Well said Annie,,,,  We all can gain some knowledge of what takes place with
your case ,,,, B.B.   I just wanted to welcome you to ASA also and any
friend of Rosiesss is a friend of ours.
Harv

Hiya Smokie! When i was talking weirdness, I was talking *real*
weirdness!! Some of the others I recognize here know what I'm talking
about. LOL

It looks fairly safe here though, thank goodness. Thanks for the
welcoming.

Barnabus1993@yahoo.com (Smokie Darling (Annie)) wrote:

<<B B wrote:
<Peeps around door>
Is it safe in here? No weirdness going on??
Oh, we periodically have weirdness going on. Normally handled quite well
by the regulars (of which I am *not* yet one).
I went to my orthopedic surgeon today and got the results of what I
thought were going to be just the MRIs of my lower back and left
shoulder and found out he'd done one of my neck, too. I felt overwhelmed
by what I was reading in the radiologist's results and wrote Rosie to
interpret them for me. She told me that I should come here. >>

Welcome,though I am *not* the official welcome wagon, I do like to jump
in occasionally ;).

<<I had a herniated L4-5 disc repaired three years ago and things got a
lot better for a while. Now, I'm having trouble again. A year ago, the
same neurosurgeon who did the first surgery put me through PT and a
series of epidurals without success and told me that I would need
surgery again. Then, I had two strokes and an angioplasty with a stent.
I had a falling out with the neurosurgeon and his colleague...who did
the angioplasty and left town for a nurse to care for me and for me to
have the second stroke....along with other things. I refused to go back
to him so my PCP referred me to this orthopedic surgeon to take care of
the L4-5 disc and my torn rotator cuff.
This surgeon acted surprised that I hadn't told him about my neck, but
the neurosurgeon had told me that my bad disc wasn't pinching a nerve so
it was no big deal and to forget about it. Now, Rosie just said
something about numbness in my hands. My PCP has just been saying that
it was peripheral neuropathy and to "look it up on the internet". Like
Rosie, I have UCTD.
The orthopedic surgeon says he wants to try a series of injections into
the spine from the back instead of the coccyx like I had before. He said
that the others probably wound up in scar tissue and didn't do a bit of
good. I know that they were extremely painful and didn't show and
improvement. I think he said that if they were effective, he might
consider cauterizing the nerve. When I mentioned this to someone on a
webtv FMS ng, she hit the panic button and said that it might make it
where I'd never be able to sit right again. (He's already had me in PT,
again....just to give it a try.)
Rosie also suggested that I lose weight, but I've already done a fair
job of that since the last back surgery. Two years ago this coming
Christmas, I weighed 280 and now I weigh160. I'm 5'7" and a genuine
large-boned person. At 110 lbs, I still wore a size 12 to fit my bone
structure. >>

I'd say you've done better than a "fair" job. 120 pounds is heck of a
bunch of weight, good on ya! I understand the large bone structure. I am
5'10", at one time I weighed 120 pounds and looked horrid, and still
wore a size 12.

<<Ok, now that you have a solid history, can you tell me what I'm up
against and what I need to do? I'm refusing to give up and still walk
completely upright and without a walker. I'll use a scooter in stores
but don't own one. I just don't walk very far otherwise.
Oh...BTW, I had a TKR a year ago.
Here's the radiologist's reports on my lower back and neck.
IMPRESSION:
1. Rather prominent spinal stenosis is noted at the L4-5 disc space
level. This is due to anterolisthesis of L4, prominent broad-based disc
bulging, facet hypertrophy, possibly post fusion changes of the
articular facets, and scarring. There is also prominent narrowing of the
neural foramina due to the same factors.
2. Evidence of prior disc surgery on the left side at the L4-5 level.
3. Mild anterolisthesis of L4. This may be on the basis of degenerative
joint disease. Radiographs are not available for evaluation of this at
this time.
4. Changes of degenerative disc disease and degenerative joint disease
primarily in the L4 through S1 levels. Findings are most pronounced at
L4-5 as noted above.
IMPRESSION:
Moderate sized broad-based disc bulge of the C6-7 level. There may be a
central disc protrusion component to this disc bulge. It does not
lateralize into either neural foramen.
Small right paracentral disc protrusion of the C5-6 level which causes
only minimal impression upon the lateral aspect of the thecal sac.
Recommend clinical correlation as to significance.
Any input would be appreciated. TIA >>

Well, I don't have any experience with any of this, but I think there
are several around who do. Just wanted to say "howdy".
Smokie Darling (Annie) - RA, Bursitis, FMS, and a few other
non-important issues <g>

Hiya, Squishy! I'll bet that, if you have any questions, I just answered
them in what I told Janers.

