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  #1  
Old 02-09-2011, 07:43 PM
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msrudy msrudy is offline
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Posts: 22
Exclamation Desperate need for answers for ADR prodisc c revision to fusion

Hi,I'm 42. I have degenerative disc disease and I was suffering for 3 yrs with pain down my left arm and tingling which also finally got into my right arm and was affecting the use of my hands.

My MRI showed ruptured disc and nerve root compression at c5-c6 level. My neurosurgeon suggested ADR with prodisc c..I had this surgery done 7/28/10 and now I am in worst pain than I was.

I did not stay overnight in the hospital for pain control or get a soft collar.I was told I would heal rather quick and be ready for work in a bout a week or to post op by my surgeon...wrong! I was sent home with tramadol and told not to look up for two weeks but I could drive the next day....duh!

I was not given any at home care instructions other than not to do heavy lifting but I could resume normal activity when I felt I could. I was miserable with post op pain. I called the Dr. back and he gave me darvocet and flexeril. Two days post op I felt like my muscles in my shoulders were at war with each other, my head hurt everyday and I have a pulling feeling in the level of c-5 c-6. Two weeks post op I had severe tremors that started in my neck and then went full body. I wound up in the ER got a shot of valium and morphine to calm that down but they lasted for four days. I was told my muscles were just weak from the surgery.

Anyway, after therapy and strengthening exercise and three months later, I thought I felt fine enough to go back to work and btw.. I only work part-time as a cashier about 28 hrs a week and after two and half months of going back to work my muscles are at war again my head still hurts everyday and my neck hurts from the base of my skull down and I still have the pulling at c5 c6 level and I still get tremors in my neck. I went to the surgeon who did the surgery 5 different times and told him of the problems I was having and he does nothing but x ray and says everything is in place and I don't know why you are still having problems. He sent me to a neurologist to check for nerve damage but said there was none.

In Dec 2011, I Went back to my regular physician he gave me more pain meds lortab 7.5 and flexeril and was going to send me to pain management who never called.

On Jan 18 2011 I turned my head to the right and had tremors in my neck again which went into full body shakes. I went back to the ER and got another shot to calm that down. Had a follow up with my Dr who then sent me to a spine specialist. He is saying I need to have a ADR revision to a fusion because of disc space width and height of the ADR.....I only saw one spine specialist who knows nothing about ADR because he only does fusions but he did get another Dr. to call me about what I need to have done.

My appointment with him to discuss the revision is 2/15/2011. I am in constant pain. I can't reach, stretch, bend or stoup without causing my muscles in my shoulders and causing my neck severe problems and pain.

I am kinda dumb about all this. I don't know what to do.I am tired of pain and the pain meds. They don't help anyways. I haven't heard anything good from a fusion either and I know it's not good to keep messing with the nerves in there. They went form the front for the ADR(which btw I have very little feeling in the front of my neck?) but wanna go in through the back for the revision...help!! Does anyone have any answers for me please.. I am a single parent. I have no help and I have a family to take care of and just want my pain free life back.

Thanks in advance

Msrudy
 
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  #2  
Old 02-09-2011, 10:28 PM
dustman9725 dustman9725 is offline
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Default So Sorry!

I know your feeling. Your post and mine sound a lot a like. Same disc, almost same timeframe.

I was scammed into this surgery and am suffering badly.

The people on this site will help you and give you great advice. It is good to keep checking here for their responses and direction.

I wish you luck and feel free to email me anytime.

Sorry again,

Dustin
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  #3  
Old 02-09-2011, 10:46 PM
annapurna annapurna is offline
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Can you get your hands on your x-rays? They should tell most of the story about positioning of the ADR. Even if you can't get the radiologist's report on the x-rays you could choose to post a picture of it here and get unqualified but eager assistance or send it to a ADR doc who can give you an opinion, mostly likely for a fee.

How did the neurologist check for nerve damage? Typically, that's done with an EMG which is an unpleasant enough test that you would have likely mentioned it. Being stuck with that many needles tends to stick in your memory (sorry, terrible pun while you're in pain). If he didn't use an EMG, I wonder how he managed to make the decision that you don't have nerve damage. That might be something else you could try.

