 DMiller wrote:
We go a week from Friday to get me a Guided Cortical Steroid injection at C4/5 in my neck to try to extend time with any feeling in left arm. Currently has a Itch cannot be scratched as is all nerves under pressure, Right arm is beginning to do that as well. If that fails, another neck surgery and at least a month and half sitting awaiting Boning In Place of insert. |
Okay, so, I went through a C5/6 collapse some years ago, and I'll share it as short-as-I-can without leaving the important stuff behind...
My neck issues started with mild occasional pain, and some tingling in my fingers, particularly when I was bicycling or using a shovel. I gradually moved to more motorcycling, but as time went on, the helmet, especially wind-buffeting, became painful. I switched to a lighter helmet, then eventually bicycle helmet, and then no helmet, but it just gradually got worse. Turning wrenches, both my projects, and on company work, really started wearing me out, and playing bass for my band got rather difficult, as I had a tough time feeling the frets and strings, but i was still very strong. I started having problems tanking up a good lungful of air for singing long notes, and I'd black out a bit on stage... but I'd sing and play right through it (only the gal singing next to me realized it...)
One day, I was leaving a jobsite in Birmingham, with trailer in tow... the driveway had a steep spot in the exit apron, so when I left, I was looking out my driver's side window, back at the back of the trailer, to ease it past the dip... to prevent slamming the tail of the trailer on the pavement... and I sneezed... I felt a little sting in my neck, and then my shoulder, elbow, and palm started to hurt. Within an hour of driving, it was totally pins/needles, and my bicep was bouncing around in spasms uncontrolled... I drove home basically right-handed. My left arm was physically paralyzed- no motor capacity whatsoever, and I had pain under my shoulder blade, in my shoulder, front and back of my bicep and forearm, cold pins and needles in my hand. My other arm was starting to get that way, but I could still use it. No way to sleep- I could not get comfortable in any position.
The waiting time was excruciating, and you don't wanna hear it, but two weeks later, MRI revealed that the disc at 5/6 had collapsed IN... like an O-ring shoved into a garden hose... so my ulnar and radial nerve clusters had been pinched between the cervicals. At the time, they really didn't realize it, but after surgery, doc noted that his previous assessment was wrong, the disc was packed in such that my spinal cord was constricted down to about 20% of it's original space, so all the other problems I'd experienced (digestive, breathing, etc) were likely attributed to that... it very well could've put me on the wrong side of the garden.
Surgery took 1hr 17 minutes... they used a titanium honeycomb wedge packed with donated bone powder (it gets washed of various genetic markers so that the recipient's body accepts, and binds, rather than rejects the wedge). They made three incisions in the front of my neck, moved my windpipe to one side, and did all the work from the front. The wedge slipped in from the front, and a titanium retainer strap fastened the two C's together straddling the wedge with a pair of screws. They had a neck brace on me, so I couldn't move my neck much, my throat was irritated (from the breathing tube mostly) and there was a bit of a burning sensation in the fusion, but the fact that all the OTHER pain was gone, I could rest, so I felt fantastic.
They discharged me the next morning, I rode home in the car, rested for the weekend, and showed up at my office on Monday morning, answering phones and solving problems.
I had the brace on full time for about 3 weeks, then wore it while I was moving around, but not while sitting gently or sleeping. By 8 weeks I didn't need to unless I could feel it stressed (I didn't), and other than a lifting restriction and rough activities, I was out and about just fine.
If I had any chance, or any choice in the matter, the only thing I would have wished for, is that it could have been dealt with much sooner, however, the technology involved did not exist way back when my problems first started... nowdays, it's even better. I heal really fast, and have managed to stay a few years behind you, so I wouldn't expect your recovery to be quite as quick as mine, but I have no reason to think it'd be any less effective for you... it WILL bring a whole lot of happiness back to your life.
Topic Options
Post Options
Thanks(0)
