C3-4, C5-6, C6-7, T1-2 ProDisc-C Nova ADR blog

[mmglobal]

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Those of you who've been on the forums for a while will already know a lot about my situation. I'll be having this very unique surgery on Tuesday. For anyone facing large multi-level cervical issues, I'll blog too much here.

I have been avoiding the surgery for several years because it was a 3-level procedure that spans 4 levels. C3 to C7 (leaving C4-5 alone). I've maintained that "I'm too high functioning to consider such a big surgery." When things would get worse, I'd seriously consider the surgery, but before pulling the trigger, they would always get better. While my pain has rarely been more than mild to moderate, it's been pretty constant and really has impacted my life in a serious way. Last fall, I scheduled the surgery for late January, but by the time December rolled around, I chickened out and cancelled.

About 7 weeks ago in mid February, I had a setback that really kicked up the symptoms, including substantial L chest and L arm pain. (Yes, I had my heart worked up.) New cervical MRI showed that everything in the known bad 3 levels has advanced. It also turned up a thoracic disc herniation with spinal cord compression. (For those of you with too much time and not enough to do, or if you are particularly interested in this type of case, here are some relevant threads:
http://www.ispine.org/forum/ispine/6...y-results.html and
http://www.ispine.org/forum/ispine/1...hest-pain.html.)

I had already been planning a trip to Germany with clients for their surgeries in mid May, so I scheduled my surgery for the end of May. Spinal cord compression can be severe and completely asymptomatic, or it can be mild and highly symptomatic. I've been lucky as I apparently have a lot of room in my spinal canal, so even though my films have looked pretty ugly, I've not been in severe pain and don't (didn't) have any of the scary neuro symptoms. A couple of nights ago, I had my entire L leg go numb and experienced very large patches of numbness that moved around my upper body. I’ve been watching the difficulty I have standing on my L foot w/eyes closed for some time, but recently when the symptoms are worse, I cannot even come close to maintaining any balance for a second. R foot is not great, but I can manage to do it.

With the rapid onset of more symptoms and knowing how quickly things can go bad in a hurry, I realized that I could not manage a trip with clients and I should not consider waiting 2 months for surgery. With spinal cord compression, the risk of permanent damage is not insignificant or tiny. After some conversations with Dr. Baumbach (neurologist) and Dr. Fenk-Mayer, we decided that I was not an emergent case, but I was urgent. I’m now scheduled for surgery on Tuesday.

As we’ve been watching the pathology worsen for years, there have been borderline contraindications that I hope have not progressed too far. I don’t know how much my odds of success have changed over the years. The only relevant data will be known in a few weeks or months. We are here… it is what it is. I made my decision to wait, because we did not know what the timeline was. I believed that I would have surgery, but imagined that it might have taken many more years to progress. Now, I believe that things could get better, but even when things are ‘good’ my life is still too severely impacted. As things have progressed, I believe that there is no realistic way to avoid this, so now, sooner is better than later.

The thoracic herniation is new. We don’t know (and will never know) which symptoms are related to the new pathology, but it’s clear that T1-2 must be included. The only question is C3-4. I believe it’s got to go, but would love to shorten the construct by 2 levels if possible. With cervical ADR, coming back for a later operation is not as problematic as it is with the anterior lumbar surgeries.

Oh well… here we go. I’ll post too much detail here. I hope it’s not too boring. (Actually, I hope it’s very boring… go there… get surgery done… come back… all is well… END OF STORY!)

[New-disc]

Mark,

My prayers are with you, please keep us all posted.

Todd

[dshobbies]

Talk about fast, Tuesday is just days away! I'm so sorry you find yourself in this position again but you know what to expect with surgery or what lays ahead if you do nothing. I know you were hoping to avoid this but the fates were against you .

I know you'll try to maintain a work schedule but now is the time to concentrate on you. I hope you remember this when you're pulled in all directions. So please be sure to take it slow. Now is a time to walk the walk.

Is Diane going with you? Or who? Please take care and I'll be with you in spirit. Good luck, Dale

[Justin]

Jeez...Mark a 4-level...yikes. You're in great hands. (BTW, we are in the same "category"--not emergent, but urgent [I'll be scheduling surgery with Dr. B tomorrow].)

Well, it's good that you are getting done as waiting started to take its toll. I have a few minutes now...give my cell a call if you get the chance.

You'll be a (unfortunately) cool case discussion at SAS.

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

WOW Quick surgeries for the both of you. This is great and I hope you both are fixed better than Humpety Dumpety.

Please keep us posted.

Terry Newton

[mmglobal]

Things seem to be getting much worse very fast. I'm still functional, but upright time is limited and gets more and more painful through the day.

Note that leg numbness is not thought to be lumbar related as a few people have thought. It does not follow a lumbar dermatome and is much too broadly dispursed, entire leg and large patches of numbness on L upper body.

Whatever you do to muster the good karma... pray, meditate, commune with nature, or as Dr. Zeeers just said, "I'll turn on the candles for you." Please do it. Gil and Paulette, ski a run for me! Dieter, do a skydive for me! Doreen, take a hike... no don't take a hike... take a hike for me!

Mark

[phylly]

I am very sorry to hear that you are getting worse so fast. E-hugs and E-wishes are coming your way. When do you leave? You will be in good hands for the surgery and hopefully as good as new soon. Rest as much as you can!
Phylly

[Kathy]

Wow Mark and Justin, you guys move fast! That's probably good, from a mental standpoint, doesn't give you a lot of time to 'think about it' I'm a worry wart, so I tried to stay busy in the weeks before surgery. Godspeed in healing,
Kathy

[kc0iet]

That's the way to do it! Schedule it, pack, travel, get your new spine, and then heal. No time to think about it or chicken out. I'm sorry that you have to have the surgery, but I am glad that you are able to go to the best! I will be praying for you, sending you positive mo-jo and lighting a candle for you.

Take care and keep us posted.