They had told me in the office yesterday that they were going to
schedule the first injection this coming Monday, but when I started to
call and make transportation arrangements, I realized that they actually
made it for Sept. 12.Maybe I'll understand all this by then. Yeah! Sure!
LOL

squirrely@tekrealm.net (Squirrely) wote:

Hello there sweetie. Glad to see you here. I have been thinking of you
since yesterday knowing your appt was then. I haven't read this message
yet, am printing it out now. But wanted to welcome you to ASA. You will
see alot of familar names here. ;-)
If I have any suggestions etc, will reply again.

Yep, I made it. They take it seriously?? Oops! You didn't warn me about
that part!

post147@strato.net (Rosemarie Shiver) wrote:

Hi!!!
        Glad you made it here, Barb. You'll find folks
here are very kind but also take their arthritis seriously.
Hugs from Rosie

Hi Gary. Yeah, I've got the numbness. My PCP passed it off as peripheral
neuropathy without doing a MRI. The orthopedic surgeon ordered it. I
have an appointment with a neurologist in October to help deal with the
things that might be attributed to my UCTD. My rheumy referred me to him
after he put me back on the Plaquenil and fussed at me for going off it.

I have such a mixture of diseases and disorders that it's hard to draw
the line on which one caused what. I just want the ones that can be
taken care of done so. Just start with the FMS and go down any trail
from there and you've probably got one of my diagnoses. Then add UCTD
and Sjogren's my spine and a torn rotator cuff/frozen shoulder and
post-two moderate strokes w/stent and OA to the mixture. I'm so confused
about which causes which sometimes.

Thanks for the website. I'll look into it.

dadandone@N_O_S_P_A_Mverizon.net (Gary Z) wrote:

Hi BB,
Having had neck fusion in the past I have a minor understanding of some
of what you wrote here.
Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal opening. In it's
severest forms it puts pressure on the spinal cord.
L4 physical position is a minor but contributing factor
(http://www.medfriendly.com/anterolisthesis.html) The narrowing of the
foramina (holes through which the nerve passes from the spinal cord to
areas of the body) can cause significant problems. Cervical bulging disc
(neck) doesn't look like it should cause much of a problem. It not
showing pressure on the spinal cord and not interfering with the forimal
openings. C5-6 is putting slight indentation in thecal sac which is like
a tube surrounding the spinal cord filled with fluid. Severe enough
indentation can put
pressure on the spinal cord, but this does not appear to be the case
here. Are you having numbness in your hands? or is it just something
Rosie asked about?
After all my neck surgery (which was needed due to severe stenosis) I
still had much pain, numbness, and tingling in my hands. Paticularly in
the pinkie and ring fingers. Turns out it was a problem in my elbows
crushing the ulnar nerve. Felt it all the back into my neck which was
why I thought that was the source. Got a referral to a nuerologist who
did nerve conduction testing and pinpointed the problem.
You don't really say what sort of problem you are experiencing. Arms,
legs or what.
I am not a doctor and they are the experts. Good luck with whatever you
need done.
GaryZ

Heya, Gary,

    What I told Barb is that in the MRI report the doc is directed to look
for the clinical signs of numbness, tingling in her arms and hands.

     The treanslation of the MRI results you have here and the one I did in
e-mail for Barb are the same.

      I don't have any direct experience with, nor condition which would
improve with, epidurals so that's why I insisted Barb needed to post to
those in the know. Namely ASA.

       Hope that answers your ???

