Cervical stenosis, etal

[JerryHooper]

I'm set to see a neurologist in the morning for the following issues:
1. C2-C3 moderate right neuroforaminal narrowing due to uncovertebral joint
and facet arthropathy
2. C3-C4 mild disk osteophyte complex bulge with mild central canal stenosis. Moderate bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing due to uncovertebral joint and facet arthropathy
3. C4-C5 broad based disk osteophyte complex bulge with mild central canal stenosis. Moderate bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing due to uncovertebral joint facet arthropathy.
4. C5-C6 Disk osteophyte complex bulge with severe central canal stenosis. Bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing, moderate to severe on the left and moderate on the right, due to uncovertebral joint and facet arthropathy.

My questions are if anyone using this forum has experienced any of the above, chosen to have surgery, surgical results and recovery time. Thanks!

[Leesa]

Have you been OFFERED surgery? Cause from what I can see I'm not sure a surgeon would do surgery EXCEPT for the C5-6 level with the moderate to severe foraminal narrowing and severe canal stenosis.

I've seen other cases go "unoperated" on very similar to this and referred to pain management or therapy. So just curious if you've been advised to have surgery or not.

Remember that surgery will NOT take your pain away. Surgery is ONLY for mechanical problems. After surgery, you will most likely be left with the same pain or worse. Also be aware of the "domino effect" where the levels above and below the surgery site will likely fail, due to having to take on more of the load.

Whatever you decide, I wish you the best. I'm sure others will chime in with more information and recovery times, etc. God bless. Hugs, Lee

[mg neck prob]

Hi JerryHooper;

Let me know what DR says--- accept for c5-6 seems to be the problem --MRI does not mention any measurments of the buldge (herinations) in size. . Im always suprised at the MRI readings on people --all mine prior to fusion surgery at every level gave some meaurments .I been told numerous time unless you are suffering from a spinal cord compression then no surgery is required due to future risks. Like Leesa said --its done for mechaical reasons to keep you from going parlyzed in some fashion. Its not done for pain relief even though-- many people achieve some relief some never do. You may want to exhaust all conservative measures before considering surgery. I have known many people who found relief from ESI(epidural steroid injections). As always I suggest 2 or 3 consutls before even considering this surgery. What kind of symptoms so you have currently? I wish you the best of luck. Feel free to ask more ?? we have alot people on this board with spine problems.

[forevernana4]

I would ask alot of questions and definitely get second and even third opinions. I wish I hadn't had to have the first single layer surgery due to the accelerated deterioration of the rest of my cervical spine. I will say that I got huge pain relief from the surgery for quite some time. That said, I wonder if it was worth it in the long run.

I did have to have the first one though due to extreme muscles weakness brought on by compression. I didn't have much of a choice there, but if you're not experiencing significant weakness, hopefully you can get good enough pain relief to work toward healing?

my hubby had exactly what you have without significant weakness and got injections, pt, etc.and had beautiful result that's still lasting.

No matter what, I hope the best for you.

[Mark56]

Those decisions are the stuff of personal soul searching. In my case, this past year, I finally had the 34th of my post car wreck surgeries to reassemble me and overcome the mechanical problems of trauma.

This final episode [oh how I hope] was to re-establish a healthy nerve environment cervically because the multi-level stenosis was literally killing the nerves which serve my arms bilaterally. I could no longer sign my name. I could no longer feed myself. I could no longer drive [sigh, the loss of independence]. The associated nerve pain was nearly out of this world, and I would gladly have died.

Realizing such a point of departure, my wife and I were thrilled a trusted surgeon opined he could help. Help was exactly what he produced.

This message is typed by MOI! Typing was one of the things I could no longer do pre-correction. The pity poor me things I could not do as listed above were reversed, and now I am able to romp around in my sports car again [gotta love my old Talon], AND the ultimate of ultimate, that nerve pain was abated. I just gotta love it.

Two more physical therapy appointments post op and I see my surgeon 30 Jan and I am hoping this chapter will close while new ones open.

