Thankyou for your reply. I have managed to get hold of my first CT and films as well. Having nerve conduction and MRIs next week. My GP is starting to get annoyed with me and I dont think I will go back to the neurologist he made me feel like an idiot.
I am seeing a spinal rehab specialist on the 25th and he will be able to refer me on to a neurosurgeon if warrented I hope. Will try anything as oposed to surgery if I can.
I am just really worried if it takes anylonger I will end up with neurological defecit that will not return. I was lucky last time to only have lost my achilles reflex and regain my foot movement.
I remember feeling out of it and dizzy, tired etc prior to my lumbar surgery. I only wish that my old neurosurgeon hadnt retired I would be on my way to recovery now. I also remember my back surgery as being the worst time of my entire life now thats pain.
Thanks heaps for your suggestions someimes you just need someone to say " you are doing the right thing"'.
Will keep you posted.
In your first paragraph, you said you had a CT scan of your cervical spine when all this began. You said radiology called you and said you had disk bulges impinging on nerves. You need to get your hands on that first report or make sure your family physician gets it.
Okay. Then you go to another place and another CT scan suggests spinal cord compression, and they follow with an MRI that comes up clear. Something is very wrong with that MRI report. Either they only did an MRI of your head, or they did one of your spine and head. I'm going to assume they did indeed include your spine. And I say if you had two separate CTs prior to the MRI that showed a problem with your spine, there is NO WAY the MRI of your spine came up clear. And if it really did, I would want a CD of the pictures from that MRI.
As you know, the nerves that come out of the upper spine affect the upper body. The nerves out of the lower spine affect the lower body. Since your legs are now goofing up again, apparently your neurologist is forgetting or does not realize that you had the surgery on your lower back. And how he can say the results of the first CT scan of your cervical spine is rubbish is beyond me. Especially when the second cervical CT scan also showed some spinal cord compression, not to mention your symptoms. But it does explain why he ordered a new MRI. He is thinking perhaps there WAS something missing in the first MRI.
I think the results of that new MRI, which you said is coming next week, ought to confirm what the original CT showed, as well as what the second CT suggested. When you go get your MRI next week, tell those radiology people that you want a copy of the report of that MRI sent to you and/or to your personal family physician. I think you should also endeavor to locate the report from the very first CT scan you had that showed specific disk bulging and also have it sent to you and/or your personal family physician.
In this manner, if the new MRI comes back and something is amiss, and your neuro doesn't phone you within a week of it, go to a brand new neurosurgeon, with the new MRI report and the first CT scan report in hand. This is just the logical way I would approach your situation if you were me. You are getting swept away by the system, too many eyes are looking at too many different reports, some reports are not following you to the doctors you have visited, and all this needs to stop and you need to consolidate all the information, and that way you will be able to start from square one with a solid basis for an informed diagnosis.
The reason you're wanting to sleep a lot and cannot work is because you are in pain. Back and neck pain, as you know from your first lower spine surgery, makes for a miserable existence, it can distract your mind, it can cause your whole body to tense up to compensate for the pain, and you, my dear, are a wreck. Give yourself a break, see will your family doctor give you some pain meds, just so you can get a few good nights' sleep, to power up for this new proactive stance you are being forced to take with your health care.