Another newby intro

[Beckys_hubby]

Hello everybody,
My name is Wayne. My wife (the better part of me) is Becky. She has been suffering with severe Cervical pain for years. The short version is she was diagnosed (incorrectly?) with Fibro in the mid 90's. Around 2004 thru a series of events Becky was sent to an orthopedic Surgeon on the recomendation of her PT who she was seeing for rock hard traps in both shoulders and pain in her right shoulder. The OS dignosed an AC joint problem and recommended arthroscopic surgery. During the surgery he shaved approx 1cm off both sides of the A/C joind and while checking the Rotator cuff found a partial tear which he repaired. After 3mos she was able to restart PT. The shoulder progressed nicely untill the PT started having trouble with her neck. She was reffered to a Pain specialist who ordered an another Cervical MRI which showed Herniated discs at C3-4/4-5 and a severe buldge at 5/6. for the last 2+ years she has been getting Facet injections and Epidurals to control the pain whach has been fairly effective. He did an analgesic discogram which showed 4/5 about 30% of the pain and 5/6 about 60%. She has pain in both traps and down her right arm with occaisional tingling in her right hand with occaisional pain between her shoulderblades. Her traps are still solid. This pain she feels she can deal with untill she can get multi layer ADR.
Now the new stuff. She had sudden onset of high level pain isolated in her lower abdomen. Specifically in the Bladder area. She was kind of incoherant and sobbing uncontrollably when it started. I took her to the ER where the doc wasnt very helpfull. He gave her a small dose of Dilaudid which had no effect. 30 minuites later gave her some Toridal(sp?) and then some more Dilaudid. He said the only thing he could do was a CT scan but seemed very reluctant to do that. The CAT came back negative and he threw up his hands and sent us home. We saw our reg GP the next da and she was admitted. He put a PICC line in and started her on a Dilaudid PCA. 11 days, Pelvic, Lumbar, Thoracic, Cranial with flow study MRI's and several specialists later we still had no answers as to why. Everyone was pointing at her neck. Since the "Pain cycle" was broken and relatively under control she was discharged and sent home. After she was discharged she still had moderate (5-6) pain consistently with 2 to 3 "episodes each day that spiked to 7-8, she also was complaining of pain down her left leg with intermittent tingling in the front of her leg around her shin. Two weeks after she was discharged her Pain specialist did a series of injections concentrating on her lower back. Since then the episodes have decresed to 1 every 1-2 days at a level 6-7 and the constant pain is hovering aroun 3-5. The episode are usually triggered by walking but can occur with no obvious cause. Her Pain Doc has put her on a Durgesic patch in addition to the Percocet and that is also helping. She had a second round of injections an Epidural in her lower back and her neck o=this past Monday. Hopefully the improvement will continue. An appt with a Neurosurgeon in a couple weeks. Thats about the only Specialist we havent seen. Pain Doc has also ordered Ca and Vit D levels thanks to a post on this forum.
Anyway thats Becky's abridged story. She has seen Dr. Ed Goldberg at Rush hospital in Chicago about her neck and he has advised her to wait as long as possible because new Disc designs are coming out frequently and the FDA needs time for their stupid red tape to approve it.
I'm going to stop now. I havent been sleeping well this past week and I think it's effecting my writing. Just wanted to say hi.......
Wayne

[Toebin]

First of all Hi Wayne, and welcome to the ADR boards !!

It sounds like you and your wife have been through the ringer with the history you gave. Like most of us here it's a journey of discovery every step of the way.

It also sounds like your wife is a lucky lady and has a champion by her side ever step of the way.

I can't help much on the ADR issue as I ended up with a C5/6-6/7 fusion but there are others around who can speak more on that issue.

I'm glad they seem to have Becky's pain controlled for the most part now and hope they can get a better picture of what is generating this newest round of pain.

All the Best !

[LBP]

Does this Dr. Goldberg have ADR experience?

You could always get a consult with Dr. Geisler in Aurora IL. He's big on Charite but still might give a different opinion. If you learn more from him but not sold, I would then consider going to TBI in Texas or other areas liks socal, miami, NY depending on whether you have family and/or other connections to these other communities. because these areas have drs who are very good with prodisc and/or charite/kineflex, and now possibly ActivL.

Most people see more than one ADR surgeon before making any serious surgery decisions.

