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  #61  
Old 04-02-2013, 10:56 PM
thejoker6981's Avatar
thejoker6981 thejoker6981 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 33
Thumbs up I'm Back (no pun intended lol)

Hey everyone, It's been a while since I've been on here so I just thought I would give everyone an update. I have started having a lot of pain in my neck and my left shoulder and arm as well as my right shoulder. After going back to doctor I was also told that I have yet another herniated disc at C6-C7. as well as two in my lower back. Going through the med board process in the army here is what they diagnosed me with starting from my feet: Nerve damage down my right leg, two herniated discs in my lower back, bad arthritis in my lower back, degenerative disc and joint disease throughout my entire spine, with the two surgeries that I already had another herniated disc in my neck, carpel tunnel in my left hand, moderate obstructive sleep apnea, severe hearing loss in my left ear and really bad tinnitus, hypertension (so now I'm on high blood pressure pills), as well as some other issues but I won't discuss them on here. Never again will I ever have to deal with an army doctor thank god. So right now I'm just playing the waiting game to see what percentage the army and VA will give me to compensate for the 14 years of service that I have given to my country. Wish me luck everyone and I hope you all the best in your future. I defiantly know the pain from having any neck or spine surgeries and the pain from when they fail (two different times) and I honestly don't wish my situation on anyone.
__________________
*Lee Anthony
*C5/C6 Prodisc C July 18, 2012
*Hypolordosis
*DJD Disease C3-C4, C4-C5, C6-C7
*Multilevel endplate herniation pits/Schmorl's nodes with evedence of minimal acute-on-chronic inflammation at T12-L1 level
*Disc Laminectomy 17th December 2012
*2 rods 8 screws " Well at least thats what I was told" (Check out the sweet during surgery Photos)

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  #62  
Old 04-03-2013, 12:04 AM
newleaseonlife newleaseonlife is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 101
Default

Truly wishing you the best of luck, and thank you for your service.
__________________
02/2010- Car accident resulting in C4/C5 & L5/S1 bulging and extruding discs.

06/2012- Successful ADR surgery for C4/C5 disc in Cyprus using PCM by NuVasive. Performed by Dr. Mark Peterson through the help of AIMIS.

09/2012- Successful Disctectomy of L5/S1also performed by Dr. Mark Peterson.
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  #63  
Old 04-05-2013, 08:49 AM
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jss jss is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,411
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Joker,

What a terrible health story accompanied by an equally terrible professional situation.

Am I correct in interpreting your post to say that you believe you are symptom free from your previous cervical problems and now all of your symptoms are from the new problem at C6/7? I'm trying to recall a solitary good outcome of a spine problem where the Army or the VA were involved... and I can't. Anyone? I sincerely hope you have or create non VA related options to deal with your spine issues. As you are separating from the Army, you are no longer tied to the very restrictive medical options that exist there. There are many world renowned spine surgeons in the US that may now be available to you.

(BTW: I've seen a lot of xrays of mal-placed ProDisc-C's, and yours, in my non-medical opinion, is as bad as any I've seen)

I have a number of family members that have served in the US Army, and my oldest is currently on track to retire with the Army; barring encountering anything like you've experienced. With his MOS, he can move into some of the other branches of the government; and they do in fact prefer veterans with his MOS for a great many positions. Can you gain civilian employment in another government position? My understanding is that your fourteen years of military service will count towards the twenty that you need for a government retirement.

Please keep us posted. Good luck, Jeff
__________________
C4/5 - ACDF in 2000
C5/6 - ACDF in 2002
C3/4 & C6/7 - M6 ADR, Nov 2009, Barcelona
Conceded defeat to a manifestly disingenuous BCBS-TX in my quest for reimbursement, Jan 2011
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  #64  
Old 04-15-2013, 04:32 PM
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thejoker6981 thejoker6981 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 33
Default Interpritation

I haven't had a chance to do a follow up with my PA but I have my radiologist's report back for my lower back. I was wondering if anyone could brake this down for me and tell me what the findings mean? My symptoms are severe lower back pain and numbness going down right leg and foot.

X-rays:

9^SEE RADIOLOGIST'S REPORT
CHCS 07/31/1981

Comparison Study: None.

