Many of you know I’ve been having back issues, some of you may not.
I am going to keep the (how) very simple. The (what), I’ll explain with as much detail as I can.
In late 2007 I was in the right lane of a two lane road. I was only going approximately 12-15 mph as I had just come off an exit from a highway. A man in the car went passed me in the left lane and shot over to enter onto the highway going the opposite direction I had just come off of. It happened so fast I didn’t have the chance to get around him as there wasn’t enough room or time. I hit his rear side passenger panel. When I landed on the ground I hit my helmet (chatter box side) and left shoulder and leg. I was able to stay on the bike and had to slide off the bike after I hit the ground. (I was wearing leather riding jacket, helmet with a chatterbox attached (not in use), gloves, riding boots and jeans) Within 8 minutes I was heading the the hospital where they cut all my clothes off, man was I pissed!
I was told my left wrist was crushed and needed surgery. They cleaned it up and added a plate and pins and performed carpal tunnel surgery because the bones has pushed that far into my hand and was pressing on all kinds of nerves. Three brutal months of physical therapy for my wrist was torture. I am left with a lot nerve and grip loss.
I continued to be in major neck, nerve and back pain along with upper arm pain on the left side for over a year. During that time I went through physical therapy, tons of medications spinal injections, muscle injection and so on. Finally a little over a year ago I was sent to a Neurosurgeon in PA here. He read all my films and I was told surgery would be the only other option to get rid of the pain, unless I wanted to take pain medications for the rest of my life or until the damage gets worse and surgery will be necessary and not a choice.
The following month I had an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and fusion-Jan 2010. This link shows a single:
http://drwolgin.com/acdf.aspx .
I had a 2 level which is a double disc replacement (2 discs replaced with synthetic materials) and a triple disc fusion with a titanium plate and screws put in. C4-7- Followed by 3 brutal months of physical therapy.
Within approximately 6 weeks after surgery, I felt THAT nerve (major nerve C-7) and knew it was still pinched.
My husband (Nick) and I went found the best spinal surgeons in the country, located in NJ-NY.
He instructed me he was going to go through the back of the neck and shave the bone surrounding the nerve to release the pressure. This procedure was the less evasive 1st step to fixing the issue. It did seem to work for a few months.
I was still in pain however, so I was send to pain management here in PA where they started ESI steroid injections through the back of the neck area. OMG, it caused me so much pain and I questioned the doctor and he assured the second round of 3 shots would help me, IT DID NOT! Before my 3rd appointment for more injections I called my spinal surgeon and told him you HAVE to see me today! When I got there he took x-rays and saw I had developed Stenosis. This is growth of bone called bone spurs. The surgeon instructed me that the less evasive surgery did not hold and was told 3 weeks ago I needed to have surgery again. From the x-rays he could see that he needed to go in and take out everything surrounding that nerve. He also saw that the screws from the triple disc fusion had settled upward and he needed to put in 2 titanium rods, one on each side to reinforce the plate.
We scheduled the surgery for January 31st.
I was then sent for a CT scan. The results of that showed C3 the disc above the topped fused disc has collapsed and needs to be fixed. I don’t recall what exactly needs to be done to fix that.
So the doctor told me, “I’m not going to lie to you. This surgery is very painful, more so then any of the others and there will be a lot of down time”
They will be opening me up approximately 3 inches from where my hairline ends at the bottom to 2 inches up from that and 4 or more inches down right down the center. Yes, I need to have my hair shaved at the bottom AGAIN! The surgery has a success rate of 85% after a 2 level, which is what my 1st surgery was and a 95% with a single level. Just to fill you in on this particular nerve, it is the main nerve that controls the left arm. There is only this that can be done to try and save the nerve. Otherwise, if the surgery is unsuccessful and the pain gets unbearable again the only other alternative aside to being doped up on pain meds, is to go in and clamp and kill the nerve. If that happens I will lose all mobility in my left arm. I am confident this surgery will work.
My husband is fortunate enough to have 10 vacation days rolled over from last year and is able to work from home 2 more weeks to care for me, so that is very helpful. I just wanted to fill you guys in as some of you have gotten bits and pieces from me and not clearly understanding it.
I am happy this is getting done in the winter so I will be feeling better and should be able to enjoy my summer.
See you guys at the track, even if it is just to hang out and take pics and whatnot.