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Could use some prayers ya'll


Dallas Denny
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Well ya'll, I'd appreciate your prayers, positive thoughts, healing juju...whatever ya got, please send it my way!

A little over 2 weeks ago I began experiencing severe pain in my neck and left shoulder....I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease  in 2013 after an MRI showed 2 herniated cervical disc's and 3 herniated lumbar disc's so I initially thought it was just a flare up of the normal daily pain I've been having all these years....however, within a couple days the pain was unbearable, and after my wife found her tough, old Marine in a scalding hot shower crying like a baby, she made me let her haul me to the ER.

After copious amounts of IV pain meds and muscle relaxers the ER doc sent me for a catscan...when I got back he told me the catscan revealed deterioration of C5 and C7 to the point that the resulting stenosis was putting direct pressure on my spinal cord and that he was going to refer me to a spine surgeon.

Went to see him last week and after examining me he said that from looking at my 2013 MRI and the ER catscan that he thought that I was teetering on the edge of total paralysis!!  Damn, it felt like all the air had been sucked outta the room!!  When we got to the car I told my wife I needed to just sit there for a bit cuz my heart was about to beat out of my chest!!

So, a new MRI is scheduled for next Tuesday to prepare for neck surgery and not gonna lie, I am freakin terrified!!

DD

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....dang it DD...sorry to hear this...prayers, vibes, good thoughts on the way. freakin scary now but look on down the road and be grateful it was found now and you avoided the coulda-shoulda-wouldas. been 11 yrs here for same damn thing...the scare goes away when you realize you're ok....and you will be!

best

jonathan

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Hey Denny!! Tell the anesthesiologist NO Epinephrine in the meds that they give you!! Really serious here my friend! That can save your bacon in the head department. One surgery with epi caused ten hits. One colonoscopy with epi ended up with me getting a general to stop the pain writhing I was doing. Yep, woke with a hit too and the nurse had my O2 and mask in hand the instant I sat up. TELL THEM!!! My records reflect the epi bit now. Everywhere!!! And they also state that I will have O2 at 15lpm and a non-rebreather with it and do not try to make me lie down. :)

Tell the doctor too. Hells bells, tell them all!!!

My family have had many fusions - from neck (My Dad) to thorasic (My youngest) to lumbar ( eldest and me) and we have all done very well post surgery. You are getting all my good juju, prayers, vibs to go with as well.

 

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I detect a theme here with the reports of consistently successful surgeries of this type.

Now a prediction: You'll be dancing a jig out of that OR following your entirely successful version of the procedure, and will be experiencing major, sustained relief, after all these years and this more recent major crisis.

The procedure will also be 100% epinephrine free, or everyone involved is going to have @spiny to answer to!

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So sorry to hear you are struggling.  Sounds like you are going to need a fusion which are highly successful procedures in most cases.  Will likely lose some range of motion but the pain will be gone so it seems like a far trade.

 

Spinal surgery is not for sissies and since you are anything but a sissy you will do well.  Make sure you have someone who has been at it a long time, has a good volume of experience with the procedure and is nice to your wife.

 

Stay strong.

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Dallas, the moment you got in the car and just needed to sit, I've had several of those moments this year. There's stuff you can handle, stuff that's hard to handle, and then overwhelm. 

My year started with running over myself (not kidding) and then 4 or 5 things unrelated to that. Lots of overwhelm. Bunches of people wanted to help but there was nothing they could do. It's a great feeling knowing people are rooting for me. And so I appreciate your request for prayers. I'm not a praying person, but I'm a caring person and will hold you in my thoughts.

One thing I will mention, as a nurse and a patient who has had too much surgery. What you're facing is a really big deal and if it were me, I'd feel better about the direction of things if it came from a team of doctors, but if it's one doctor saying this, you might consider a second opinion (from someone in a different medical system). This will buy you some time to get used to this new reality and give you confidence in your direction.

What else can I say? 

 

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I had my C5-C7 Anterior Cervical Disectomy and Fusion in 2010. Mine was bad enough that the spine surgeon put an implant in mine. I’m sorry, but I am not religious and can’t offer prayer. However, I can assure you the fusion is far less painful then what you are going through now.

I went home and I think that I filled the schedule script, but only used a few! The L5-S1 had me screaming and I never felt that much pain in my life. Honestly, CH doesn’t even get in the ballpark.

I don’t know how great your spine docs are in your area are, but we have a few of the top 50 spine docs in the country. One, I trust to send anyone to if you need the info. He is incredible, and I think his revision rate is near zero. His education is exceptional: Hopkins, Washington University, and Emory. All the top schools! He performs out of two General Hospitals, Montgomery and Howard County. Don’t let that scare you, those are where all the wealthy Federal Contractors live. His office is in Potomac. I.E. homes start at 3 million. 

The other one is the chief of staff for Neurosurgery/Spine at Union Memorial and that hospital is affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic, for Cardiology. And it is nationally ranked in other areas. 
 