Hugs from Rosie

<<On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 19:54:42 -0500, MarchHare1947@webtv.net (B B)
wrote:
<Peeps around door>
Is it safe in here? No weirdness going on?? >>

<No, not at all! LOL
Welcome to the group. I am one of the fortunate few who has just a few
symptoms of everything, so am on a "cocktail" of medicines. I am very
lucky in that it controls everything now. I, too, have neuropathy of the
feet and lower legs. Four Neurontin (300mg) each a day keeps it dormant.
I tried cutting back just one and no go. I can tell if I missed a dose
of pills for the same reason. Thank God for modern medicine, but I'm not
so sure about those people in the government who get upset about a
minority of people on a drug dying, but let the alcohol and cigarettes
proceed! ?>

I was on a cocktail of different drugs once upon a time, but felt like
the doctors were just trying to pacify me and shut me up, so I would up
eventually stopping most of them on my own. Among them was Neurontin. I
honestly couldn't tell when I did and didn't take it, but am beginning
to think that taking it would have been to my benefit in the long run,
just like continuing the Plaquenil would have.

Now, I'm one of those unlucky people in Tennessee who's on TennCare and
they only allow us five prescriptions a month....no exceptions. Two can
be brand names, with a $3 co-pay, but the other three must be generic.
Anything over that five have to be paid for out-of-pocket. Add to
that,none of the pharmaceutical companies are accepting ANY applications
for their free drug programs because they've been flooded by so many
from this state.

I'm taking half doses of some of my meds and skipping days on others,
hoping to hold out until the MediCare prescription program kicks in.

I consider myself among the lucky because I still get something. A lot
of people just got dumped completely.  

<<I went to my orthopedic surgeon today and got the results of what I
thought were going to be just the MRIs of my lower back and left
shoulder and found out he'd done one of my neck, too. I felt overwhelmed
by what I was reading in the radiologist's results and wrote Rosie to
interpret them for me. She told me that I should come here.
I had a herniated L4-5 disc repaired three years ago and things got a
lot better for a while. Now, I'm having trouble again. A year ago, the
same neurosurgeon who did the first surgery put me through PT and a
series of epidurals without success and told me that I would need
surgery again. Then, I had two strokes and an angioplasty with a stent.
I had a falling out with the neurosurgeon and his colleague...who did
the angioplasty and left town for a nurse to care for me and for me to
have the second stroke....along with other things. I refused to go back
to him so my PCP referred me to this orthopedic surgeon to take care of
the L4-5 disc and my torn rotator cuff.
This surgeon acted surprised that I hadn't told him about my neck, but
the neurosurgeon had told me that my bad disc wasn't pinching a nerve so
it was no big deal and to forget about it. Now, Rosie just said
something about numbness in my hands. My PCP has just been saying that
it was peripheral neuropathy and to "look it up on the internet". Like
Rosie, I have UCTD.
The orthopedic surgeon says he wants to try a series of injections into
the spine from the back instead of the coccyx like I had before. He said
that the others probably wound up in scar tissue and didn't do a bit of
good. I know that they were extremely painful and didn't show and
improvement. I think he said that if they were effective, he might
consider cauterizing the nerve. When I mentioned this to someone on a
webtv FMS ng, she hit the panic button and said that it might make it
where I'd never be able to sit right again. (He's already had me in PT,
again....just to give it a try.)
Anyhow, welcome. I had the series of shots in my back some years ago and
they are still working. I, too, am limited to the amount of standing I
can do.   My pain specialist did the trial run first, and it was a
horrible feeling to feel the pain come back when it wore off, but when I
went back to him, he was happy. He said it proved the solution would
work. He didn't cauterize the nerves, but used a long lasting something
that would block the nerve.   I'm not one of those who takes
restrictions calmly. I am learning, though. My mother helps. I was one
of those who was taking Bextra, blessed medicine, and had to find a
substitute. Fortunately, Arthrotec works beautifully.
Rosie also suggested that I lose weight, but I've already done a fair
job of that since the last back surgery. Two years ago this coming
Christmas, I weighed 280 and now I weigh160. I'm 5'7" and a genuine
large-boned person. At 110 lbs, I still wore a size 12 to fit my bone
structure.>>

