Hi Cathie, I am also from Ontario and I had to push and push my doctor for and MRI, and the only way I got it was the fact I had a blood clot in my subclavian vein 2 years ago and I had severe pain in the same area in October and found I had a narrowed subclavian vein. This tied with all the same symptoms you have so I pushed for the MRI as the pain was extreme, the result was a narrowing of the nerve opening (foraminal stenosis) at my C5 and C6 and this has caused the pain that I have. Now waiting for appt with Vascular Surgeon Neurosurgeon. I have found your posts very helpful, Thank you. Mike

Hi Mike,

This forum has been a wealth of knowledge for me over the last few years. I was scared to death at the thought of having a spinal fusion, just the thought of someone opening my neck, geesh, but talking with many others who have gone through it helped a great deal. There are only a few of us from Ontario on here, we are a bit unique with OHIP since we don't have as much choice in drs or second & third opinions, but we are also lucky that we can always get coverage for what our dr orders for imaging and tests, thank God, I've had over 25 MRI's, CT's, xrays, EMGs, etc, that would have cost me $$$.

may I ask what brought on all your symptoms? Are you expecting surgery as an outcome? If you hace the opportunity, find a good physiotherapist and go as much as possible. I have finally found a great one that is knowledgeable in spinal patients and ulnar neurapathy. It helps a great deal.

My family dr put me thru months of crap before I finally got my first CT, then once they saw all the spinal damage I was treated more seriously. Don't give up getting your point across, they misdiagnos often, and are too quick to give a script and push us out the door!

I hope everything goes well for you, what hospital are you close to?

Take care,
Cathie

Hi cath1, I'm not really able to help much with your question as I'm only recently starting this process with doctors myself and my worker's comp claim was denied. I did however want to say that my problem in the exact same area as yours and wondered if u would choose to have surgery again if given the option to make a different choice... At this time I'm trying to avoid it but not having much luck. I hope your doc is helpful with all of your requests and all I can say is I think its best to keep thinking positively. I have noticed that I get so much more accomplished with my doctors when I approach them in a calm fashion as opposed to when I go in to see them and I'm totally anxiety ridden. They don't seem to care to listen to me at all when I'm super wound up and worried.
Do you meditate for the pain at all? Relaxation before appts. and for the pain helps me tremendously. Best of luck to you!!! I'll be thinking of you...

Hi SAMs,

Yes, I would have the surgery again, knowing what I know now, mainly because I've gained the use of my neck again, and that portion of my body (the fused area of my neck) has improved a great deal since my fusion. I still deal with pain daily, and yes, I still take narcotics, plus cymbalta on a daily basis for the neuropathy and pain, but the pain in my cervical area is less sharp after surgery.

I had multiple issues being my cervical spine, my ulnar nerve, and median nerve. The fusion helped the cervical issues with residual muscle spasms and weakness and pain in shoulders and traps but it did not fix the ulnar pain or any of my hand issues as we all hoped it would. But half the pain is better then no pain relief.

I reached a point before my surgery where I was no longer able to drive myself to a doctors appt., or to the corner store. My days were spent crying I pain, waiting for my next dose of narcotics, and I did not want my life of 40 years to be over like that. I come from a very healthy active lifestyle, both myself and husband are certified scuba divers, we love to hike mountains, camp, go four wheeling, anything outdoors.and my hobbies all revolve around the arts, drawing, painting, crafts, etc. I had to have part of my life back.

I'm not 100% by any means, I'm still taking painkillers and going to PT and acupuncture three times a week, and I'm still off work on comp, but life has improved, so I'm grateful for that. I can walk 45 mins on our treadmill, with a slight incline, so I'm getting there! I try to keep as positive and as active (and when I can creative) as possible through this all.

. Cathie