Hello Everyone,
This is Patty from Harrisburg, Pa. I wanted to give you a report since last being on the forum which has been many months ago. I have wondered how so many of you were doing but my life took a little detour this year and my husband and I have been swamped with Power of Attorney responsibilites. My cousin in Virginia went missing last Veteran's Day when he returned alone to a hiking trail he and a friend had hiked the day before. He returned to the trail in hopes of finding his lost cell phone from the day before. Since he went alone, no one knew he was missing until two days later when he did not report to work. There have been numerous searches with volunteers statewide, helicopter and equesterian searches, dogs from search and rescue teams and friends who have gone back to the mountain 4 additional times. A fifth search is scheduled December 1 on a treacherous part of the mountain where it is believed he could have become lost and confused. He leaves behind my 92 year old aunt and I am also her POA. It has been quite a year.
I want to give you my one year post-op report. If you forgot, I am 62 and at the age of 13 had a T4-L2 fusion for congenital scoliosis. I traveled back and forth to St. Louis and had surgery with Dr. Bridwell. We went round and round about whether to only fuse L4-L5 that had the most pathology or start at L2-L3 and go down to the sacrum. He contended there was not enough pathology in the L2-L3, L3-L4 and L5-S1. Dr. Bridwell is a very conservative surgeon but here I am a year later with the same nerve pain in my bilateral legs and groin area as before the surgery. I want to give you my MRI report findings which he says radiologists tend to over-read the films.
L2-L3 MILD BILATERAL FACET ARTHOPATHY, MILD RIGHT NEURAL FORAMINAL NARROWING
L3-L4 MODERATE BILATERAL NEURAL FORAMINAL NARROWUNG, MILD BILATERAL FACET ARTHOPATHY
L4-L5 DR. BRIDWELL DECOMPRESSED AND FUSED THIS SEGMET
L5-S1 MODERATE LEFT FACET ARTHROPATHY AND MY MRI REPORT FROM HARRISBURG WHICH HE PAID LITTLE ATTENTION SHOWED SEVERE LEFT SIDED
NEURAL FORAMINAL COMPROMISE AND ANOTHER REPORT SHOWED COMPRESSION OF EXITING LEFT NERVE ROOT
Here is my dilemma. My one year check up is December 9. I have emailed his office telling them of the continued nerve pain in my legs and asking for an MRI. For the past year, Dr. Bridwell has paid no attention to my complaints of leg and groin nerve pain. He says groin pain does not come from the spine. My research says it comes from L2-L3. He will not entertain the idea that he should have done L2-sacrum and this was his INITIAL GAME PLAN. He changed his mind on my second pre-op visit. He knew I wanted the L2-sacrum decompression and fusion.
What do I do? What do I say to this top notch surgeon who wont pay any attention to my nerve pain and says he doesn't know where it is coming from. Am I deaf, dumb and blind here? I feel like an idiot with my complaints but you can see my MRI findings and here I lay on the couch with ice on and my legs feeling tight and extremely painful. I am curious to see if I fused at L4-L5 and he used BMP to enhance fusion. I did very well immediately after surgery but once I reached that 30-45 minute standing or sitting mark, the nerve pain set in and increased tremendously until I rested, iced and medicated.
Thank you for taking the time reading this. Do any of you have any advice or just encouragement. Ironically, if he thought another surgery was needed, I would go back to him. I WOULD prefer going to a top notch surgeon loser to home. Any suggestions there? I HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU and look forward to checking up on all of you since last being on here.
Patty
This is Patty from Harrisburg, Pa. I wanted to give you a report since last being on the forum which has been many months ago. I have wondered how so many of you were doing but my life took a little detour this year and my husband and I have been swamped with Power of Attorney responsibilites. My cousin in Virginia went missing last Veteran's Day when he returned alone to a hiking trail he and a friend had hiked the day before. He returned to the trail in hopes of finding his lost cell phone from the day before. Since he went alone, no one knew he was missing until two days later when he did not report to work. There have been numerous searches with volunteers statewide, helicopter and equesterian searches, dogs from search and rescue teams and friends who have gone back to the mountain 4 additional times. A fifth search is scheduled December 1 on a treacherous part of the mountain where it is believed he could have become lost and confused. He leaves behind my 92 year old aunt and I am also her POA. It has been quite a year.
I want to give you my one year post-op report. If you forgot, I am 62 and at the age of 13 had a T4-L2 fusion for congenital scoliosis. I traveled back and forth to St. Louis and had surgery with Dr. Bridwell. We went round and round about whether to only fuse L4-L5 that had the most pathology or start at L2-L3 and go down to the sacrum. He contended there was not enough pathology in the L2-L3, L3-L4 and L5-S1. Dr. Bridwell is a very conservative surgeon but here I am a year later with the same nerve pain in my bilateral legs and groin area as before the surgery. I want to give you my MRI report findings which he says radiologists tend to over-read the films.
L2-L3 MILD BILATERAL FACET ARTHOPATHY, MILD RIGHT NEURAL FORAMINAL NARROWING
L3-L4 MODERATE BILATERAL NEURAL FORAMINAL NARROWUNG, MILD BILATERAL FACET ARTHOPATHY
L4-L5 DR. BRIDWELL DECOMPRESSED AND FUSED THIS SEGMET
L5-S1 MODERATE LEFT FACET ARTHROPATHY AND MY MRI REPORT FROM HARRISBURG WHICH HE PAID LITTLE ATTENTION SHOWED SEVERE LEFT SIDED
NEURAL FORAMINAL COMPROMISE AND ANOTHER REPORT SHOWED COMPRESSION OF EXITING LEFT NERVE ROOT
Here is my dilemma. My one year check up is December 9. I have emailed his office telling them of the continued nerve pain in my legs and asking for an MRI. For the past year, Dr. Bridwell has paid no attention to my complaints of leg and groin nerve pain. He says groin pain does not come from the spine. My research says it comes from L2-L3. He will not entertain the idea that he should have done L2-sacrum and this was his INITIAL GAME PLAN. He changed his mind on my second pre-op visit. He knew I wanted the L2-sacrum decompression and fusion.
What do I do? What do I say to this top notch surgeon who wont pay any attention to my nerve pain and says he doesn't know where it is coming from. Am I deaf, dumb and blind here? I feel like an idiot with my complaints but you can see my MRI findings and here I lay on the couch with ice on and my legs feeling tight and extremely painful. I am curious to see if I fused at L4-L5 and he used BMP to enhance fusion. I did very well immediately after surgery but once I reached that 30-45 minute standing or sitting mark, the nerve pain set in and increased tremendously until I rested, iced and medicated.
Thank you for taking the time reading this. Do any of you have any advice or just encouragement. Ironically, if he thought another surgery was needed, I would go back to him. I WOULD prefer going to a top notch surgeon loser to home. Any suggestions there? I HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU and look forward to checking up on all of you since last being on here.
Patty
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