Thread: C5 Palsy
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Old 12-18-2017, 11:14 AM
Jastek Jastek is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 37
8 yr Member
Jastek Jastek is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 37
8 yr Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Serimile View Post
I've read this thread from the beginning and there are a lot of helpful things.
I had an anterior c5 c6, c6 c7 discectomy and fusion in 2014 with no complications and a posterior c2 c3 foraminotomy and c3 c4 lami with c3 c4, c4 c5 fusion in 2017 that resulted in a c5 right side radiculopathy immediately upon awakening from anesthesia which was "corrected" with a c5 right side foraminotomy 9 weeks later. I am now 6 weeks post op from the corrective surgery and getting pt and ot 3x a week but seeing little progress.
I have the deltoid and bicep paralasys and did not get any therapy during the 9 weeks between surgeries so I've had terrible muscle atrophy. I am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and if they have had any progress and if they have followed up with any legal actions.
Sorry I got to writing this before an appointment and didn't get to finish all my thoughts as it takes a while to type...
Serimile - Not sure if the foraminotomy "corrected" your C5 Palsy. Once the nerve is damaged, the only way to correct it is for the nerve to grow back, unless a nerve transfer or nerve graft is done. The foraminal narrowing may have been a contributing cause of the C5 Palsy and that is why they did the foraminotomy. That would have taken the pressure off the nerve root.

Sine you had no therapy in the 9 weeks immediately following surgery, your muscles had no activity and started to atrophy. Keep up the PT. I did not see any real improvement until 3 months, so don't get discouraged.

On the legal front, don't get your hopes up. I live in Ohio and like a lot of states, the laws were against us. I talked to 3 of the top attorneys in my area and all three said the same thing. They agreed that the doctor screwed up, but since my employer continued to pay me during my recovery, the case was not worth the time and effort to get a verdict in my favor. In order to be successful in a law suit against a doctor, you have to prove that they violated the "standard of care" established for doctors. That is a hard thing to prove. In Ohio, malpractice cases have a $250,000 cap on verdicts. This means that the most I could recover from the doctor is $250,000 (absolute bull %$#@). So I was not able to go after the doctor. I have, however, started a campaign to drag this doctor and the hospital through the mud. Might not make a difference, but it feels good telling everyone what a quack this guy is....

Good luck to you and keep pushing on. Don't get discouraged by the delay in recovery. It takes time.

Thanks for posting and keep us updated on your recovery.
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