You might have had a second level go bad. You can get another MRI to check for adjacent levels. The ADR will mess up the image at that level but you should be able to see other levels. CT with contrast could be used to check the ADR level but that's a difficult and somewhat risky test so you'll want to try the easy stuff first.

I'm not trying to lead you away from the ADR revision to fusion but that's a difficult and expensive surgery. So much so, that you'd really want to be sure you need it before getting it and it doesn't sound like your surgeon has been giving you any of the answers you'd like to have before you try something that serious.
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Laura - L5S1 Charitee
C5/6 and 6/7 Prodisc C
Facet problems L4-S1
General joint hypermobility

Jim - C4/5, C5/6, L4/5 disk bulges and facet damage, L4/5 disk tears, currently using regenerative medicine to address

"There are many Annapurnas in the lives of men" Maurice Herzog
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  #4  
Old 02-10-2011, 10:05 AM
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msrudy msrudy is offline
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Post Reply to annapurna to ADR revision to fusion

About the x ray..the other spine specialist I am seeing on 2/15/11 has those x rays and my old MRI from before the surgery but he says it looks like there is too much disc space and that is what is causing the problem... which is not the same Dr. who did the ADR surgery. I don't ever want him to touch me again...scary! At the same time, I don't want anyone touching me if they are just trying something or guessing. I want to know how I can know I can trust them on their advice enough to let them do what needs to be done.

The neurologist that did the nerve damage test used needles and a machine that read out the results. They stuck the needles in my arms and shoulders and hands.I believe it was an EMG from what I remember the test being called. Yea, pretty painful! I guess I didn't mention how he done the test because of the lengthlyness of my post. I do however trust his opinion of the nerve damage test. He was very concerned about the tremors I was having but I only went to him to have the nerve damage test done. I still don't know why I am having the tremors. I understand the ones with my neck because they happen when my muscles draw up and I believe they are in spasm I just don't why they sometimes go full body shaking. Should I go back to him about the tremors or should the Spine Specialist be able to tell me about why I am having those.

I will ask the Spine Specialist I am now going to about if he thinks I have had a second level go bad and see if he would run some test for that. Thanks for mentioning that. I am kinda dumb about all this and don't wanna take any more risk or do any unnecessary surgeries. The ADR surgery was bad enough.I just need to know what questions I need to ask when I go for my visit to the specialist on tuesday. I don't wanna have the ADR revision to fusion if I don't need it but how can they prove to me that I need it and that this ADR has to be taken out because that is what the problem is(?). Please help me with any questions I may need to ask and what test I may need to have done and how to know I can trust their judgement.
Thanks for your reply and your help.
msrudy
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  #5  
Old 02-10-2011, 08:09 PM
annapurna annapurna is offline
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First, there's really no way to find a sure thing doctor or surgeon. Everyone's going to be guessing. Your best bet is to find one that lays out a reasonable course of action that starts with minimally invasive stuff to understand what's happening with your body. If the doc refuses to discuss things with you or answer your questions, don't go back. I've often suggested pre-planning two visits, the first visit to get a diagnosis and a course of action and the second after you've done your research to ask all the questions you wished you asked in the first.

That said, the whole body shakes sounds like it could be pointing to something serious enough that a doc might chose to move through minimally invasive to more more invasive pretty quickly. I'm not saying that because I recognize the symptoms; it's just a guess that whole body symptoms suggest more serious problems.

