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BACK TO SQUARE ONE...ACTUALLY WORSE...AFTER CERVICAL ACDF
A short history...I was discovered to have a degenerative disk condition in my entire spine about 15 years ago. From time to time, I have had to see a doctor for neck stiffness and pain and would usually feel better after about a week off work and medication.
Starting in October or November of 2006, I started having additional and more severe symptoms that included severe limitation in range of motion, extreme pain when attempting to move my neck. It was worse when attempting to touch ear to shoulder, where there is almost zero range. There was a bit more range when attempting the other neck movements, but not much more. There was also a cracking or crunching noise when I moved my neck the little that I could.
I also had pain and tingling in my neck shoulders, upper back and "traps", with the most severe pain on the right side. I also had painful cramps in my "traps" and fingers on my right hand. Ocassionally, I would have tingling on the right side of my face.
I ended up being treated with physical therapy with no relief and I also had several epidurals with no relief.
In the course of this time, I had x-rays done as well as an MRI. It was determined that I had very severely degenerated disks at C-5,6 and C-6,7.
After having a nerve block with no relief, I had a diskoscopy done but which came back inconclusive.
The surgeon indicated that although the test was inconclusive, the disks were more than likely the cause of my problem so after advice from him, I decided to have the ACDF With Instrumentation.
done.He did caution me that the results may stay the same, improve or get worse.
I had surgery on May 9th and wore a soft collar for 2 months. I had my second follow up on July 5th and at that time, I explained that I was still having the same symptoms as before surgery. The doctor seemed upset and stated that I should be ready to resume normal activities and return to work with restrictions.
I explained to him that I still could hardly move my neck and after having me attempt to move my neck and saw a lack of range, he stated that I should have more movement then what I had and prescribed a month of physical therapy.
I did the month of therapy with no relief other than regaining the small bit of motion that I had before surgery and which had been restricted by the surgery and collar. This was not much of a gain and was so stated in the therapist's final eval.
When I went to my latest follow up August 16th, I again explained that nothing had changed...that I had the exact same symptoms as prior to the surgery.
The doctor looked at the latest x-rays and said that everything is going fine but never addressed why I was having the same problem accept to say that it may take more time..
He told me that he was sending me back to work with limited lifting restrictions. I explained to him that was fine, but I was more concerned about the pain and lack of range in my neck because my job requires constant bending and twisting of my neck for 8 hours and that I could not do it, especially since that was the reason I sought medical care in the first place.
He basically ignored me and stated that he was just going to go with the limited lifting restrictions and said that I needed to get back to a normal routine.
He never examined my neck, back or shoulders to determine the amount of range, pain or anything else. He also ignored the findings of the therapist. The only thing that he did was give me that standard strength test.
I returned to work on August 27th and since then, my symptoms have gotten worse...due no doubt to the requirement of my job.
I have become very frustrated and untrusting of the doctor so I sought a second opinion. The second doctor looked at my medical records, did the same strength test and that was. He didn't actually check my neck either and made reference to the slight gain in range mentioned by the therapist...totally ignoring the fact that the slight gain was actually what I had gained after having the surgery and wearing the neck brace.
I kept asking him about the worsening of my symptoms and the only thing that he offered was the I had serious surgery and that I couldn't expect it to be better after only 3 months, that it could take up to a year. I asked him if that were the case, then when could I expect some improvement and he stated that I should see some improvement after 6 months and if I didn't, it probably wouldn't get any better.
He seemed very reluctant to offer any opinion contrary to my surgeons and I just felt that he was giving me the run around.
Either I am supposed to be better by now or I should not expect to see any improvement for some time, which is it? Those who I know who have had the same type of surgery talk about how much better they are after 3 months and hav lost almost no range...actually gained almost all of what they may have lost prior to the surgery.
I am very disappointed and frustrated at this point and have no intention of returning for my next follow up since it seems to be useless to do so.
Is there any suggestions on what I can do to get help from another doctor? Someone who is going to be more concerned and caring and who will listen to his patient and run more tests based on his patients complaints?
Starting in October or November of 2006, I started having additional and more severe symptoms that included severe limitation in range of motion, extreme pain when attempting to move my neck. It was worse when attempting to touch ear to shoulder, where there is almost zero range. There was a bit more range when attempting the other neck movements, but not much more. There was also a cracking or crunching noise when I moved my neck the little that I could.
