For sure you need a new pain management doctor. Not all doctors do just a shot in the spine. he should have recognized that you have problems in more than one area of your spine and had some more compassion. do find another pain doctor. He handed you off to the surgeon, and is trying to force you into surgery. My pain mangement did the same thing. he told me he couldn't help me anymore after Two injections. He sent me to my second neuro surgeon. I had the C3-7 done. I was FORCED to do the surgery, but even after that, I now have trouble and more pain. I am not having any more spinal fusions. I found a new pain specialist, and I am hoping that she will not hand me off to another surgeon for both my neck, and my ankles. Pain management does hand off to surgeons. Patients find themselves not wanting to do surgery, but have to in hopes of reduction of pain. I am not sure of anything anymore, and I worry about the same issues as you do. Please keep going to find new pain management, and don't get forced into surgery at all, unless you are confindent in your surgeon and the decisions that are made. This is way to important to be rushed into a situation, that may or may not help you. Keep in touch, I will be here as much as I can. I have second opinion tomorrow for ankles. My foot colapsed more or less. I do wish you all the best. Just keep going, and trying to get another pain doc. that has compassion. ginnie

i went to the surgeon today he is concerned my neck is too damaged to operate on. the are going to do a myeloscopy to see how bad the discs are and if he can actually do the surgery. could you tell me about this.

Hi, of course I am concerned about you. If your surgeon is really worried that you are too damaged to operate on, I can't see a point in doing that test. I avoid those kinds of tests like the plague, unless there was hope that the diagnosis would lead to helping you. It is a painful diagnositic test. Usually with the MRI they don't have to do this test. He is trying I suppose to see just how far your damage is, and if there is hope for surgical correction. Because you have mulitipal areas effected, I would choose pain control with the very best pain specialist you can find. Ask your surgeon why this particular test is so important to him, and what the purpose is, if he doesn't want to do surgery anyway. I am so sorry that you have this condition, and I do know how scarry it can be. Weigh all your options before you choose anything. Definately ask your surgeon about this test. I avoided the EMG and the test he wanted to do to you. My surgeon was able to get all he needed from the MRI. I had also had a CT scan at one point. Please let me know what you decide. I sure will support what ever decision you decide upon. Google up that test for a description, it will tell you very clearly, how the proceedure is done. You are in my prayers. ginnie

i tried to google that test and i am not really getting anything baack on it.. i did ask y he wanted to so the test and he told me it was to see if he could do the surgery on me. i have very back head aches and there is a muscle spasm so bad at the base of my neck so bad it is bulging pretty far out now and i have been doing heat but it doesnt help. He told me he would like to do the surgery on my neck but the discs above and below may be too damaged to have the surgery and he wants to see in detail how bad it truley is. i did have the eeg and emg also as u know the mri. could you please explain exactly what happens during the precedure.

Yes, It is a proceedure to see if surgery is possible. I also found out that there are more things that can be done with this proceedure. It can also be a minimally invasive kind of sugery. If he is concerned at all of the verterbre above and below your damaged sites, I would not do the surgery. Your spine would have to be strong enough to hold the hardware. I think that is what he wants to do this for. Look up Endoscopic Epiduroplasty as well. It mentions the myeloscopy. There is a needle, and a scope involved, where he can see on a screen just what is going on. It is also a proceedure that would leave open the possilility of surgery down the line, or at a later time. This is investigative type of proceedure. I did not read anything on four sites, that addressed the pain issue with this proceedure. Maybe the Anesthetic used to numb will make this test not so bad. I will keep looking. ginnie

thank you soo much .. at this point in time i am petrified.. i also finally got a referal to a pain management doctor who handles the prescription part of the pain management.. my old doc. gave me percocets before he discharged me and again they do not work..

Hi, and I sure don't blame you for being scared. It is scarry, and I wish there were something I could do for you. I did a bit more research. Google in " What is Myeloscopy', or 'what is Epiduroscopy'. I found out that very few physicians are doing this proceedure anymore. Several articles were about that. It is largely ineffective from what I read. Not much written about the pain factor either. If percocet does not work, Morphine does. I am on a low does, and use percocet for break though pain. I know that is a scarry drug too, but not if you really need it. I was on a very high dose before surgery, and it was lowered quite a bit until my current dose. I have no desire to up the medication at all! It is very hard to reduce this drug too. It all has to be carefully weighed, the pros, and cons of taking a med like this. I don't like being on these meds either, but I want a quality of life. I may again try to reduce the amount, as I found out RSD doesn't like narcotics. I am caught between a rock and a hard place too. None of your decisions are easy. Keep looking into that test. It was also stated because of poor results, that many insurance companies are not covering that test. You may want to check into that part too. take care, you are in my prayers. ginnie

***I would suggest you get a second opinion. ***



I slept on ice for many years. I hate pain meds, they back up on you and leave you with major headaches. After surgery, I started with the pain specialist but not right away. If you happen to have high blood pressure, some of them are are not recommended.

I go to a research hospital and my surgeon is the head of the department. My neck was so bad that if I hadn't caught is when I did (or my fybromailgia doc did and referred me to him) My doc uses a pain specialist that is wonderful as well as a great PT guy. Many people do not like research hospitals because they train doctors thee b ut I have had only great medical help there.

After surgery they told me that if I had been in an accident, I would have snapped my neck. I have C-2 to T3 laminated, discetomied and fused.

20 hours for 5 levels? It took my surgeon 5 hours for 8 levels, discotemy and fusion.

I wish you very good outcome.