FINDINGS: Standard views of the lumbosacral spine demonstrate no evidence
of fracture or subluxation. The vertebral body height is preserved. Schmorl
nodes are present at the level of C 12 L1 and L1-L2. Slight narrowing is
present of the L5-S1 intervertebral disc space, suggesting degenerative
disc disease. There is no evidence of spondylolisthesis or listhesis. The
spinous processes and sacroiliac joints are normal. The alignment of the
spine is normal. Bone mineralization is normal.

IMPRESSION:

Degenerative changes as described above.


MRI:

9^SEE RADIOLOGIST'S REPORT
CHCS 07/31/1981

MRI lumbosacral spine without contrast: 4/13/2013

Indications: Chronic lower back pain with worsening , radiculopathy worse on
the right than left

Comparison studies: 7/15/2012

Technique: Spin echo coronal T2-weighted, sagittal T1-weighted and
T2-weighted along with transaxial T1-weighted and T2-weighted acquisition
were obtained through the lumbar spine.

Findings: There is a minimal retrolisthesis of the L5 in respect to S1 with
no significant interval change. Lumbar vertebrae are otherwise normal in
height and signal intensity. The conus terminates at a normal level at L1.
There are no cord signal abnormalities. The paravertebral soft tissues are
unremarkable. Mild DJD in her seen in the upper lumbar vertebrae. There is
a decrease in the signal intensity of the intervertebral disc T12-L1,
L1-L2, and to lesser extent L5-S1. Intervertebral osteochondrosis are again
seen in the 12 thoracic and upper 4 lumbar vertebrae.

Specific findings by vertebral level:

T12-L1: There is minimal bulging disc with posterocentral annulus tear
without central canal or neuroforaminal stenosis.

L1-L2: There is no central canal or neuroforaminal stenosis.

L2-L3: There is no central canal or neuroforaminal stenosis.

L3-L4: There is no central canal or neuroforaminal stenosis.

L4-L5: There is mild bulging disc with bilateral facet joint disease and
bilateral neuroforamina narrowing but without nerve root compression or
spinal stenosis.

L5-S1: There is minimal bulging disc with bilateral facet joint disease,
bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing but without spinal stenosis.

IMPRESSION:

1. Mild DJD changes in the upper lumbar spine.
2. Minimal retrolisthesis of the L5 in respect to S1.
3. Intervertebral osteochondrosis of the twelfth thoracic through fourth
lumbar vertebrae.
4. DJD disc disease T12-L1, L1-L2, and L5-S1.
5. Changes at multiple disc level as described above.
__________________
*Lee Anthony
*C5/C6 Prodisc C July 18, 2012
*Hypolordosis
*DJD Disease C3-C4, C4-C5, C6-C7
*Multilevel endplate herniation pits/Schmorl's nodes with evedence of minimal acute-on-chronic inflammation at T12-L1 level
*Disc Laminectomy 17th December 2012
*2 rods 8 screws " Well at least thats what I was told" (Check out the sweet during surgery Photos)

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  #65  
Old 04-15-2013, 04:51 PM
thejoker6981's Avatar
thejoker6981 thejoker6981 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 33
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Oh and I also uploaded new X-rays of my neck if anyone wants to see them. From right after my surgery. I have new ones showing more problems with the two discs right below the AD I just haven't saved them to my computer yet. God bless everyone and I hope you all are doing good.
__________________
*Lee Anthony
*C5/C6 Prodisc C July 18, 2012
*Hypolordosis
*DJD Disease C3-C4, C4-C5, C6-C7
*Multilevel endplate herniation pits/Schmorl's nodes with evedence of minimal acute-on-chronic inflammation at T12-L1 level
*Disc Laminectomy 17th December 2012
*2 rods 8 screws " Well at least thats what I was told" (Check out the sweet during surgery Photos)

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  #66  
Old 04-16-2013, 04:11 AM
kimmers kimmers is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 554
Default maybe I can help...

Joker,
I am not a doctor and so take this info with that into account.
You will need to speak to a physician to get the exact meaning of this.
But I can tell you the meaning of some of this as far as I can figure out.
Re your MRI:
The retrolisthesis of L5/S1 in layman terms means the L5 disc is sitting back on the S1 disc. It does not say how far back it is. There are different causes.
A decrease in signal intensity I believe means that the disc is degenerated. As a disc degenerates, its signal decreases. More degenerated discs typically show up as darker on T2 MRI.
DJD is degenerative joint disease.
Intervertebral osteochondrosis of the twelfth thoracic through fourth
lumbar vertebrae:
Spinal: Scheuermann's disease (of the interspinal joints) which is a curve in the thoracic spine.[6] (from Wikipedia, which BTW is not the best medical reference as information can be added by nonphysicians). But this is what I found there.
Your MRI report does not state there are any nerves being compressed nor central canal compression. It does state you have facet joint disease but does not state how severe. Facet joint disease can be a pain generator.

