Am I screwed?
After making the 5.5 hour trip to Charlotte NC to have an EMG performed and to see one of the top neurosurgeons in the country that specializes in spinal surgery and artificial disc replacement, he advised me of my prognosis.
Unfortunately the news I received from the Dr. Coric wasn't good. I have permanent nerve damage from my last surgery in the L5 nerve root. Apparently 1-2% of patients have this issue after surgery and there isn't any further surgery to reverse this damage.
The chronic pain I feel both legs will be something I have to live with for the rest of my days. The nerve damage is most likely caused by nerve manipulation during my last surgery. I knew something was wrong the minute I came to post-op. Unfortunately, proving dirliction by the surgeon would be next to impossible... it's considered to be part of the risk with this procedure. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter, no sum of money would give me my health back.
To top this off, I hit a deer on the way home and wrecked my car, what's the chances of that (1-2 %)? I won't be placing any bets in Vegas anytime soon.
If anyone has any advise, please feel free to post your suggestions, I'm really bumming because I think I'm screwed.
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