I had my decompression surgery 03/12/12 and at that time I also suffered a herniated disc from the assault on 09/28/11 which has worsened to the point it is compressing my spine too much in my cervical spine (neck). My MRI's from this past weekend also show that I have a herniate disc in the lumbar spine at several levels but I have yet to know what they will do about that if anything.
for now I have to have the above mentioned surgery and I am scared because i am still recovering from the decompression surgery. I still have symptoms which they say I just might have the rest of my life but they are progressing so I keep asking does that mean I am going to be paralyzed because some days I cannot move and my hands and feet hurt so bad and sometimes it hurts to read. My head and neck hurt all the time. I feel so useless to be 41 and non active. The neurologist says that I have signs of someone that was paralyzed from the neck down so they immediately put me in physical therapy and he was suprised when he asked me to turn my neck and i could turn it 5 degrees one way and 7 the other way and hold head still at 20 he asked me why had I not been in sooner i told him to go ask my team of doctors they are suppose to be caring for me because i have been telling them they just have not been listening,
anyway has anyone had this procedure? if so, please tell me what to expect during and after recovery?
I am so sorry that you are going through all of this.
I did have the same surgery you are going to be getting ..2 yrs ago..it went fine and the recovery was not bad at all.
I do need to share with you that for me, anyway, progress from my decompression ttok time and it took about 2 yrs post op for some Sx's to go away...I can understand the frustration and fear that you may not get any better than you are now...but my own experience has been that , for instance..the pressure in my head took over 2 yrs to go away..I had tried meds..but they didn't work...it was just time...I thought I was going to have that daily pressure for the rest of my life.
let us know how things go..when is your fusion being done??
thank you lori for that information, my neruologist told me about by the time I am 45 he is hoping things will be better because I have lost feeling sensations somewhat on the left side of my body. and now this herniated disc in my lumbar spine. I dnk girl, but I am chosen to be me....I am a fighter so I'm not gone to give up. I am gone to stay strong, say my prayers and and believe it will be okay for me and all of us. I will try to be on more; its just my hands hurt so much at times and hard to focus and read but I know we are all in pain in some way and if I can make someone else smile my heart will feel better.
If you guys need a friend anytime of day or night feel free to text me...206-■■■■■■■■
My NS that did the fusion told me that it was up to me if I wanted to wear the soft collar for comfort...I asked him if I didn't wear it, could I goof things up...he was funny..asnd said something to the effect..."Oh, no...I screwed everything in really well"
I had my surgery at 9pm(around) had to wait because the case b4 mine was lengthier than he thought..anyway, the next morning , by 8am , I had my jeans on and was ready to go home..
I had C5 discectomy & C6 fusion. During My CM surgeries I also had Laminectomies on C1-C6. I had to have my C Spine rebuilt because my CM was diagnosed too late and I almost became a quadriplegic I am a unfortunate Spine and CM expert. I Love you Destini & am so sorry you are having a difficult time. I have been praying for you for months. I never wore a collar, because they wanted to make sure the muscles in my neck stayed as strong as possible.
I had this type of surgery done in 2012 but on c5-c6. I was told I had a significant hernitation at the CR-C6 level. I have not been the same since this surgery... I now believe I have CM and have had it since childhood. I had a very serious head and neck injury as a child - 9 years old - and never saw a doctor. Over the years I have been in a car accident, had falls on ice. All the symptoms fit with everything that's been wrong with me since childhood. My concern now is that if I have had CM all along why didn't the Orthopedic Surgeron pick up on in the MRI and why didn't he see this during this surgery and what does this mean if I have had CM all along and not diagnosed... I had a Cat Scan done January 4 and waiting results. Depending on what comes out on the CS I will have to wait for an MRI which could take six months or more. I've had to give up work due to the level of pain and not being able to function. I'm praying for the right diagnosis.
Hi there…I had the brain decompression done and lamenectomy at same time with dural patch for cranectomy all at once. I was in the OR for 7 hours or so, the entire procedure was about 10 hours until I woke up. I was fortunate to have the department chairs of the NeuroSurgery Department from the University of Miami both operating on me (one on brain one on spine) Dr. Greene and Levy (they have since switched, but both are heads of the Miami Project for the Spine. About a year and a half later I needed the fusion for c7 and was done by a spine dr locally in Fort Lauderdale. That surgery was a cake walk compared to the the original one and it helps the symptoms. What we all must remember, if there was damage done to spine (those of us with syrinx) it is not repairable, we are having the surgery to stop progression. I for sure experienced some major improvements but best of all it is not getting worse. That is a blessing, and the rest we must just deal with. People that dont have Chiari Type II have no idea what it is like, and I believe they have no idea what pain is (in the head) Make sure you are getting MRI and or MRA as CT Scans dont show much for Chiari issues.