Joker, I can tell you what I have experienced and I hope this is of some help. It takes some time to break down the whole MRI report, so I just hit some of the info.

I had leg numbness with both my L4/5 and L5/S1 discs. This happened at two separate times. With my L5/S1 MRI, the results were essentially normal. There was mild protrusion of the L5/S1 disc. I had sciatica down both my legs and had foot pain plus back pain (the symptoms started with back pain and then progressed.) I had two discograms as my pain doctor didn't think I exhibited enough pain on the first one and no problem was seen in the CT afterwards and they wanted to make sure it was the DDD causing the pain. On the second one, I had significant pain (10/10) and the doctor saw the annular tear in the L5/S1 disc. The CT after discogram did not show anything. I went on to have ADR at L5/S1.
The back is incredibly complicated and you have to narrow down which pain generator/generators are involved.

Good luck and I hope I have not confused you further.

Kimmers
__________________
hurt back lifting, herniated disc at L4/L5. DDD
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  #67  
Old 04-16-2013, 02:11 PM
thejoker6981's Avatar
thejoker6981 thejoker6981 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 33
Default

Here are the updated Xrays and MRI. That were taken just days ago.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Lower back side.jpg (10.6 KB, 34 views)
File Type: jpg new neck pic side.jpg (10.0 KB, 33 views)
File Type: jpg New neck pic.jpg (9.2 KB, 36 views)
__________________
*Lee Anthony
*C5/C6 Prodisc C July 18, 2012
*Hypolordosis
*DJD Disease C3-C4, C4-C5, C6-C7
*Multilevel endplate herniation pits/Schmorl's nodes with evedence of minimal acute-on-chronic inflammation at T12-L1 level
*Disc Laminectomy 17th December 2012
*2 rods 8 screws " Well at least thats what I was told" (Check out the sweet during surgery Photos)

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  #68  
Old 09-28-2013, 08:18 PM
thejoker6981's Avatar
thejoker6981 thejoker6981 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 33
Default New CT Scan

Finally the doc put in for CT Scans on the 26th of September. I posted them in my albums.
__________________
*Lee Anthony
*C5/C6 Prodisc C July 18, 2012
*Hypolordosis
*DJD Disease C3-C4, C4-C5, C6-C7
*Multilevel endplate herniation pits/Schmorl's nodes with evedence of minimal acute-on-chronic inflammation at T12-L1 level
*Disc Laminectomy 17th December 2012
*2 rods 8 screws " Well at least thats what I was told" (Check out the sweet during surgery Photos)

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  #69  
Old 09-29-2013, 08:02 PM
Harrison's Avatar
Harrison Harrison is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 7,010
Default

Lee, how are you doing these days? How bad is the pain?
__________________
"Harrison" - info (at) adrsupport.org
Fell on my ***winter 2003, Canceled fusion April 6 2004
Reborn June 25th, 2004, L5-S1 ADR Charite in Boston
Founder & moderator of ADRSupport - 2004
Founder Arthroplasty Patient Foundation a 501(c)(3) - 2006
Creator & producer, Why Am I Still Sick? - 2012
Donate www.arthropatient.org/about/donate
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  #70  
Old 10-04-2013, 11:36 AM
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thejoker6981 thejoker6981 is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 33
Default Pain

Still really bad pain in my neck and back. I just spoke to the doctor yesterday about the CT scans and he said that there was nothing he could do for me because of the Med Board that I'm currently going through. I'm still having numbness in my arms and legs as well as my groin area. For now I'll have to wait till I am out of the army and see a normal doctor.
__________________
*Lee Anthony
*C5/C6 Prodisc C July 18, 2012
*Hypolordosis
*DJD Disease C3-C4, C4-C5, C6-C7
*Multilevel endplate herniation pits/Schmorl's nodes with evedence of minimal acute-on-chronic inflammation at T12-L1 level
*Disc Laminectomy 17th December 2012
*2 rods 8 screws " Well at least thats what I was told" (Check out the sweet during surgery Photos)

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