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[geri7777886]

I had surgery last year. I had a neck fusion on c5 and c6. The doctor working on these disks  did not know I had a severeley pinched nerve at this location because he did not do an mri before surgery. Now I have a severely pinch nerve causing terrible pain shootin down arms , back , neck etc. Also above and below the rods in my neck since surgery are all herniated and crushed. What do I do Please help. I am in so much pain and the doctor really doesn't seem to care. Thankyou looking foward to a response.

[Tuckamore]

Hello Geri,

Welcome to the Pain Management Forum. I am glad that you found us and took the time to post. However I am sorry to hear about your uncontrolled chronic pain. My heart goes out to you.

If you have a physician that is not listening to you the choice seems obvious. As suggested above please consider changing physicians. We often become comfortable with our PCP and it's often difficult to start anew. But we forget that we pay these physicians to care for us. They don't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. We pay them. So why not employee one that will listen, one that is kind and caring.

You should not have to live with chronic unmanaged pain. If a PCP is not willing to treat your pain than he/she should refer you to a PMP. Please be assertive and don't settle for less. We all have rights.....and in my opinion one of them is to be as comfortable as possible.

I wish you the very best and hope that you will be an active participant in our community. I will look forward to your updates.

Best of Luck to You,
~Tuck

[designgyrl0112]

Geri,

I agree with Jaybay.  I also had a fusion at my c4-c5 and I have a lot of problems with my arm, neck and back.  May I ask why the surgeon didn't do a MRI?  Was it due to insurance reasons? That could have been very dangerous for  a surgeon to do surgery and not knowing exactly what was wrong with you without the MRI.  I did have a mri before my surgery but by the time he got in to put the rod in my neck, the disk had fractured in six pieces.  

I see a pain management doctor now and I would definitely recommend that to you.  After I got my neck fixed I was still having pain in my neck, arms, and back and the doctor was pretty much finished with me because the situation was not a surgery one.  I've had epidurals in my neck and they help a lot. I did a lot of physical therapy and that wasn't as good as the epidural shots (in my opinion) but they help.  Did your surgeon give you pain medicine or did he just release you?  My suggestion is for you to find a pain management doctor, if you don't know any you can research on the internet, call your insurance company, or ask your primary care doctor (which is what I did and he sent me to a physiatrist)and have them take a look at you.  Also, has your surgeon done a mri since your surgery to make sure nothing else is wrong?  You may need a mri just to make sure nothing else is going on.  

I'm so sorry your having this pain, and I deifnitely know how it feels.  I'm very happy with my pain doctor as I've been seeing him for a few years now and he takes good care of me.  I hope you'll keep posting and let us know how it is.

Take care,

Karen

[Jaybay]

It's time for you to consult a different surgeon and probably a pain management physician as well.  I'm appalled that any surgeon performed a fusion on you without an MRI.  Was any physical therapy ordered for you before or after your surgery?