Severe Thoracic Pain and Need a Specialist in Austin

I am a 40 yr old male, 5'9", 160lbs. I suffer pain in my Thoracic spine in the area of T-3 to T-5 that I have had for around 6 years now. It has been getting progressively worse. The vertebrae and Rib joints are Hypermobile, and they click and pop and grind when I bend or twist. This causes inflammation and the pain becomes intractable when this happens. I am currently on Lyrica 100mg 2-3x/day and Kadian 30mg 2x/day but when this flares up there's no amount of pain meds that can relieve it.

In the last 6 months I have been having shooting pains in my back from the thoracic area towards my kidney area when I sleep on my side. My kidneys were tested and they are healthy.

Recently, I have been having pain in the upper intercostal area of my chest. It wraps around, and I can feel a twinge in my back concurrent with the chest pain. I have been waking up with headaches every morning.

I also have pain/spasms in my Triceps and the ring and pinky fingers on my left hand. These are also concurrent with bending or twisting.

In the last few days I am having some leg pain and numbness/burning in my feet. I know this could just be an aggravation of my lumbar.

It has been several years since I had a Thoracic MRI. At the time it did show some small scoliosis, DDD, spurs, and Schnorl nodes. I have been doing extensive reading on spine issues, and I'm pretty sure that my problems lie in the Thoracic spine.

Here's the kicker:
I've had this issue a long time. I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis and DDD. I have these issues in multiple levels of my back, including my cervical spine.

When I began treating for this, my surgeons and neurologists said that the Cervical issues were at fault for this pain. I have had two surgeries on my neck. A "Laminoforaminoplasty" at C6, and a 2 level ACDF for C5-C7 with an anterior plate. Neither of these corrected my symptoms.

I have an additional disc issue above the ACDF, and my Doctors want to do a revision surgery, remove the plate, add an additional level making it a 3 level fusion, and install posterior rods to stabilize C4-C7.

I'm really not too eager to do this. Recovering from the last surgeries with the Thoracic issues was miserable and I would like to address this before I go through another cervical surgery (or even circumvent it, at least for awhile if possible). I have requested more attention to the Thoracic area, but my Doctors maintain that I should have their proposed surgery first, and then go from there.

I am seeking a specialist in the Thoracic spine, preferable in or near Austin, TX that can evaluate me, and maybe suggest a treatment for the thoracic issues. I have good PPO insurance from UHC. I know it's cheaper to find someone in the plan, but if you're not in the plan that's ok.

My goal is to reduce the pain and medication so that I can function normally again. I think I've got a realistic outlook and I don't expect to be healthy like I was when I was 18, just healthy enough so I can function.

Any help is really appreciated, so thank you in advance!

EdM
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