You should be able to ask for a copy of the x-ray and ask for a second or third opinion, even the freebie ones you'd get here. Too much distraction, too much space created by the ADR, could cause pain at that level but Laura, the better informed of the two of us, heard your comment about whole body shakes and immediately thought myleopathy, not distraction pain. It might be that the ADR was slightly misplaced and led to too much space and too much spinal cord irritation. You might even be forced to go the route of CT with contrast to really see what's happening at that level. If you and your new doc try that, make sure you go to an imaging center that's willing to take time with it. CT's are like MRIs; they take "slices" through you and render what each slice looks like on the output film or CD. If the slices are too wide, caused by trying to rush people through the machine, the slices are very likely to miss the details you need to figure out what's happening.
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Laura - L5S1 Charitee
C5/6 and 6/7 Prodisc C
Facet problems L4-S1
General joint hypermobility

Jim - C4/5, C5/6, L4/5 disk bulges and facet damage, L4/5 disk tears, currently using regenerative medicine to address

"There are many Annapurnas in the lives of men" Maurice Herzog
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  #6  
Old 02-11-2011, 09:19 AM
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msrudy msrudy is offline
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Posts: 22
Default Reply to annapurna

Thanks so much for that info. I will most definitely be asking these questions on my visit on Tuesday and what my options are. I will also get copy of my x rays and post them here as soon as I can.. Thanks so much.
msrudy
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  #7  
Old 02-12-2011, 02:37 PM
KarlMark KarlMark is offline
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Msrudy,

One way to get your x-rays/MRIs: just call the facility where you got the x-ray/MRI done and say, "I got an x-ray/MRI on [date]. Can I get a copy of the results on CD?" They should make this available to you (as well as their radiologist's report) for at most a nominal fee.

If you get the runaround, do a google search for the law on patient medical record access in your state (assuming you're in the US).

-Karl
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  #8  
Old 02-17-2011, 10:07 AM
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msrudy msrudy is offline
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Posts: 22
Post reply to all about ADR to revision

Hello,
I am going today for a CT Scan and MRI on my C-Spine.The Dr. is checking for arthritis at the least,and at the most something that could be wrong with the placement of the ADR, spinal compression and nerve compression and looking at the other levels above and below the ADR.The Dr. said if any of the above were present I would have to have the revision from the ADR to the fusion done, except for arthritis and if it was just arthritic I would have to get shots in my neck and pain management for that. I am nervous about all of it but am glad I am finally getting a move towards finding answers and relief.
Thanks again for all the advice. It really helped me when I went to my Dr, visit on Tuesday.It also educated me a bit about my C-Spine.I will keep you posted as of what they find and what they are going to do.
Thanks again to you all
msrudy
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  #9  
Old 02-22-2011, 11:18 AM
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msrudy msrudy is offline
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Exclamation still confused...PLEASE HELP!

My MRI Cervical Spine with and without contrast Impression

1.Status post cervical disc replacement at the c-5-6 level with marked magnetic susceptibility artifact emanating from the metallic artificial disc. This precludes adequate assessment of the underlying spinal canal, neural foramina and opposing vertebral bodies.
2.early disc desiccation at the C2-3,C3-4,C4-5, and C6-7 levels.
3.Loss of the lordotic curvature.

CT of the Cervical Spine with Contrast

1.loss of lordotic curvature.
2.Status post cervical disc replacement at the c5-6 level without evidence of artificial migration. The artificial endplates appear to be well incorporated into the opposing vertebral bodies and in satisfactory alignment and position.
3.Incidentally noted is subtle pleuroparenchymal scarring and emphysematous changes in the bilateral lung apices, particularly on the right.


WHAT DOES ALL THAT MEAN..COULD SOMEONE TRANSLATE THE IMAGE RESULTS IN ENGLISH FOR ME PLEASE...HELP!
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Old 02-22-2011, 02:02 PM
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Jstuckey Jstuckey is offline
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Non professional translation:
MRI #1: Can't see the ADR and surrounding structures very well due to "artifact" meaning interference.
#2: Early deterioration
#3: Loss of normal curve of the spine
CT #1: same
#2: No artificial migration = it hasn't moved- that's good. All looks positioned well.
#3: Scarring on your lungs, emphysema (is this news?)
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Joey Sue - 50 years old
9/28/2011: Hybrid STALIF TT interbody fusion at L5-S1 and M6-L ADR L4-5 with Nick Boeree, UK - forever grateful to you Nick! Still doing great.
Prior to the fix: Severe DDD L4-5 and L5-S1 with moderate facet degen at L5-S1, but only mild facet degeneration at L4-5.
http://healthyback2011.blogspot.com/
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