I am a 3 level cervical fusion patient w/?'s
 

Surgeries:
Stand alone PEEK cage at c3/4
donor bone fusion at c4/5/6 with plate and screws

Current Conditions:
min. buldge at left c2/3 nerve root encroachment *causing occipital nerve pain
min. buldge at c6/7/t1 *causing loss of finger control, spasms, muscle loss
spinal cord not affected, yet
Right side facet joint arthrosis at c2/3 - c6/7

Question:
what do I do now?
Please keep in mind that I will not allow a surgeon to fuse me again!
Is my future over? :(

Your life is not over
 

Hi there,

Just a question, but how can a min. bulge at C2-3 be causing occipital nerve pain when it is not touching a nerve?

Also a minimal bulge at the lower level would cause numbness and not some of the symptoms that you describe.

No, your future is not over. Up to 75% of ALL people, regardless of age, have disc bulges and even herniations. Surgeons are quick to blame abnormalities and want to operate. I have 4 disc bulges/protrusion in my neck and have no symptoms. Anxiety can cause ALL the symptoms you have mentioned. Look down this route before looking at discs. It may be hard to do because you have a history of disc issues.

You are going to be ok.

Warm regards,
D

Well there you go, all you needed was a bex and a lie down.

What a complete clown.

sure
 

There are those who have disc bulges and no symptoms and then again there are those that have disc bulges and have tons of symptoms. Oh excuse me I forgot to say "minimal" .. yes minimal disc bulges in some people can cause plenty of pain. I was one of those persons with several "minimal" lumbar disc bulges that tore my low back up for many years!

No one can tell another person what he or she does or doesn't feel as it's an individual kind of thing.

Re the anxiety statement.. puh- leezzzzz .. anyway just in case there is some angst going on and I'm sure there is given the pain and symptoms mentioned please have a few cadillac margaritas for me!

take care Cheryl and hope you get some *helpful* replies soon ;)

true
 

i have anxiety because of my pain and function not the other way around. this site is to support those with spine conditions not make us feel crazy. i have had three major surgeries over the past four years on my neck. thank you Maria for the support and understanding. i will toast you next time i have a margarita! ;)

hi Hooch
 

i got the idea; but what is bex? let me gues some kind of RX; right? yeah, complete clown.

anytime
 

Your quite welcome Cheryl!
I was wondering if a Bex was a Beck's or a beer? I don't know tho it sounded good!

Becks sounds good to me too
 

I like Beck's Dark!

Beck's dark
 

Tastes good on a hot summer like day!

A bex was what they used to give to poor hysterical housewives back in the day over here, I think back then it was more valium than paracetamol.

Here we go

A Cup Of Tea, A Bex and A Good Lie Down - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Phenacetin, whatever that was

I'd rather join you in the amber variety lol

Hooch, thanks for the BEX explanation, it was interesting.
judy

so now i know
 

:o) right now i am watching Judge Judy and drinking a glass of red. :p

Cheryl, take this with a "grain of salt". Here's my experience.

I had 5 neck surgeries over 4 levels. I am fused from C4-C7 and have an ADR at C3/C4. I originally had 3 ADR's. 3 of my surgeries where over a 1 year period from mid 2009 - mid 2010. One of my sugeries was having revision surgery, ADR to fusion.

I had occipital nerve issues post surgery. Head, ear, neck pain and burning arm and hand pain. After well over a year of struggling I am doing pretty good. Other than an occasional neck ache, my biggest issue is if I wave my arm around to much I get a burning ache feel. Over time that has made impovement. In all I am very satisfied where my neck is considering what I had done.

Being in so much discomfort post surgery I went to countless Dr's.. I had trigger point injections, facet Riz., massage therapy, estim and what ever else I could think of and get a DR. to do. Well none of that really worked.

What worked for me is time, stretching, excersise and getting my emotional well being. I wouldn't discount the time it takes for recovery, nor discount what our minds can do to enhance our pain perseption.

I never thought my issues where all in my mind. But what I figured out is my mind made my problems more intense. With the amount of surgeries we have had, we are so intune with our body and any symptoms we have.

What I should have done post surgery was take some kind of anxiety pill to get my mind from racing. Take a step back and let time help me. Running to Drs. and procedures doesn't always work.


Good luck and be well.