I also had pain and tingling in my neck shoulders, upper back and "traps", with the most severe pain on the right side. I also had painful cramps in my "traps" and fingers on my right hand. Ocassionally, I would have tingling on the right side of my face.
I ended up being treated with physical therapy with no relief and I also had several epidurals with no relief.
In the course of this time, I had x-rays done as well as an MRI. It was determined that I had very severely degenerated disks at C-5,6 and C-6,7.
After having a nerve block with no relief, I had a diskoscopy done but which came back inconclusive.
The surgeon indicated that although the test was inconclusive, the disks were more than likely the cause of my problem so after advice from him, I decided to have the ACDF With Instrumentation.
done.He did caution me that the results may stay the same, improve or get worse.
I had surgery on May 9th and wore a soft collar for 2 months. I had my second follow up on July 5th and at that time, I explained that I was still having the same symptoms as before surgery. The doctor seemed upset and stated that I should be ready to resume normal activities and return to work with restrictions.
I explained to him that I still could hardly move my neck and after having me attempt to move my neck and saw a lack of range, he stated that I should have more movement then what I had and prescribed a month of physical therapy.
I did the month of therapy with no relief other than regaining the small bit of motion that I had before surgery and which had been restricted by the surgery and collar. This was not much of a gain and was so stated in the therapist's final eval.
When I went to my latest follow up August 16th, I again explained that nothing had changed...that I had the exact same symptoms as prior to the surgery.
The doctor looked at the latest x-rays and said that everything is going fine but never addressed why I was having the same problem accept to say that it may take more time..
He told me that he was sending me back to work with limited lifting restrictions. I explained to him that was fine, but I was more concerned about the pain and lack of range in my neck because my job requires constant bending and twisting of my neck for 8 hours and that I could not do it, especially since that was the reason I sought medical care in the first place.
He basically ignored me and stated that he was just going to go with the limited lifting restrictions and said that I needed to get back to a normal routine.
He never examined my neck, back or shoulders to determine the amount of range, pain or anything else. He also ignored the findings of the therapist. The only thing that he did was give me that standard strength test.
I returned to work on August 27th and since then, my symptoms have gotten worse...due no doubt to the requirement of my job.
I have become very frustrated and untrusting of the doctor so I sought a second opinion. The second doctor looked at my medical records, did the same strength test and that was. He didn't actually check my neck either and made reference to the slight gain in range mentioned by the therapist...totally ignoring the fact that the slight gain was actually what I had gained after having the surgery and wearing the neck brace.
I kept asking him about the worsening of my symptoms and the only thing that he offered was the I had serious surgery and that I couldn't expect it to be better after only 3 months, that it could take up to a year. I asked him if that were the case, then when could I expect some improvement and he stated that I should see some improvement after 6 months and if I didn't, it probably wouldn't get any better.
He seemed very reluctant to offer any opinion contrary to my surgeons and I just felt that he was giving me the run around.
Either I am supposed to be better by now or I should not expect to see any improvement for some time, which is it? Those who I know who have had the same type of surgery talk about how much better they are after 3 months and hav lost almost no range...actually gained almost all of what they may have lost prior to the surgery.
I am very disappointed and frustrated at this point and have no intention of returning for my next follow up since it seems to be useless to do so.
Is there any suggestions on what I can do to get help from another doctor? Someone who is going to be more concerned and caring and who will listen to his patient and run more tests based on his patients complaints?
hey glenn-- hope i can help. I am a dentist, not an MD, but i have done ALOT of reding on neck back shoulder pain syndromes after the traditional medical/surgical community failed me-- and i fixed this nastiness on my own. so- i may be able to help. tell me about your pain--what kind, where, when is it the worst, anything that makes it better.. and what you do, your habits, work etc-- on the computer alot?? also are you overweight, in shape, athletic etc....
if your herniationion is to one side and you have pain on the other side.......logic would tell you.that pain aint from a disc !!
if your herniationion is to one side and you have pain on the other side.......logic would tell you.that pain aint from a disc !!
I read some of your comments and hoped that you could point me to a few good resources to understand some of the causes of pain in the neck and upper traps. For the last 5 years, I've had problems with it burning/tingling as well as chronic neck and shoulder muscle spasms. I have disc herniation at C5-C6; C6-C7 and left arm pain as well. My neurosurgeon wants me to undergo cervical fusion, but I don't want to do it if it will not fix the problem. (Ie. besharpone's ordeal.) He said it would help with the arm pain, but wasn't sure about the shoulder/neck pain. I guess it is because the herniation is directed to the left side and the shoulder pain is on the right.
