Cervical Dysectomy

[Lemony]

Years ago, I injured my neck from a quad chair in a ski resort hitting me in the back of my neck.  That on top of a rear-end car collision has put me in severe pain almost every minute of the day for the past 20 years.  It has gotten much worse.  Now, I can't even do simple tasks, like opening sliding glass doors or even office work. I can't do everday tasks like making the bed or drying my hair.  Pain and numbness and weakness in my left arm are overwhelming.  I have problems with anything that involves extending my arms.  I have finally been told that I need the above captioned surgery.  There are risks.  In the meantime, I was told by my orthopoedic Dr. to go for these epidural shots to alleviate some of the pain (cervial area C7) while I wait for the surgery.  I had a consult yesterday with one neurosurgeon.  He strongly advised me against the shots.  My questions to you are 1)what are the risks of this surgery 2)What do you know about the shots and are they recommended and 3) I need the name of a reputable nuerosurgeon in NYC in that specializes procedure.  Can you help me.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

1.Depends on your age, medical condition including presence of other diseases such as diabetes or severe heart disease, skill and experience of the surgeon, degree of the cervical injury and surgical approach. The significant risks of this procedure are bleeding, infection, and permanent neurological disability. There are also risks inherent to anesthesia. Also keep in mind that surgery can help prevent further damage and weakness but does not necessarily relieve the pain completely.

2. Epidural nerve blocks are typically used for lower back pain. It can be used for neck pain, but there are potential complications that could occur as there are many important structure in the neck (meaning nerves, arteries and veins) that could potentially be damaged as well as the remote possibility of lung puncture depending n where they happen to inject.

3.I do not personally know any spine specialists in NY, but for a start you can try calling Columbia Presbyterian or Cornell NY Hospital and ask for a neurosurgeon there. The orthopedic surgeons at Cornell are also excellent. Good luck.

[GrammyGin]

Sorry to hear about your pain for the past 20 years, Lemony. I had The C7-T1 disectomy w/hip graft in Aug. of 2000. I really didn't have a choice about surgery though because I had a severely compressed spinal cord. I started PT in late Sept.,2000 and did see great improvement until about Jan., 2001. The fusion failed, but my neurosurgeon didn't pick up on it until May, 2001 - so I again had spinal cord compression (only this time it was a screw resting on it, not bone). So another anterior cervical surgery in May, 2001.
This time I didn't have any improvement - only had PT at home, not really ambulatory by July. Another failed fusion, but this time it was the cage that came loose and it was resting on the spinal cord. So then late July, 2001, I had another anterior surgery (3rd), and two days later I had a posterior surgery. I guess I should tell you that I had arthritis build-up and slight osteoporous as well. It is now more than a year later and I still need a walker to get around. I cannot do much of anything in the way of housework or cooking, except for things I can start and do a little bit here and there until it is finished. I cannot stand for very long periods of time at all. Luckily I have a very good husband but he is starting to wear out from doing his job and mine!
I do have permanant spinal cord damage so I guess I will have to learn to live w/the situation and keep telling myself that I am a lot better off than some people.
I can type with my right hand but only the index finger of my left hand, and I have "myoclonic jerk" where my leg jumps up from the floor and my knee keeps hitting the computer desk while I am sitting here. I take meds for this but sometimes they don't do much good.
I think if I hadn't had the failed fusions I would be doing great. I feel that the doctor made a bad mistake by not getting x-rays sooner than he did. I think if there hadn't been spinal cord compression for such a long period of time, I would have recovered better than I did.
I feel you should go for it, at least you have a chance for a somewhat normal life again.
Good luck and keep us posted.