobbies...

(I still Mountian hike/swim, and only lift 5 lbs from time to time)


Very happy that I had the surgery (I can walk again)


You will know when the time is right for you....

Please keep us posted!

Todd ( no heavy lifting!!! )