My story....new here...chemically sensitive disc

[cavalier]

I had arthritis & moderate wear of my facets - I had the lidocaine injection to my facets only before I left for Germany & the good news was it was not my pain - I still have some arthritis there when it rains but nothing like the disc issue for pain i had & i have to be careful in not bending too much but i had that issue always so not a biggie. I too had the chemical issue you speak of - I thought according to my doc's this is quite common but ... point being i had no choice in having a ADR I was also a progressive spondylo & for me 5 yr's later ow post -op with my ADR -it was the best thing I could have ever done - by Dr B. in Germany. I am not as good as I was before my MVA but realistically I am FAR better than i ever was in the 10 yr's of suffering with this damaged disc. Now I am waiting to hear from my insurance for my Cervical - also leftover from that same car accident it has finally progressed to that point - I had hoped it would be staved off - it too was not great after that accident but was manageable compared to my lumbar now it has progressed over time & 2 to 3 levels in my neck & TOS as a 2ndary issue in the arms.
Quite a few people have some wear to their facets in having to live with a problem - get the injection & then gauge with your doc how bad it is & then take it from there. Best wishes - Jill

[dridobits]

Thanks Jill for your information....

Unfortunately, I have a problem with the $$ thing. I can pay for the surgery if I use all my savings but the issue is if I have problems down the line and getting covered. It's complicated. Fortunately, I'll be getting two more opinions next week and will have more information.

Thanks

[dridobits]

Sorry Jill...was in a rush. Instead of the injection you spoke of what I had done was an injection into the facet joint (facet block) which gave me the info. I'm so glad for you the chemical thing is gone. It's so unbearable.

[cavalier]

Hi - That is the same thing I had done is a facet block - I just specifically asked for it to be Lidocaine only as I didn't want any steroid as that can cause bone loss & I have ostenpenia but in either case the Lidocaine is enough to give relief temporarily to see if the facets were a pain generator. You didn't state if yours are a pain generator or not. If you dont mind am wondering how that went. As to insurance barring you from future coverage for anything related if you did a ADR - I woudl be checkign into that as my insurance didn't pay as it was not FDA approved at the time of my surgery - but they have paid for any follow ups Xrays & MRI & EMG's & doc's etc.

Good luck with whatever you decide - Jill

[dridobits]

Hi Jill,

I should have asked for lydocaine but to tell you the truth I don't remember what I got. I got no relief at all from the facet block and I didn't on the first one.

I have gone in depth and know what is covered and what isn't. My HMO isn't really set up to do or handle ADR revisions for sure. I can go out of the HMO, and they will do follow up care, but if say I have an emergency in the hospital as a result of the surgery this they will not pay for. If however, I leave and check out of the hospital they will cover it. Strange. Basically, they will cover after care but I will have had to leave the hospital. Also much of this is on an "individual" basis. So my bigges concern is having a problem where I had to stay an extra week in the hospital, or an ADR revision problem down the line which I couldn't really pay for.

I have an appt. w/Dr. Bitan on this Thurs and one after that, so for now it's mostly informaiton gathering. It's really important to get every freaking detail when it comes to the insurance. They won't send me out for ADR as they do it (like only 2 cases so far). They won't send me out on their $$, it will have to be my own.

The doc last week said for me he preferred fusion as with my osteopenia and facet arthritus he was afraid of the disc slipping. This, obviously is only his opinion.

I'm wondering how people deal with the issue of having the surgery in Germany and how to deal with the financial issue if there are problems down the line.

So, I'm off tmrw. to the Big Apple to see the docs. Will report more later.

[cavalier]

Hi there the block not giving you any relief is a good thing - if I am understanding you correctly as in my case it was NOT my pain generator.

I have heard good things about Dr Bitan - do let us know what he has to say on you.

As to paying for surgery in Germany we did that as back then I could not keep waiting longer & it was 04 & not FDA approved here yet. However, with that said now i am facing a need with my Cervical and it is awfully hard to pull more money back out of the hat as we are older & jobs the economy - 2 kids in college we are paying for etc. So getting insurance to pay is a must for me - I am facing at least 2 levels for sure possibly 3 TBD by discogram for the 3rd.
Due to being more than one level some doc's here say they cant do anything but a fusion as not a single ADR so I am still looking as i would like at least 2 concurring opinions.
Jill

[Keano16]

Dear dridobits,

I am son of person who wrote few PM's to you. I am handling her case for past 2 years and I will continue writing from now on.

I have 1 normal message for you, and 1 very very important.

1. Go to neurosurgeon and suggest him that you need some type of intradiscal therapy (not IDET!!!). That may help in healing your chemicall reaction between nucleus and anulus.

2. Very important message, light on the end of the tunell:
Yes, PLDD (percutaneous laser disc decompression) can and might help you (and my mother).

I am doing a big research on chemically sensitive discs, anulus, nucleus, role of sinu-vertebral nerve, etc.

As you maybe know, PLDD was founded in 1986. by Daniel Choy, Neurosurgeon from USA. Method has very high rate of success (BUT only when used on INDICATION!!!!!).

I bought PLDD book from Dr. Choy, and read something very very interesting regarding our cases. So, PLDD is used for treating herniated (protruded, extruded) discs.

One patient came to Dr. Choy and asked to be operated. Dr. Choy didn't wanted to do it becuase patient had this diagnosis:
"L4-5 disc lesion".

Patient again isisted to be operated, Dr. Choy signed some papers to exclude him of being responsable to any damage to this persons health, operated him with PLDD (1500 joules) and surgery was 100% success.

Why is this case connected to us?

1. My mothers neurosugeon will try this approach in September
2. Why? Lesion is sometimes called "Grade 3 Radial Anular Tear", which irritates sinu-vertebral nerve. Irritation causes pains in 3 dics. Quote "Amazingly, the sinuvertebral nerve also innervates (connects to) the disc above and below". This irritation is often called "Chemically sensitive disc".

I hope you have doctor that has laser device.

Regards