Thank you all for your great replies

I am on my second opinion lol. Seems both neurologists come up with the same answer as Dubious.

Dubious, when they did the embolectomy part of the clot (collagen plug) broke off and traveled down to the outside calf and lodged itself. The doctor told me that if he was to go after it he would destroy the leg worse than if he left it alone.

Could that have caused foot drop???

Thank you sooo much for the answers because you all are helping more than you all know!

Allen,

I am not a vascular specialist. But the pathophysiology sounds plausible...bring this up with a vascular surgeon. They may shed some light on this for you!

Thank you sooo much!!
I will do that, and also bring this up with the surgeon. Im not sure if all of it would be worth it if the RSD gets worse. Tripping over everything all the time is annoying, but having the RSD spread or get worse scares me more than just living the way I am.

This week is a busy week with a trip to the neurosurgeon, the urologist for kidney stones, ear nose throat for the osteoma they found, and the regular doc for the monthly.

I guess it works out ok because im flying off to Florida for a few days, and at least all the appointments will be out of the way.

Back before all this happened to me I was sooo healthy, working out 4 days a week in the gym. Enjoying all that life had to offer...who knew that in one day the world could turn upside down LOL!

My heart goes out to all of you, this RSD is a world changer for sure. We just gotta keep fighting the good fight, fight for every little step forward, fight to hold the ground we fought for, and fight to just have a semi-normal day. You all are my heros, my role models. Your stories of your trials and tribulations with this dreaded RSD are my inspiration to keep fighting.

Luv you all

Allen....

As well as you are our role model and hero too.... Keep fighting and looking forward and know you are not alone!!!

Have a safe trip!KS

Hi Allen
I had surgery on my hip twice,,both times ,theres always been a chance that you will get drop foot,,the dr;s contend that if you do,it will clear up over a period[month]time,Ive met with several people thru theropy that had if for different reasons,and yes,its scarey,. there are 4 major nerves around the hip ,that sometimes get longated during surgery or the protective outer shealth of the nerve gets damaged.i know your not haveing hip surgery,but alot of people that ive met ,that went thru it,had different causes,,it can be from your back but if youve had nerve damage,thats probually the culprit,exspecially around the peroneal nereve and fermoral artey area,,If you have a collagen plug problem ,that could be the problem,,One lady had a stent put in an artery and had issues as well a racquetball player did as well.....I do commend you on the upbeat attitude,its encourageing to us, and I hope and pray that you get it straighten out,,,bobber,,,

Hi everyone! I am absolutely elated, and wanted to update everyone.

Saw the neurosurgeons today and they were very thorough, and says the back is not bad enough for surgery. The disc buldges to the left and all my complaints are for the right, plus it didnt look that bad to the two of them.

They had the hospital records of the embolectomy, and were more concerned with the seemingly lack of pulse in the right foot. Said I should go see a vascular doctor soon to get that checked out.

They believe most if not all of the nerve damage was from ischemia, and it would also cause the foot drop. And that the emg readings could be read as the lumbar, but also could show damage from the ischemic injury. They said it would look the same on the emg, and were pretty certain there is RSD.

I know I shouldnt be all that happy because this isnt really good news. But compared to RSD, and then RSD with a back surgery....well it sounded pretty good to me to avoid the surgery LOL!

They are setting an appoinment to start epidural's, said I could have 3 in a year. Sounded pretty good to me

Felt pretty good to finally talk to some doctors that werent wearing blinders.

So that was a complete relief! I can now fly to Tampa Florida this friday without all the worries of surgery. See ya ll when I get back

Allen....


So nice to read great news...Whew.. now you can go to fla. and not worry so much well where back surgery is concerned.....as far as the RSD in our lives..well its our new best friend..it follows us everywhere..... sorry about that part!!! Safe trip.. KS

Sounds very common sense-ish to me. It's nice to have someone be able to evaluate all the findings, summarize them and especially say the problem is not primarily your back and very well could be a focal problem in your leg. The lack of pulse is a major tip-off and gets back to the necessity for speaking with a vascular surgeon (not that you do or do not need surgery!). The EMG's are just okay at sometimes stating that there is a problem with a nerve or root, but really is just a smoking gun when it comes to defining causation as it doesn't say why the problem is there. It is only a small piece of the puzzle.

All of the pieces of the puzzle really need to add up, history of injury, subjective complaints, clinical, imaging findings and special tests findings to give you your best chance at an early correct diagnoses, oh yeah, and someone who can put it all together for you. And it sounds like you got just that with the neurosurgeons (whose residencey is just about the longest of all the medical specialists).

Sounds like you dodged a major bullet, avoiding a potentially needless surgery. Great news!