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Old 09-10-2010, 12:20 PM
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scotto74 scotto74 is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2010
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Jim,

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and suggestions. Alot of what you said in your post really hit home with me. I think why this process has been taking longer than I anticipated is because I am really trying to find that special surgeon who thinks they can help me despite the many challenges in my cervical spine. So far, the doctors who really seemed caring and confident they could help me (Dr. Bernard Rawlins at NY Presbyterian and Dr. Dan Sciubba at Johns Hopkins) both agreed in the recommended approach -- a two level fusion at 5-6 and 6-7, which is a surgery I really don't want to have (my older brother has had three failed cervical fusions and is headed for a fourth, but that's another story that I don't really feel comfortable sharing). Dr. Mummaneni at UCSF suggested a hybrid surgery (fusion at 6-7 and ADR at 5-6) but I only had like 5 minutes to talk with him so I didn't really get a great feel for the personal side of things. I'm really hoping that Dr. Bitan might be that surgeon for me, who looks at my situation as a puzzle he can help try to solve. I'll know next week, but I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed.

As for my expectations for recovery, things have gotten so bad for me physically that at this point I'm really just hoping to retain as much functionality in my legs as possible, and avoid some of the long-term damage that can result from myleopathy. I'm already having trouble walking, having really uncomfortable nerve pain radiating down my legs, and starting to have other worrisome developments. I just hope to arrest of all that -- and have the best chance for a normal life possible. Sure, I'd love to play tennis (my lifetime passion) or hoops again -- but I realize that may not be in the cards for me.

As much as I want to do all of my research and find the best possible surgeon and surgery for me, I also feel like I'm running up against a clock here with this compression on my spinal cord. Each day my legs ache and stiffen up a little more, and my hands feel like they are getting increasingly clumsy. So hopefully I will find a surgeon soon and get a date on the calendar!

Thanks again for taking the time to write, I really genuinely appreciate it. And I wish you and Laura all the best of luck in her ongoing journey and in finding the right surgeon!

Best regards,
Scott
__________________
Diagnosed 6 years ago (at age 30) with multi-level DDD of the C-spine
Have had numerous epidurals, nerve root injections, PT, etc.
Now have severe stenosis and cord compression at C5-6 and C6-7 -- also have herniations and some stenosis at two levels above
Cord compression is starting to affect my legs and movement, nerve pain has increased
Need to find a surgeon soon, hopefully not a two-level fusion
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