Would I recommend you, or anyone, head into surgery? Not in a million years. Such a decision must be weighed by you and your significants as appropriate to your circumstances. Report I will, on the other hand, the result of the work on this bod was a BLESSING.

Ahhhhhh..........
Prayin for ya,
Mark56

[mg neck prob]

HI=Mark56;

Great post and advice. Im so glad your going well now its a blessing !! Your post always make me laugh I love your personality !!

[pebblebeach2]

I agree that surgery is ultimately up to the person that has to go thru it. And when you do go thru it you must be connected at so many levels. To me you have to prepare yourself physically mentally and spiritually for any surgery or challenge that faces you.

The people that are your support group can only give advise on what they think should be done. But it is YOU that has the ultimate decision. No one else.

Ive had surgeries where Harrington Rods were implanted and told by doctors about the risks and concerns about doing something like this. While I apppreciated their concerns and agreed with the risks I knew what I had to do in my heart.

Years ago I faced pancreatic cancer surgeryl. Not knowing if it was pre-malignanant or malignant. One surgeon didnt want to touch me for various reasons.

Another surgeon felt surgery should be done. If it ws pre malignant and nothing was done there was a chance it would become malignant and with pancreatic cancer survival is minimal. So do I do the surgery?
Also I was told that there was a chance in doing the surgery I would not survive the surgery itself.

Needless to say I survived the surgery and it came back premalignant. I took a risk but knew in my heart it had to be done. My decison and my decision alone. It took soul searching but went into it confident on my decisiion.

[Leesa]

When I had my surgeries, it was PRE -internet. I didn't have any way to REALLY research anything. I didn't have any way to talk to a bunch of people who had gone thru the same thing. So what did I do? I opted for surgery.

And what happened? It was a disastrous failure. I had twice as much pain afterwards as I had before.

Then, as usual, the "domino effect" came into being and the level above failed terribly, and there was nerve impingement and I HAD to have surgery. So I did, and once again, it was a total failure.

More pain than before. At my 6 wk. checkup my doc did another MRI and all of a sudden he couldn't have treated me better whereas before he'd been a jerk. I wonder if he left the scalpel in me?

Now I'm disabled.

All I'm saying is if I'd been able to research like you can now -- I would have NEVER EVER have had the first surgery!!! EVER. I would have educated myself, and opted for therapy. Then I would have been able to continue working and be a worthwhile member of society! Now, I just feel like a slug. ACK.

[ginnie]

I agree about C5-6 needing some help perhaps. Please go for a second opinion or even a third. My first fusions didn't work, nor was pain aleviated. I did have happen what Leesa talked about, the domino effect. The vertrebre above the site at C6-7 failed, now fused C3-7. Be very sure before you think about the surgery. I am better however, and I would consider my second surgery successful. I was in danger of being paralized. These decisions are very difficult to make. I hope that you find a successful treatment. ginnie

[Annie1023]

Originally Posted by JerryHooper

I'm set to see a neurologist in the morning for the following issues:
1. C2-C3 moderate right neuroforaminal narrowing due to uncovertebral joint
and facet arthropathy
2. C3-C4 mild disk osteophyte complex bulge with mild central canal stenosis. Moderate bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing due to uncovertebral joint and facet arthropathy
3. C4-C5 broad based disk osteophyte complex bulge with mild central canal stenosis. Moderate bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing due to uncovertebral joint facet arthropathy.
4. C5-C6 Disk osteophyte complex bulge with severe central canal stenosis. Bilateral neuroforaminal narrowing, moderate to severe on the left and moderate on the right, due to uncovertebral joint and facet arthropathy.

My questions are if anyone using this forum has experienced any of the above, chosen to have surgery, surgical results and recovery time. Thanks!

Hi Jerry,,Just curious,,my mri is similar to yours and my 1st neurosurgeon visit was 1/24 and he did say that I needed surgery because of the c5-6 severe stenosis. Were you told that you needed surgery ? Also did you have an accident or fall ???? Thanks,, Annie