I have spend countless days looking up cervical disc problems, shoulder pain, etc. and just run in circles. Do you have any suggestions of where I could research common causes more? What type of excercises did the PT have you do? I'd rather fix it that way than undergo surgery, or at least try. I have done a dozen other methods cervical traction, etc.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I have spend countless days looking up cervical disc problems, shoulder pain, etc. and just run in circles. Do you have any suggestions of where I could research common causes more? What type of excercises did the PT have you do? I'd rather fix it that way than undergo surgery, or at least try. I have done a dozen other methods cervical traction, etc.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I know exactly how you feel. If it hadn't been for my husbands help and support I don't know what I would do. I don't know if I will ever be able to work again, but right now I'm just worried about being able to care for my children. My attorney tells me that due to the company being at fault for my injury I am looking at a very large settlement, so hopefully if I'm not able to go back to work I'll be OK financially after all this is over. I wish you the best.
Yes I was smart enought to seek an attorney. Intially I tried to go to my own doctors and they had me doing all kinds of things and I got real frustrated. When I went out on March 6th 2006 about 2 weeks later I asked my absence administrator to get to a Work Comp and she didn't. Then 2 weeks after that I asked her again and no progress was made, meanwhile I'm out on FMLA and disability. My primary care physcian intially told me I was out indefinitely. I've had physical therapy, pain management, 3 MRI's several X-rays, & EMG. The EMG found Carpal Tunnel in my right elbow, forearm, wrist, & fingers (Thumb & Index-Ring & pinky) also on the pad of my thumb inside my hand. So after they finally do this Cervical Fusion intially in August 06 was just going to be my C-5, as of July of 07 it has gotten worse I believe it'll be a Multi Level due to the size of both and the disc bulge and the bone spur which I didn't have before. So Bev62 I understand about the time it isn't on my side right now and that scares me to death. As far as my lawyer is concerned she filed a wrongful termination suit as well as work comp claim. It's funny when I did my depo in Nov. 06 I was just terminated and she told the company insurance that they need to be prepared to relay that info to my company. This has been a most devistating excluding the death of my sister that has every happened to me. I've worked all my life and to be without money every 2 weeks because I've exhausted my disability, I can't get unemployment due to my injury because you have to be able to work, and SSI doesn't want to give me any money I've exhausted all my savings there is nothing left. That is very depressing this injury is depressing. I can't be me I can't do what I use to do and I hate that this has happened to me. The only good thing is I found a wonderful man who has stood be my side with all the pain,tears, & financially. That was my blessing through all this. I know one day I hope to get better.
I also was injured at work. L4-5 and several cervical disc problems. I retained a lawyer almost immediatelt through my union when I did not agree on the treatment I was receiving. I have been dealing with W.C. since. I have been declared MMI a few times. I was never given any lenght of time off to rest and recuperate. After the last time I was declared MMI I went to see a dr. on my own. He put me out for 4 weeks. I had my contract renewed then I was fired. So like I know what it feels like to be thrown away. I was so crushed that they could do that to me. I went to work so many times where I could not move my neck or could barely walk for pain. I have been unemployed now for about 3 months and I trying to figure out what I am going to do with my life now. I am a 46 year female. I have had doctor evaluations for my case and they said I could not go back to my line of work. I was an Instructuional Aide with special ed children. It is a very physically demanding job that I can longer do. I have limitations so it will be hard to find another line of work. I also encourage you to get an attorney if you have not done so already. You are probably looking at a life long problem.
Take care.
Chadry
Take care.
Chadry
What kind of surgery are they planning? I know what you mean with workers comp, it's a joke what they make you go through. I was injured on May 25 2005 and it was Nov 2006 before they did my cervical fusion. The doctor said that could be part of the reason I'm still having so much pain. He said that the longer you wait on that kind of surgery the worse it gets. By the time they did it my disks had totally colapsed.
Have you retained an attorney? That's awlful that a company would fire you while your out of work because of them. As soon as I saw how serious my situation was I retained an attorney, and I'm so thankful I did. He has taken care of several problems during this ordeal.
I'm sorry your having so much trouble, hopefully after you have surgery things will be much better. Good luck.
Have you retained an attorney? That's awlful that a company would fire you while your out of work because of them. As soon as I saw how serious my situation was I retained an attorney, and I'm so thankful I did. He has taken care of several problems during this ordeal.
I'm sorry your having so much trouble, hopefully after you have surgery things will be much better. Good luck.
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