I am finally going to see the Neuro Surgeon. I am anxious and and a little scared. Leesa and Gatorhead to you have any pointers ?? I am new to this and I hope my Mri is attached to this update msg.
My appointment will be 3 months from the time of my fall at work. Leesa your 1st msg said try to put off surgery for as long as I can.I am afraid of neck surgery ,,so if the the Neuro says that it is a must I guess I will insist on a 2nd opinion..???? My pain is wearing me down,,if I do too much,,which is still not very much I pay the price...
I am so happy that I have found this forum. It helps to read everyones msgs and concerns. God Bless you all,,,,Annie







seen it hasn't yet been seen by her and I can take a crack at what you are asking.


As we age the spine, and body has normal wear and tear, just like the parts on your truck. Most of the time in older people they begin to feel the effects of this and it is known as arthritis. There are different forms of arthritis, but yours with the bone spurring seems to be the run of the mill osteoarthritis, or wear and tear arthritis. This is what the doctor is referring too. He would expect to see that. Also DDD or disc degeneration disease is common as your age progresses. Basically it is the process of your disc either dehydrating or already being dehydrated. Again something you would expect to see.

Disc bulging is a term loosely defined in the medical field. A bulge is different than a herniation, or prolapsed disc, at least medically defined it should be. That doesn't mean that it does not cause pain as it is in the spacing of the other things and possibly in contact with things that would cause pain. These are also common findings among all people of all ages.

Now as I noted earlier in your particular case there are indeed at least one serious findings. I have to go on memory as I type this I cant refer back to the post, but I believe it was C5-6 that was plain NASTY! That is what you would expect to see as a result of the trauma. I believe there was another one in there that caused involvement too, but the one was definitely a looker!

Now and I am neither a doctor, nor a lawyer, but from experience I can tell you that WC is going to say this is not a WC injury that it is age related and that you had a bad neck to begin with, because arthritis doesn't set up shop over night! Plus they had THEIR doctor confirm it. A normal doctor would also have to refer you out since it did show something with at least one level of neurological involvement.

I would suggest that for the time being you jump through their hoops. If they stop or slow progress in your medical treatment you should not expect them to do any better and hope that they come around and see it your way, even in the best of cases they never do, you are now the enemy to them. I would ask around about a good WC Attorney as you are going to need one.[/QUOTE]