Hi Everyone,
Well Im 55 and in '86 & '87 I had a backsurgery (Discectomy) Laminectomy at L4-L5. The surgeries were basically the same procedure. I just ruptured the same disc twice and Ive never been healthy in that area since, I ended up with drop foot and alot of right leg numbness and pain between my right foot and knee and some back pain as well...
Ive worked construction most of my life but back problems kept pushing me to do something physically easier on my body, even though Im pretty strong and in shape or was. I took a fall and hit the back of my head in 2004 and that begain almost the entire list of symptoms of Arnold Chiari Malformation, I struggled hard with that, then joined a great forum online and as a result found a great Doctor, "Doc B" in Great Neck, NY. the Doc is a nice man, he did the decompression surgery on the back of my head when no one else would... I was a very very sick man and I sometimes wanted to just let go and die, the sickness was that bad and getting worse at a high rate of speed....I was so sick I could not have even made the second trip through the airports traveling from Portland, OR. to JFK airport in NY state. Had it not been for this very wonderful beautiful woman whom I had met at a AA meeting a few months before, I might very well be a dead man..What a blessing she is and was at that time, God really does answer our prayers at times I do believe....
Kathy and I made 2 trips to Manhatten from Oregon that summer and the first trip was to meet and consult with Doc B. and to hang out in Manhatten and Central Park for a few days, plus visit some nice restaurants, etc.(it was a blast even though I was sick, thank God for drugs) The second trip was just for the surgery and it was almost 3 months later, I was much much sicker. The Doc's removed some bone at the base of my skull, drilled a hole up higher to work through as well I presume( I have a flat spot back there now) and they removed half of C1 and a partial of C2 , cutting me open from the top of my skull and all the way down the back of my neck...Before stapling me up they screwed in a titanium plate with 4 screws to cover the big hole in my skull. Sewing up the dura was also involved as that needs to be opened up so they can check for adhesions before you are all zipped up again...So bottom line, I was flying back to Oregon 3 days after the surgery, which was entirely my idea and a bad idea it was. Just ask the woman whom had helped me through all of this and is now my wife, Kathy...3 days was way to soon to be flying, but I would not listen to my Doc or Girlfriend at the time, I always believed in doing it my way, kinda like Frank Sinatra's song...Yes I was verrrrry sick the entire 5 hour flight home, my girlfriend in tears just knowing I was dieing before her eyes and the Flight Attendants or Passingers did not argue with her either, they thought I was a dead man walking just from the size of the big red shiney zipper I had on the back of my head/neck....But make it I did, God Bless em all. Next time though, I will give it a week or more before I even leave the hospital after a decompression surgery, LOL! Whooooo! Wheeeeeew! What a Ride That Was! After a long break we took at a Hotel in Seattle, we picked up our rig we had parked there and came back home to Oregon. I spent the next 2 years recovering up to about what they told me. I got about 70-80% better and thats it..
So Ive gone down hill ever since the Chiari attack in 2004. Mostly due to my spine it seems. I found a Doc at St. Vincents in Portland, OR. He told me he could help me with the right leg pain and numbness I had. I was afraid it would get worse and I would end up not being able to walk at all...I will call this Doc, a Neurosurgeon as well, Dr. O. and he performed 2 surgeries on me 6 weeks apart. First one through the front and another from the back...Both of the surgeries again on L4 - L5 and the first one he did he cleaned up some scar tissue and put a small spacer inbetween the two vertibrae, then ran 2 screws up and 2 screws down with a litle metal tube in the midle for bone to grow together in and from my understanding some bone did grow which means the area fused if only partially and approx 2 years after the surgery was performed. So the surgery from the back, Im thinking he just cleaned up the area of scar tissue during the second surgery and of course he was looking for any sign of a pinched nerve which he never did find..Nor did the MRI or CT scans ever show the piched or damaged nerve, there was just to much scar tissue I was told for it to be visable...Thats what I was told, I was told in the beginning by the great Doc O. that he would fix me, oh look he said in his office to me. Oh look thats why you are in such pain, its no wonder. Oh yes I can fix that, thats a no brainer. You know this morning I did a brain surgery which consisted of a craniotomy, blaw, blaw, blaw, blaw, blaw...
So Im thinking my puny litte back surgeries are no big deal with Mr. Brain Surgeon here, Im looking at a pain free beautiful life again, oh man, this is gonna be great! Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Well folks, that was in the summer 2009, its now October 11, 2011 and Ive gotten considerbly worse. In fact sometimes I can hardly walk because both my legs hurt now, still my right is the worst, but my left seems to be catching up..Also both my hands hurt badly at times, finger joints and all. My right arm sometimes screams with pain between my wrist and elbow, but usually just a solid dull ache sets in with an ocassional jolt.. I usually carry a walking stick or cane (Both Homemade Diamond Willow and Mule Deer Horn Handles) that are nice to look at but work very well to help me get up when Im down on the floor tieing my shoe and I cannot get up...Oh what fun at only 55 years old after being such a physical guy my entire life....So during the Chaiar decompression surgery, when I came to, I opend my eyes and a man said. Sir I believe we took care of all your pain and most of your Chiari symptoms/problems. Except the arm pain we believe that to be coming from your neck...
So Im possibly looking at a neck surgery, front and back they tell me..Then there is my legs that hurt like hell, sometimes making it difficult to walk, even with 50 mg's of Oxycodone on board, with a couple heavy duty muscle relaxers at night to relax...
My life now sucks! I hate having to take the drugs, side effects, mood swings and anxiety attacks, oh what fun! Not being able to breathe during the panic attacks! Not being able to hunt or go fishing at my favorite fishing hole in the mountains because I cannot walk in any more. Not being able to work more then an 45 minutes at a time, now throw in the other 15-20% of the Chiari symptoms on top of the Spine problems and I could go on and on, but I wont...
If anyone has ideas or suggestions of good Doctors I might try? What has worked for you?
Thank You!!
JF
New Pain Keeps Coming, My Life is beginning to really suck...
(2 posts) (1 voice)-
Jules
guestPosted 7 months ago # -
Admin
guestHi Jules,
Thank you for sharing your story here with us. Education will help you with the way forward the most. If you get yourself well informed you will know more you can question more about any treatment offered to you.
A place to start would be with our free back pain book you can get by following the link below. We hope you find it useful.
"Free 7 Day Back Pain Cure Book"
Thank you
Posted 7 months ago #