<I, too, am 5'7" (well, I thought I was, but at 66 I found out I am
really 5'6-1'4".) I was weighing 190 pounds, but was able to get it down
to 170. It meant a new wardrobe, but it was worth it. I was working full
time and I wore slacks with work shirts, so I didn't need much. I gave
the old slacks to my mother and now I have a reason to keep my weight
where it is. I feel comfortable and look fairly good. I am large boned,
too (Swedish-German ancestry) so can carry more than it looks like I am.
I am so proud of you for losing the 120 pounds. I am wearing a 16 (well,
with the new adjustments in sizes the manufacturers are making to
satisfy the requirements of the "fatter generations", I'm not sure... >

I thought I might have shrunk a little, but they keep saying that I'm
5'7". I wear mostly a size 16, but was given some size 14 slacks that
actually fit. I think it depends on the brand and cut of the clothes.

<<Ok, now that you have a solid history, can you tell me what I'm up
against and what I need to do? I'm refusing to give up and still walk
completely upright and without a walker. I'll use a scooter in stores
but don't own one. I just don't walk very far otherwise.>>

<Aren't those scooters/carts great? I went to Home Depot one day and all
they had were wheelchairs! LOL I went to the service desk and asked
where I got some one to push me! Needless to say, pushers did not come
with the chairs. Dumb! So, I go to Lowes where they have pretty good
scooters.>

I don't have a car and have to go where my mother will take me....which
is usually Walmart. Our Walmart is the worst about supplying good
scooters....if you can get one at all. I've had to wait half an hour for
one or had to hobble to the other side of the huge super store to just
check to see if there was one available at that side. The last two times
I got on one, it felt like it was gonna snap into right in the middle.
It was so weird. I've complained and put things in the suggestion
box...even about maybe putting benches throughout the store for those of
us who could walk short distances, to no avail. With the benches, they
said they "needed the space for merchandise". I told them that they
could have all the merchandise in the world out there, but it wouldn't
do any good if nobody could go buy it. They won't listen.

<<Oh...BTW, I had a TKR a year ago.
Here's the radiologist's reports on my lower back and neck.
IMPRESSION:
1. Rather prominent spinal stenosis is noted at the L4-5 disc space
level. This is due to anterolisthesis of L4, prominent broad-based disc
bulging, facet hypertrophy, possibly post fusion changes of the
articular facets, and scarring. There is also prominent narrowing of the
neural foramina due to the same factors.
2. Evidence of prior disc surgery on the left side at the L4-5 level.
3. Mild anterolisthesis of L4. This may be on the basis of degenerative
joint disease. Radiographs are not available for evaluation of this at
this time.
4. Changes of degenerative disc disease and degenerative joint disease
primarily in the L4 through S1 levels. Findings are most pronounced at
L4-5 as noted above.
IMPRESSION:
Moderate sized broad-based disc bulge of the C6-7 level. There may be a
central disc protrusion component to this disc bulge. It does not
lateralize into either neural foramen.
Small right paracentral disc protrusion of the C5-6 level which causes
only minimal impression upon the lateral aspect of the thecal sac.
Recommend clinical correlation as to significance.>>

<I'm not very much up on the actual disc numbers. But, as I have read,
others have been able to give you some feed back there.>

I'm not up on it at all. LOL

<<Any input would be appreciated. TIA>>

<We are glad to do it.
Loujean
Retired and love it.
Throw that FISH out and
put in an S to email me.>

Thanks  

Sandbox?? I haven't been in one of those in ages!!

The only state I move to anymore is the state of confusion. I*did* try
moving from one state to another this past spring, but it was a dismal
failure and I moved back less than three weeks later. Most of my things
are still in boxes from it because my back has been hurting too much to
move them to the right rooms to unpack them.

Thanks for the welcome.



No answers, Sugar, but just wanted to make sure you got a proper
welcome. I have been in the middle of moving from one state to another
so haven't been on too much lately. I'm sure I've missed a lot, but
wanted to say welcome to the sandbox.
DeeTee