surg report - hospital maybe?
I just heard it mentioned before..

If they are blaming her size for this , perhaps they should have used more padding Did they know ahead of time the surgery would take that long? Or did they have extra issues arise during surg?
(that info should be in the report if they haven't told you of anything extra happening)


So her skin hurting & hypersensitive as well as the numbness?

And it has been how long since the surgery now? over a month?

You might read on our RSD/CRPS forum, just in case..not sure but it can happen after surgery or any injury, no rhyme or reason..
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum21.html

I am confused....in one post you are speaking with plurality (we), with the next in the third person (her). Is the problem yours or someone else's?

In any event, a surgical report is prepared by the surgeon and submitted to the surgical venue with a copy going to the surgeon's office. You (or whomever the patient is) can issue a records request specifically for such. But it won't do you personally much good unless you understand medical terminology and/or are clinically trained.

As far as intractable burning pain, RSD/CRPS (which I have) is a reasonable consideration for which you (as I stated before) need a neuro consult. If such is the problem for whomever is injured, everyday one wastes further ensures a worse outcome.

Husband is posting

To get your medical records, and the disk which you MRI is on, just go to the office. Your neuro doesn't have to say OK for that. Most of the time there is a charge for the records. This is worth the cost, as then you will have them if you have to go to another physician. No worry with getting records to them.
the surgical report is important.....Impressions are given, or a synopsis, of what was done to you. Good way to learn the terms and language of the condition too. Your records are yours, and you do have a right to a copy of them." No "from the office is not an option. All my best to you. ginnie

Hi-
Did you document your wife's immediate post-op condition...the electrocautery burn (that should have been an incident report in all hospitals in the US), as well as the other abraisions???

I am assuming the surgeon knew the weight of your wife?? I mean no disrespect...the surgeon should have been prepared w/ adequate padding, what the weight limit of the frame was, etc. I am also guessing this is not his first "spine instrumentation" case...He/she should be aware of the potential lentgh of time.

PM me.
,
Stacy

Ginnie is right, sort of (no disrespect intended)! Technically the record is owned by the doctor who is actually mandated by state boards to never let it leave his/her paws. Also by law, the patient or designated guardian has a right upon written request to obtain a copy of the record "for a reasonable fee" as is written by individual state law. A reasonable fee varies from one region to another but an example might be a max of $25 or $35 unless one can justify more (volumous records). It of course can be less if you are only requesting a report or two. Per page rates vary but we just paid $400 for example for my father in law's records after a 3 week hospital stay which filled a legal document-size box. Digital media such as MRI CD is less clear but of course for a fee, you are entitled to a copy of that as well!

Thanks you all for your great responses and information, i will be obtaining postoperative MRI Images and CT scans on disk as well as x_Rays etc... i do remember the surgeon saying he used extra padding. still makes no sense to me, we did rule out TOS as it is most common only on one side. Had an interesting doctors visit today at her primary, it turns out that some of the fusion surgery was done at the cervical C-7 level down to the Thoracic T-6 The Doctor read it right off of his computer to us, It read something like partial C-7 to partial t-6 laminectomy with hardware. I was not aware that the Cervical spine was involved in this surgery in anyway. So her primary called the surgeon, because he didn't know what the hell to do for her, and basically was told to just treat the symptoms, that the images were okay and no nerve damage or anything a foul if you will, and that it will just take time and OT along with PT. anyway needless to say i'm ****** I think this is all Bull *****, someone somewhere is not being honest about something, Primary doc did prescribe some anti inflammatory meds, so I am hoping still that i an get the swelling down in her hands, we did find a good remedy for nerve pain it is a product called NEURAGEN if you have any type of tingling or burning pain especially, it works pretty good, ahhh Finally some relief for her. I hate the fact that she still has to take percocet and muscle relaxers, Volume, to sleep, this crap is addictive and dangerous and it should have been over with by now with absolutely no surgical pain any longer present and has not now for several days, Yet she still has to take this crap. we are ramping up on the neurontin/Gabapentin we are up to 600MG a day on our way to 900, added a new one starting tomorrow night called nortriptyline, the two together are for treating the symptoms of nerve pain. NOT THE CAUSE!!! man I'm ******. I am thinking about seeing an independent neurologist and taking all these images with me, I think someone here above recommended this as well. this would be a huge expense? I am not sure what it would cost out of pocket, but i'm sure its not cheap. just to refresh, we are now 5 weeks post op with all symptoms that we went in for gone, they were all lower body symptoms, we are now trying to figure out why the hell she has no use of her arm and hands when they were fine before this damn surgery. BTW yes husband is obviously posting. thank you all for taking your valuable time to help us with this by way of your suggestions and comments, they are all warmly welcomed and very much appreciated. Thank you

TOS can be on both sides , or one, or worse on one than the other, depending on the cause.
I'm assuming her positioning placed the compressions on both sides fairly equally..

There may be nothing causative that shows up on her imaging, soft tissue & impingement's often don't, at least when it comes to TOS, unless there is some bony anomaly. But it would be good to have some other surgeons look them over in case something was missed.

Have you searched the web for any other stories of extremely long surgeries causing problems like this??

It might be helpful to email some surgeons ( usually you can do that from their websites) that do similar surgeries and ask them if this does happen and how long might it take to resolve?
That is what I would do, you need some professional opinions to find out if this is normal or rare & maybe a time frame for improvement.

I think you have a right to question what has been done. Not to have known ahead of time what vertebra are going to be addressed is a no no. A full explanation of all the steps for surgery should have been told to you. C-7 as you mentioned,was worked on from your post, without you being told..
Do see an independent Neurologist, and go over all those results with him or her.
When something smells fishy it usually is. I hope your wife gets some resolution to where she can be off her medications.
Sometimes however the nerve damage is there, regardless of the fix for surgery. I do have some pain. I do have some medications, that I try desperately not to take. I am fused C3-7. Most times I get along without it.
I wish you all the best. ginnie