[litezoner]

Hi again, my surgery was on the 22nd, I have had past lag and mid torso problem that developed very fast into complete numbness from the knees down, and burning and tingling legs and mid torso lack of feeling, WELL that's seems to be all gone down, I had a 6 level Thoracic 1-6 laminectomy decompression of the spine with hardware, I have 15 screws in my back and metal rods of course. But here is the *****... I now after surgery have almost 0 use of my hand and arms, They say it is from nerve inflammation/compression from my weight, and being on the table so damn long. I sure would have never saw this coming!!! you would think they would be better prepared to move me, Yes i am heavy, But I really feel like precautions should have been taken so I was not in the same spot so long. on the padded bars of the back table. I am totally freaked out, and scared to death. I have OT and PT coming over 2 times a week each, I cannot yet walk I guess it's the learning curve??? everybody is telling me that it is only temporary, My surgery was on the 22nd July this year, There has been some improvements I will say, But the nerve pain in my hand is almost unbearable, I cannot grip anything! hold anything! use the bathroom by myself, feed myself, etc.... Please can someone who has been though this or has had similar experience reply??? I go in with leg problems only! and come out like this. I just dont get it and I am scared. Thank you all. Shari
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[Dubious]

Originally Posted by litezoner

Hi again, my surgery was on the 22nd, I have had past lag and mid torso problem that developed very fast into complete numbness from the knees down, and burning and tingling legs and mid torso lack of feeling, WELL that's seems to be all gone down, I had a 6 level Thoracic 1-6 laminectomy decompression of the spine with hardware, I have 15 screws in my back and metal rods of course. But here is the *****... I now after surgery have almost 0 use of my hand and arms, They say it is from nerve inflammation/compression from my weight, and being on the table so damn long. I sure would have never saw this coming!!! you would think they would be better prepared to move me, Yes i am heavy, But I really feel like precautions should have been taken so I was not in the same spot so long. on the padded bars of the back table. I am totally freaked out, and scared to death. I have OT and PT coming over 2 times a week each, I cannot yet walk I guess it's the learning curve??? everybody is telling me that it is only temporary, My surgery was on the 22nd July this year, There has been some improvements I will say, But the nerve pain in my hand is almost unbearable, I cannot grip anything! hold anything! use the bathroom by myself, feed myself, etc.... Please can someone who has been though this or has had similar experience reply??? I go in with leg problems only! and come out like this. I just dont get it and I am scared. Thank you all. Shari
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Sorry to hear. Something is afoul. Use of the arms would involve mostly cervical roots C4 thru C8 +/- a little bit, with the majority coming from C5-C8. The "math" doesn't add up. A sold neuro consult should shed some light on this!

[Checker]

I have cervical issues and damage,I experience left leg and left finger numbness and weakness.Today I actually have a bad flare up of the numbness,weakness. It seems to be as Dubious said cervical. I don't want to scare you anymore than you are,but possible an error occurred? It doesn't make sense waking up with totally different issue.I had C5\6 disc fusion and have a small herniation at C6\7,and along with other cervical issues. Keep posted on how you feel..lots of ice!! Start with ice on your neck possibly and see if the numbness is affected by that. May give an idea.My prayers are with you Litezoner!!

[litezoner]

my docs are all telling me inflamed nerves because of the long surgery and the fact that i currently weigh 300 lbs, not a good thing to be supported on the back table that long with bars across my chest and hip area which now have very hard tissue masses under the skin? I woke up with severe skin damage and blisters all over my chest and arms along with burns on my arm I believe from the cauterizer and my arms not being properly positioned or supported correctly, (really not sure) I want to start on some kind of NSAID medication, but I am not sure if or how long the Lovenox stays in the body, they did not refill it so i have to assume they do not want me on it anymore, but of course I don't assume anything, I have an email into my doc to be sure. I do consider the surgery a success since i no longer have the issues with my legs burning and not wanting to work, but dammit, it is just absolutely unimaginable to me that I go in with poor legs and come out with useless hands and arms. Very tough to wrap my head around. I have to take percocet because of the hands, but have absolutely no pain related to the surgical area any more. Guess im sending someone to buy me an ice machine LOL. cheers, and this too will come to pass.

[litezoner]

any ideas on how to treat the compressed nerves that are causing my hands to burn really bad, they are really bad at night. BTW, I am Shari's husband and have been writing all this time, because she cannot use her hand at all. the pain was unbearable last night, we did not get hardly a couple hours sleep probably, I have tried ice, cold rags, tiger balm, not sure what to try now??? any and all suggestions are welcome. I know these nerves are deep in behind the collar bone i believe, Just not sure on how to attack it tonight so she can get some kind of relief? Watching my normally bullet proof wife cry at night is killing me! she is usually the strong one, so this is extremely difficult on both of us.
Thank you

[ginnie]

I understand about you being afraid at this point. I would say that you need another physician. You need someone other than the person who did the surgery, out side that practice or group of doctors. If things do not go as expected, some do not want to admit to that. This happened with my first fusion. He basically dismissed my concerns. You are having some serious issues, and another consult really would be a good idea. If you can bring someone with you to the appointment, one of your therapists for example, that will go along way toward a new physician really trying to figure out what is happening to you. I am not sure about the issues concerning MRI's after your hardware is in, but I am sure there are other forms of Xray to see what is going on. Maybe a CT scan would be in order.
I hope many of the people with Back issues will respond to you. I do care. Please contact me at any time. You are not alone in this, NT will be here to support you and so will I. ginnie

[litezoner]

Originally Posted by ginnie

I understand about you being afraid at this point. I would say that you need another physician. You need someone other than the person who did the surgery, out side that practice or group of doctors. If things do not go as expected, some do not want to admit to that. This happened with my first fusion. He basically dismissed my concerns. You are having some serious issues, and another consult really would be a good idea. If you can bring someone with you to the appointment, one of your therapists for example, that will go along way toward a new physician really trying to figure out what is happening to you. I am not sure about the issues concerning MRI's after your hardware is in, but I am sure there are other forms of Xray to see what is going on. Maybe a CT scan would be in order.
I hope many of the people with Back issues will respond to you. I do care. Please contact me at any time. You are not alone in this, NT will be here to support you and so will I. ginnie

Thank you so much ginnie.

[Jomar]

If nothing else I would think a dr would rx some PT to help with the arm pain & nerve issues.

An independent opinion on this situation/result would be good I think.

I believe you can request the surgical report..

[litezoner]

surgical report? who would i ask for this, better question who prepares this report the surgeon i would guess? we have PT 2 times a week, and OT 2 times a week, the OT came yesterday and did a lot with the arms and hands, most likely caused the extra burning or nerve pain last night that was so horrific for her. I have looked in to something called neurogen, it is suppose to be a topical anesthetic, has anyone used this before with some results, i have tried the aloe sunburn relief so for tonight, the green goop as it's called, seems to soak into the skin fairly fast and she indicated some minor relief with that.

[litezoner]

we have another doctor over at the Physical medicine department, i was thinking of getting an appointment scheduled for an evaluation, is physical medicine the way to go here? or would a neurologist be a better way to go? the neurosurgeon was a bit worried in the ICU, so he did numerous MRI and CT scans after surgery to check for nerve damage and stroke etc...he indicated to us that none of which were found and it is just inflammation from compression?