Last, I hope that it gets better, and I am alarmed that they didn’t operate 8 years ago. That is why I am offering doctors in my area. They aren’t knife happy, but ah, damn man that is scary sh$t! Good luck!

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Appreciate all the good wishes ya'll!

Got the MRI and follow up visit with the doc....left feeling pretty damned confused!!

Said MRI indicated surgery was needed but because my pain level has reduced significantly and that since I'm in fairly good physical shape otherwise, along with the risks involved by surgery his advice was to take it easy and come back in if the pain becomes unbearable again....

Feeling kinda anxious about the whole deal but really can't afford to go see another doc for a 2nd opinion right now so I reckon I'll just keep on keeping on!

DD

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Generally speaking moving forward with surgery is a balance between how the condition is affecting your quality of life and the potential for long term harm if intervention is delayed.  Many times radiographic appearance and symptoms do not correlate.  Imaging is a guide to intervention but not necessarily a mandate for surgery.

 

If you can manage the pain, have effective relief from things like physical therapy, medication and range of motion its better to avoid surgery.  If on the other hand you are just "grinning and bearing it" then having surgery is your best option.  You can always do surgery but you can never take it back.  No procedure is without complications which is why it should be the last thoughtful option.. 

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You got to do what's best for you at the end of the day . But also if doc"s are advising no surgery at present then I would go for that as long as you have quality of life . I know all of us with CH have a bit of doubt when it come to doctors due to are experience with them but this is different buddy I would say they know what they are talking about 

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I had horrible neck pain some years ago.  Every day a misery, wearing a cervical collar all day, unable to do anything comfortably.  I was in the hospital for a week just because I was going nuts from the stress.  The first day I was there a doc came in and said he had looked at my MRI and he was ready to do surgery whenever I wanted (fecking ambulance chaser).  Nothing they gave me, even morphine or steroids, helped at all, and when they kicked me out they gave me giant bottles of things to take daily (neurontin, oxycontin, oxyIR . . . ). I flushed them down the toilet on the third day (too bad -- street value was probably pretty high). 

It happened that we had a connection with a top neurosurgeon, and I counted the days until my appointment with him, thinking he surely was going to rush me into surgery and finally fix the pain.  Instead, he said to come back in two months after doing physical therapy regularly.  I was crushed.  I wanted it over, and I was terrified of doing anything to make it worse.  Turned out that waiting was the right thing to do, and I never did need that surgery (and I never miss a day of doing my neck exercises).  

There are those famous studies where they would look at people's spines and try to predict who was having back pain. Turned out that except in extreme cases there was no connection between spinal condition and back pain. One person could have three herniated disks and be suffering, and another person could have something that looked just the same and be having no pain.  And the other way around -- no structural issues but serious pain for some and no pain for others.

So maybe, like me, you were just having some kind of awful episode and it's going to get back to normal or normalish and just become a memory.  Or, of course, maybe not, but it sounds like they're ready for you if surgery is what you need.

Love you, Denny, and sorry you're going through this now, too.  

 

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On 11/15/2021 at 10:21 AM, Pebblesthecorgi said:

Generally speaking moving forward with surgery is a balance between how the condition is affecting your quality of life and the potential for long term harm if intervention is delayed.  Many times radiographic appearance and symptoms do not correlate.  Imaging is a guide to intervention but not necessarily a mandate for surgery.

 

If you can manage the pain, have effective relief from things like physical therapy, medication and range of motion its better to avoid surgery.  If on the other hand you are just "grinning and bearing it" then having surgery is your best option.  You can always do surgery but you can never take it back.  No procedure is without complications which is why it should be the last thoughtful option.. 

best informed consent I have ever heard!

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I feel your pain @Dallas Dennyand @CHfather  I too have a bulging C5&6 as a result from my scar contracture and looking down through surgical loops 10+ hrs a day for years.  I took a break from practice bc I couldn’t take the pain. I was referred to a really good spinal surgeon and he said it’s bad for my age but if I started w surgery now I’d regret it bc they need to be revised.  So the later you start the better off you are.  I finally got my burn scars revised and the bulging improved (I did do PT to no help). Sadly in between my 4 and 5 surgeries I got CCH.  The neck pain improved.  But now my scars need to be released again and I started getting  neck and shoulder pain, numbness in fingers, dropping things...  I asked for trigger point injections and it was the best decision I ever made!!!  They do my neck and upper thoracic muscles that need it.  First round helped some, but the next month I did it again and wala my pain and everything got markedly better!!!  Now it’s my go to when it flares up. No more epidurals for me.  I highly recommend trying it.  They use a numbing agent of their choice and kenalog (steroid).  I try and stay from the roids after @FunTimesand @Pebblesthecorgihad their hips done. I really avoid it.  But for me the resolution of symptoms w 2 months of injections is worth it for me. 
 

I hope the pain is getting even better. Hopefully my experience helps you...

 

Thinking of you buddy!!!

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