Falling Apart!
 

Hi all, wow this seems like the kinda' place that can really help me deal with how I am feeling. Seems like a lot of support around here! xo

I'm a 37 yr old mom and for the past 20 years I have suffered from periodic neck pain. Every now and then it would seize up and I couldn't move for about a week then I would slowly start to feel better and then I would carry on like normal till the next seize up. I would go to physio, chiro and massage and it would get me back on track till the next episode. On July 3rd my third son was born, 5 weeks later on a Friday night he had a life threatening episode where he stopped breathing and after a frantic 911 call and several tests by noon the next day the Dr came and sat down in our hospital room and told us that our baby was having seizures and that we would be medi-vac'd to Vancouver children's hospital the next morning (a whole other story, but he 's home and doing great now with a diagnosis of nothing other than epilepsy!) So that day the Dr. came into my room and had the "talk" with me, during that talk, my neck seized again and this time it was excruciating and landed me downstairs in the ER getting some pain control. This was on August 15th, 2012 and I'm still waiting for this seize up to go away! 5 days ago I had a CT and this was my result:

C4-C5:small posterior disc protrusion w/o central canal stenosis
C5-C6:mild right posterior lateral disc osteophyte complex formation and a small posterior disc herniation, resulting in minimal central canal stenosis and effacement of the right lateral recess.
C6-C7:tiny posterior central disc protrusion and minimal posterior disc osteophyte complex formation with minimal central canal stenosis.
C7-T1:minimal posterior disc osteophyte complex formation without significant central canal stenosis.

I'm still waiting to see a specialist to go over these results, I've seen my family Dr and he said I most likely need surgery. They seem fairly mild, minimal, tiny etc...why am I in soooo much pain? I can't turn my head to the left AT ALL, I have harsh burning sensation all down the left side of my back into my hip, all down my left arm, in my shoulder and up the side of my neck into my jaw. At times I'm unstable on my feet, almost clumsy feeling, and suffering from incontinence (apparently from child birth?) and always a sensation of feeling like I'm getting the flu (if that makes any sense). Anyways I guess I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some info on my results? Are they what's causing my pain if they are so minimal?

Thanks for reading...Happy Sunday to all!!:grouphug:

I'll try to help ~~

At C4-5 You have a small posterior disc herniation with NO stenosis

At C5-6 Mild right posterior lateral bone spurs and small posterior disc herniation resulting in minimal central canal stenosis (this means the spinal canal is slightly narrowed) and effacement of the right lateral recess.

C6-7 Tiny posterior central disc herniation with minimal disc bone spurs & minimal canal stenosis (see above)

C7-T1 Minimal posterior disc bone spurs WITHOUT stenosis

I'm sorry you're having so much pain. This really isn't a BAD CT scan. I wish mine looked like this. ;) I can't explain why you're having such severe pain, but I'm no DOCTOR either. I HOPE you're going to see a Neurosurgeon!!!

Please do NOT see a Chiropractor anymore! Or at least he has SPECIALIZED training in physical therapy. So many Chiro's just "crack" you and let you go home! Don't let them do that.

Anyway -- let us know what happens, ok? Hugs, Lee ;)

Chiro
 

I have been seeing a Chiro 3-5 days a week for the past 6 months. This was because my Dr told me to, he said it would help. I found that after a few months of this It was actually making my pain worse so I told the Chiro this and he has since stopped cracking me, but still does adjustments. I have found little relief from this treatment. So far the only thing that helps my pain is Dilaudid 3-4 times a day and Gabapentin ( I only take the Gabapentin at night because it makes me so tired I can't function as a mother with a 8 month old, 2 yr old and a 7 yr old). So really I don't think the Gabapentin is helping, I still have severe nerve discomfort daily.

Maybe my pain if from something else if my CT isn't bad...???:confused:

I'm not saying that you CAN'T have pain from this. You very well COULD have pain from this. Some people are more sensitive than others. :eek: If the Gabapentin isn't working, then you need to talk to your doctor about either raising the dosage, or putting you on something else.

I know the Gabapentin makes you sleepy. Maybe he could raise the dosage of the Dilaudid. At any rate, you need to talk to him.

I'm sorry you're in such pain. Please let us know what happens, ok? And take good care of yourself. God bless and I hope we hear from you again. Hugs, Lee :)

Neurosurgeon
 

YAY...I finally have my first apt with the neurosurgeon tomorrow at noon! I am very excited/nervous to see what he has to say.