Quote:
Originally Posted by pebblebeach2
Hi all.
I feel somewhat frustrated. I am new here as some of you already know & have responded to my various posts. For that I say thank you.
A lot of my issues that I have posted dealt with cervical issues; nerve damage as diagnosed by an EMG; and peripheral neuropathy.
Also I have Harrington Rods from about C3 to about T3/4 levels and Harrington Rods from L2 down to the iliac crest area.
Until recently I could not have an MRI due to a Spinal Cord Stimulator implant. But since it didn't work, the stimulator was removed.
I was always told that an MRI gave better readings then a CT scan. But I am having some difficulty with getting a reading using the MRI.
In the cervical area, even though I have the Harrington Rods, they were at least able to get some readings on what the problems were in my neck.
But the issue that I have is in the lumbar area. When I had the Lumbar MRI, due to the Harrington Rods they were unable to read anything. Apparently the rods caused an obstruction, thus unable to really put their hands on what is going on in the lumbar area. I do have low back pain, trouble sitting; probably stenosis from prior readings. There is extreme numbness in my left leg. Not sure it is all casued by the neuropathy and the nerve damage. Is there something else going on and to what extent?
Now the problem that I am having is first I was born with 1 kidney. Secondly, on the kidney that I do have I am in kidney failure/disease. Thus I have been told that the use of "contrast" on me can be extremely dangerous to the one kidney i have. There are ways around this in that there is a medication that I can take which act somewhat as a protection to the kidney. But there are no guarentees. My neurosurgeon is absolutely against doing an MRI With Contrast due to risk factors.
So I feel stuck. I am not aware of any options left on diagnostic testing to get further information on what is going on in the lumbar area.
Any suggestions? I feel I need to continue to explore my options. I don't want to give up hope on finding out what is going on.
Please help with any suggestions.
Thanks again for listening.
Allan
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As far as finding out what caused PN; like Doc said...it really does not matter in most cases because it usually comes down to treating the pain no matter what the cause.
As far as the lumbar pain; that is something different. You may have spinal stenosis or problems with the vertebrae, discs, etc. Unfortunately, metal does not allow for having MRI's. I have had spinal surgery/fusion and have rods and screws in the L4-5 lumbar area, as well as surgery to remove some of the laminia covering the spinal cord due to narrowing. The laminectomy was done where the space had been most narrowed. I still have stenosis in other areas. Only the worst area was addressed with the surgery. Unfortunately, no more MRI's can be done because of the metal. You may want to get a 2nd opinion with an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in issues of the spine. I would think there are other ways to determine what is going on in the lumbar area.
Gerry