It's official Stenum Money gone

[cp7959]

Jarrod,

You are correct a Foraminotomy can be done form the back. That was not an option for me at C5/C6 because I had one done in 2003. So when my Stenum surgery did not decompress my foramen to relieve the pain, my only option was to remove the ADR and fuse.

The good part about a Foraminotomy is it can be done minimally invasive. The bad part is there is the potential for scar tissue. But I believe that relatively small risk.

YOur still new out of surgery if the Dr. decompressed your foramen, give it time. Nerves can take a long time. Hopefully not to long for you.

Huey says, "Step by Step, run by run."

[mmglobal]

The decompression that can be done by foramenotomy is not the same as the decompression that is done during a PROPER fusion or disc replacement surgery. Only a small amount of the foramen is accessible during the anterior spine surgery. The foramen is decompressed by virtue of restoring disc height, thereby enlarging the foramen. The decompression that MUST be done during a proper ADR surgery is removal of the big bone spurs or osteophytes that grow on the back of the vertebral bodies when the DDD gets severe. Also to be removed are the calcified remnants of old disc protrusions, ruptured ligaments, etc....

NOTE that the osteophytes and other crap that is causing the problems cannot be reached with a typical foramenotomy. If they were to try to reach them, they would likely be destabilizing the system in a manner that would not by consistent with a properly functioning ADR.

Note that I am not a doctor and am just sharing my layperson's opinion. Don't believe what you read on the Internet.

Mark

[mmglobal]

Bumping this post and sending PM to cp7959 hoping for an update. The cervical ADR revision to fusion is an important story.