2 1/2 years post op - Charite ADR L5/S1

[annapurna]

Blairsara,

So sorry you had such a difficult time with your rhizotomy. Mine was a piece of cake and I only needed a local anesthetic. I'm also sorry to hear about your hyperextended and stuck facet joint. The facet joints each have a little meniscus just like the ones in your knees. Sometimes those meniscii can get trappped and effectively "lock" the joint (just like in the knees). Maybe that's what happened when your Charite allowed such excessive hyperextension?

Did your images show how bad your facet degeneration is? If your facets have been hurting because of an entrapped meniscus, then it's possible you don't really have much if any arthritis. In that case, you could consider a moderately invasive posterior dynamic stabilziation device like CoeFlex or Wallis to correct the excessive motion permitted by your Charite while still permitting proper motion at that level. The interspinous devices are not nearly as invasive as a fusion or even Dynesys, so, it's really worth considering if your facet joints are in good shape.

While I also have a Charite and facet pain, my situation is very different. I don't get excessive motion either in flexion or extension, however, my facets are truely arthritic, so, motion correction will not be enough for me. Looking back over four year to my pre and immediately post-op images, it's clear to me that I just waited too long to get my ADR after my natural disc collapsed. I will need true facet arthroplasty to really fix my problem, and that technology is just too new right now.

If it ends up that you have really bad facet arthritis AND that's the real cause of your pain, then you might want to ask Dr. Regan about the AFRS (Anatomical Facet Replacement System). I think that he may be one of the PI's in the clinical trial which is getting underway. Sometimes just learning about future solutions makes it easier to put up with today's pain and problems.

Best of Luck!
Laura

[Blairsara]

Jim - Ya, it's really the best way for me to think about it, actually that's how my Dr told me I should think about it - in terms of understanding what's going on. So what happens if your ligaments are in fact calcifying? The example that you gave is pretty interesting. What are some other things that you do? Maybe that could help me. And about people wondering, for me what i think is basically ... who cares what other people think. lol! Do you think that going to a PT would maybe help you? I know that for me it does. My PT does this release and also hands on work to release the muscle tension. But I also do exercises that focus on strengthening my core. One thing that the dr who did the rhizo said that doing the exercises are very important. So that will definitely help. Do you find that doing the exercises help you?

Laura - Thank you so much for all of that info! I really appreciate it. I'm going in to see Dr. Regan and my pain doctor the first week of January to discuss my options. Also, I didnt know that the facet joints had that so that was helpful information! I don't remember what my films showed about my facets, just that they were obviously overextended and that my right one is stuck in that position. I do remember that Dr. Regan said he didnt think I had much arthritus at all. So that's a good thing. But he said that from looking at my old films and not my new ones (it's been a while since I've taken new MRI's and C-T scans).
I'm sorry to hear about your problem. Are you going to go through with that procedure? How long did you wait before getting ADR? I hope that you're feeling somewhat better and that the pain isnt constant.

Thanks again for your comments

Blair