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[jchebert1979]

Thanks Harrison. Again I hope that I didn't sound too harsh. I am actually about to leave to see the NS who originally offered the prodisc-c. I hope he doesn't write me off because of the Chiari surgery. I will let everyone know what he says this evening.

[jchebert1979]

Well after a 3.5 hour drive and another 1.5 waiting for the doctor, he walked in, barely glanced at the films, didn't read the report, and asked me if I wanted a fusion or ADR. When I tried to ask him questions he told me that I am a very complicated case and can tell me nothing more.

I am so sick of this. I know in the end it will be up to me to make the decision, but I need to make an informed decision. I just can't keep waiting 3 weeks for an appt, then a test, then another 2 weeks for the follow up. This has dragged on for 18 months. I would let them cut off both of my legs if it meant that I would be pain free.

I did find a doctor in my city that performs ADR and am trying to get a rush appt with him. Hopefully that will happen soon.

[Harrison]

J,

Sorry to hear this after all your efforts! Keep looking, trying. Any doc that treats you as you described does not inspire confidence or trust! I remember doing this in 2003 and 2004 -- it's difficult to describe the agony and frustration.

[jchebert1979]

This is a copy and paste from another board group, but I wanted to put it up here as well.

When my symptoms first started I was a wreck, I could not process information well and was in such severe pain. When the first MRI's came back along with the first "you have a herniation but it's reall small", I decided to start finding my own information. Well, trying to find many MRI films to compare was very difficult. Google brings up a few, but the more you look, the more you find the same pictures over and over.

So, here are some of mine. The left is the sagittal view where you can clearly see the herniation. The bright spot in it is evidence for an annular tear. The right side is the axial view (looking from top down) of the C5-6 disc. You can see the bright spot in this view as well.





Here is a set of flexion extension MRI's.

[Harrison]

J, I merged this with a related topic. I generally delete images from this site for lots of different reasons; the biggest one is that we are patients and not doctors. And the obvious disclaimer: we can't give advice. That said, it is great that you are digging into your medical records with such a focus. As you know, we as patients need as much information as possible to have an intelligent dialogue with our doctors! Good luck with your next steps.

[cavalier]

Hi there - I am VERY familar with CM or COMS due to this is the disease my breed of dogs ( Cavaliers) can get I have as a result in order to try to move away from this disease as it can run in families have done 9 MRI's on my dogs - yes that is correct & I have the empty pockets to show for it. Two of my dogs suffer from this & we have had humans who have been able to speak for how the dogs feel. The dogs experience the same sets of issues that humans do. With that said if you have good CSF flow & dynamics then as you say your issues now post decompression should be found in the normal pathology of a disc that may have originally been stressed due to the COMS or just wear & tear etc. Ever in a car accident ?
Who did your COMS surgery ? & who is it you are considering for the C5 C6 ? Have you done a Discogram on this level in your neck to be sure this is your area of issues? Arm issues can be caused by COMS alone - just be sure your decompression is still holding from your surgery. Did you get a stent at all ? Reason I am asking is over time the decompression the COMS and syrinxes if you ever had any can return. I just want to be sure you are aware. I hope this is of some help - Best Jill