[Terry]

Hi Wayne:

Welcome to the support group though, unfortunate that you two have to be here at all. Most of us have been on this same journey for some time. Most of my adult life has been plagued with spinal issues. I also had the AC joint in my shoulder repaired after a bicycle/dog collision. It sounds like Becky is fixable but the idea of waiting may not be the most sound depending on her age. The FDA takes years to approve anything as you may be aware. The Charite disc was finally approved for one level lumbar replacement in 2004 and they finally approved the Prestige disc for cervical one level replacement some months back. Most insurance companies are still considering disc replacement as experimental and investigational and are not covering the cost of the surgery. If Becky is getting spinal injections I would be concerned with the long-term effects of the injection material. She will know when the pain is enough and life seems not worth living as the pain robs her from the joy of life. Many of us have been there. Your biggest task is to support her in the process as it is difficult to understand when not having been there yourself. You will find a lot of research here and postings from others who have gone through many different procedures to get our spinal disease under control. If you need anything please let us know. Most of us here are more than happy to help out our fellow person struggling with the same issues.

Hang in there.

Terry Newton

[Harrison]

Hi Wayne, I am sorry about Becky's problem as it sounds tricky. Do you think it is something systemic rather than "mechanical?" Whatever the case, I'd be happy to speak with you to see if I can help. Email or call when you can.

PS: I speak to many, many people with these kinds of symptoms.

[Beckys_hubby]

Hi everyone, thanks for the warm welcome. Sorry I took so long to get back the forum but with work and caring for Becky time is kinda slim.

I dropped off the Lumber/Pelvic MRI's at the Surgeon yesterday. He called today and said he noticed arthritis & DDD but nothing stands out that would cause her low end pain. Said he wanted to see Becky and discuss treatments and options. Also said that her Abdominal pain was not being caused by her Spinal issues. I still think the Abdominal this is nerve related if not spine related.
Becky's left leg was twitching pretty bad last night and today. It still hurts too. Still doing a lot of reading trying to figure this out. Like Becky says, " Why cant we find a Dr. House. He wouldnt give up! Besides I could be a b***ch to him and wouldnt feel guilty."



LBP- Yes Dr. Goldberg has experience with ADR. He has run studies at Rush on ADR and is well respected by many Doc's we have spoken to about Becky's neck. Dr. Geisler is also an option for 2nd opinion if nothing else. I have to admit that I have heard some negative comments about him but I didn't put too much stock in those comments considering the source's. I still have an open mind about his clinic.

Terry- Long term effects of the injections are on our minds a lot. She has been able to tolerate her neck pain but with this added abdominal and lower back pain she isnt doing so well. Her Pain Doc has started her with his office Psych to regain coping skills and a better perspective. He is also going to do some biofeedback/relaxation stuff with us.

Harrison- Considering what the surgeon said today we are once again looking systemically. Thanks for offering your time to talk. I may take advantage of that soon.

[Beckys_hubby]

Hey guys,
Just back from the Pain Doc. He did a discograph on L5-S1 both provocative and analgesic. Results were positive. He reported she had strong increase and relief of abdominal and low back pain from the test. He also noted a sharp decrease in disc hieght from the previous MRI he had on file. I think that was from a year ago.
He is having her fitted for a Brace tomorrow and further discussion of options on thursday. He did mention he would like her to wait for the Maverick disc if possible. I haven't had time to research that one yet. Any thoughts on it vs. Pro-disc?

Wayne

[Cirobi]

I'm sure others will chime in here soon, but I figured I'd stop by to say I really like my Pro-disc so far. Of course, it's pretty early since my own ADR surgery. I don't know much about the Maverick disks but I know there are folks on these boards that do.

~Sara

[ERvet]

Originally posted by Beckys_hubby:
He did mention he would like her to wait for the Maverick disc if possible. I haven't had time to research that one yet. Any thoughts on it vs. Pro-disc?

Wayne

I had my 20 questions meeting with my surgeon a couple weeks ago, and I brought up the Maverick disc, what's up with the delay, etc. He told me that it is being held up by patent issues, apparently involving a local surgeon here in Loveland, CO. No idea how much longer it may be until it is approved.
My $0.02


Susan/ERvet

[Terry]

I have 4 ADR's including two Prestige Cervical and two Maverick Lumbar. I had to go to Germany for my spinal repair as this was not available in the U.S. I am very satisfied with my surgery and am almost two years out.

Terry Newton