thoracic spine surgery
 

I've been diagnosed with a 3mm bulge at t5/t6 and advised by Dr John Regan that I need a fusion with vats (video assisted thoracic surgery). Anybody had this procedure with Dr John Regan or any other surgeon with positive or negative results? Also looking for an alternative Dr. in the Los Angeles area.

Did you have discogram for this disc or regan just watch mri and say surgery?
Member,jsewell, had vats surgery with regan.

dr regan
 

had discogram positive at t5/t6 and ct scan

Jeff I did have VATS surgery with DrRegan. Oh it is a story and I will try to shorten it. First my wonderful Pasadena surgeon sent me to DrRegan as he did not have the equipment or a thoracic surgeon willing to do the approach.
I met DrRegan, who spent no time with me. I scheduled the surgery based on his reputation.
During surgery my phrenic nerve was damaged. It is the one that controls the diaphragm muscle and thus breathing., So in recovery i got into serious trouble and ended up in ICU once stabilized. I never heard from Regan. Never saw him at the hospital. I stayed 2 weeks and he never showed up. I called and spoke with him one time and told him i had no idea who was who on my list of doctors, didn't know what he had done and what had happened. He to this day if you asked him would still say nothing happened. Yet on his OR report at a certain point after the first level was treated, it states, we had problems with the lung. He had sent an associate who came for a few days and then told me i could leave. I still couldn't breathe well enough to make it to the bathroom. I had been assigned a primary care doc and was also being treated by a pulmonologist who both said i was no wear near ready to go home.
So bottom line , i cannot recommend this surgeon, DrRegan. He ruined my lung capacity (I am an avid exerciser) and did not have the decency to admit his damage to my nerve or offer any help in getting it diagnosed. If he had, it could have been surgically fixed by a neurosurgeon that i found. When i found the neurosurgeon who does repair phrenic nerves , it was too late to attempt a repair. I am now short of breath with any exertion. I lost 50% of my lung capacity.

If you want to pm me to get more info , please do. also to get my phone number and talk.
judy

My surgery was in Dec 2009 on T7-8 and attempt on T11-12.

3mm? How about PLDD (laser disc decompression)?

Can you tell me who perform discography? And if you can,please describe me your pain and simptoms,because im also fighting with toracic problem for a long time. Tnx :)

dr george graff performed the discogram; he is with d.i.s.c. in marina del rey, ca., my symptoms were pain right on my disc and referral pain through to my chest, abdomen area

I do also have chest pain. Do you also have deep dull pain around your disc,or you have sharp pain? Tnx...

it depends on the day; but if I'm sitting with my back pressed against a chair or lying in a bed the pain on the disc becomes more noticeable; I've had nerve root blocks to the disc which helps the inflammation and does make it more tolerable; my recommendation is to get your doctor to order an mri of your thoracic spine to determine if you do indeed have a problem

I did have 3 mri allready,and it says small herniation at t6 t7. I think i will have to go to discography. Weird thing is that i have pain above herniation,so im confused

Remember Newhere, MRI did not tell my story at all. doctors looked at it and said nothing was really bad enough to cause pain. but after i finally recovered from that horrible surgery (with the accident) i am pain free in that area.
I'd say go for the discography with a good doctor.
cyber mommy judy

Wow...at least one mum understand me well :)
I realy hope discogram will say something.
It was for my lumbal area. MRI showed nothing special,but discography at l4 l5 did.
I realy wish for all of us,that this crap stops,cuz is living nightmare.
P.S. jeff im crossing fingers for you :)

Newhere i especially hope it stops for you, you are too young to be dealing with this.
Jeff hope you find a good surgeon. One who really cares about his patients.
judy

when they do the discogram, they should also do a ct scan with the dye in your disc; this will present a clear picture for your doctor

did u have concordant(your usual pain)? i mean when they inject contrast did you feel your daily usual pain? tnx

I also had the ct scan afterward. I felt pain a lot worse than my normal pain, the same thing but so much worse, i cried it hurt so bad for a short time though. It was the correct disc though, because after it was gone a few months so was my pain in that area.
judy
cyber mummy

did u also jeff have big pain while performing discography?

it was painful; took the pain from a 6 to a 7.5; it took about a week for it to calm down

yeah i was having the same situation after l4 l5 discography,but my pain was then 10/10. also i need 1 week to came to "normal".
so? ... you hade positive discogram and show it to regan,and he say vats for t5 t6?
tnx :)

Jeff, welcome to the forum! Sorry you find yourself in this situation. Regan is one of the developers of VATS and probably has more experience with it than anyone.

Has anyone discussed XLIF with you? T5-6 is getting pretty high for that, but I'd at least discuss it.

I know a handful of people with VATS... some good... some not so good. t-spine problems are tough.

Good luck!

Mark