Mark,
You're right about discectomies. I had a recurrent disc a few months after a discectomy. The issue was a 1 cm x 1.2 cm piece of the annulus broke off and came to rest on the nerve root. The surgical notes reflected evacuation of the nucleus during the first surgery and no nucleus present during the second. The disc height was noted (using an MRI measuring tool) as being 8 mm before the first surgery and 3 mm in a 1 year follow up MRI (from surgery #2) but that the disc was "patent". They also noted only mild bilateral bulges at that level. The PM doc mirrored your comment as to the disc being able to provide stability even though the nucleus was gone.
Gil,
I've had nerve blocks that worked well and some that didn't provide any relief at all. It sounds like they're using a systematic approach to isolate the potential problem level. I hope they picked the right level on the first try. Finding the source of pain gave me a sense of relief by knowing exactly where the problem was.
In the meantime, try to enjoy the drugs and wait for the block to kick in.
Good luck,
Bob
__________________
04/06 L5/S1 Rupture
05/06 MRI shows DDD @ L2-S1
06/06 Diskectomy/ Laminotomy L5/S1
04/07 Recurrent Disc Surgery L5/S1
3 Ortho and 1 Neuro Surgeon, 3 MRIs, 1 EGM, 1 Myleogram & 11 EDIs later:
03/27/09 Maverick ADR at L4/L5 & L5/S1
03/27/09 The Lord and Dr. Ritter-Lang returned my life to me.
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