[pinkcloud]

Hey Jocelyn

Thanks for much for sending me and Angela the picture, I got my blue in the picture too with the sky. Absolutley magic !

The cd's are working and so is Angelas advice, I thought I was the only one with that pain. I am less scared now. Its been a week since the gym and I have just got out today. I went to GP and hes given me some Lidocaine patches. I so hope they work on that pain, if I can manage the pain I can drive again. ooooooooooohhhhh what a goal to aim to.

Jocelyn I so feel for your husband. my surgeon said that something is irritating the nerves when it happens and to just rest it out. It will calm and pass with time - and then it will come again. It makes you appreciate the times inbetween and makes the normal nerve pain seem less of a nuisance.

Too right I would meet up to see the butterflies and the flowers. Pushes me to get to that swimming pool....... thanks for the advice you two, you helped me so much. It was a tough week but I guess I had to hit a low point because then there is only up to go.

Have a lovely day

[jscott92064]

Hi Angela and Pinkcloud:

Turns out it was a UTI that was causing him all the pain. We just did not know it until last night I suggested we check since we have some home testing kits. He had some cipro (antibiotic) on hand and he took one last night and then one this morning. He's like a new man. His doctor gave him some antibiotics to have at home and to use again if the symptoms happen. UTI's are just par for the course with SCI.

It's nice for me to connect with women like you. Thanks!

[pinkcloud]

hi all

I have tried the Lidocaine patches and they do work - enough to take away that 'horrible sensation' that someone is pulling my spine apart. Its early days and I think I may get more benefit as time goes by. I still in lots of pain and because I can only use 3 patches at a time, I sure can feel the pain more in the other parts of my back. The brain kinds of starts focusing on them parts more.

But at least some of the pain is released.

I got a good feeling if these work then so may an injection into the region.

I keep you posted.

Love Miss Cloud

[jennyau]

Hi Jscott,
I have just had my first uti since my injury 6mths ago and I wasnt able to tell until I noticed my pee was realy cloudy and my legs were jumping all over the place with spasms. I think I may have had it for awhile so needless to say that realy worried me as it can cause other health issues if you let it go to long so I was interested that you have a home testing kit.I asked the chemists here today if you could buy them over the counter but they dont have them.Because we live in different parts of the world I wondered if that was the case there and if they are available through GP or Urologist.My GP also gave me a refill prescription for antibiotics for next time but I wouldnt be able to tell again until I have had one for a bit.I am going to aproach my Gp about them next visit as I never knew they existed until I read your post.I also think my imune system was weakened by it as I picked up an awful cold and a stomach bug in the past 2 weeks.

Hi Pinkcloud,
My GP has given me a script for Norspan transdermal patch wich I havent tried yet its a synthetic form of morphine from what I can tell.I am glad to hear you are getting some relief from the lidocaine .

Jenny

This post has been edited by jennyau: 29 August 2010 - 03:40 PM

[jscott92064]

The brand is Azo. Here is the link - http://theconsumerli...4&navStart=13&.

Their website is www.azoproducts.com.

Unfortunately, it does not look like they can send products outside the USA. Bummer. I wonder why that is.

I found these strips in a pharmacy and I know there are other products out there because a friend once bought me a different brand.
They are very easy to use - takes about 1 minute (or less) to find out if you have a UTI.

Now we have some meds on hand to take if it turns out he gets a UTI again and we don't have to wait several days with him in pain to figure it out.

I'd be curious if you could find them or not.

[pinkcloud]

Hi Jenny

I hope you find the testing kits. Maybe if you do, you can let the other guys and gals on here know, there is a thread on UTI's on here I am sure. I could do with looking if we get them in England. We used to have them at the hospital I worked at when they were known as dipstick tests. Not sure if they sell them for us jo blogs general public in England though

Thanks for your note about Lidocaine. I am very excited about them. Even though they dont look too sexy, its getting colder here in england and jumper season anyway

Chat soon

[jscott92064]

The strips from Azo are a little expensive - $10.99 USD for three strips.

This post has been edited by jscott92064: 30 August 2010 - 01:55 AM

[pinkcloud]

jscott92064, on 30 August 2010 - 01:55 AM, said:

The strips from Azo are a little expensive - $10.99 USD for three strips.

ooooo thats disgusting to charge that much jocelyn. I feel for you. Maybe if you can afford it Jenny you could get them shipped over to you. Hopefully both of you and Mr Joycelyn (as I will call you hubby now) dont have that many infections and it dont cost you much over time

[jscott92064]

pinkcloud, on 30 August 2010 - 09:21 AM, said:

jscott92064, on 30 August 2010 - 01:55 AM, said:

The strips from Azo are a little expensive - $10.99 USD for three strips.

ooooo thats disgusting to charge that much jocelyn. I feel for you. Maybe if you can afford it Jenny you could get them shipped over to you. Hopefully both of you and Mr Joycelyn (as I will call you hubby now) dont have that many infections and it dont cost you much over time

I am going to see if the insurance company will cover it. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

This post has been edited by jscott92064: 30 August 2010 - 12:56 PM

[pinkcloud]

I sure will do Jocelyn. Last thing you want to do is not dare use them because of the cost. The thing about the strips is that we are not sure if we have UTI's - thats why we use them. Costing them at this price for some people mean that they may not dare use them that much - so a uti develops and theres un-necessary suffering AGAIN. Fingers crossed for you both. Maybe you can put that point accross to the company

[jennyau]

Cant get testing kits here just have to run off to the dr every time and after this uti i am paranoid of getting another,my legs have become so weak though having a cold doesnt help.Its like I have gone backwards to where I was 3 mths post op.I have been spoilt this week though my daughters took me for a night in a posh hotel and spent the day in the spa getting all the girly treatments and my sister has taken my mum for the week so i can have a rest now I just need to buy a new dress to go with the new glamorous me oh and a new lipstick . Tommorow i will see dr to schedule my breast biopsy asap so its off my mind.I am not sure if they would pass customs here if I had testing kits sent from another country they open nearly every parcel they are so strict.Its the first day of spring here hand it was just wonderful outside and the smell jasmin is in the air tonight.My favourite time of the year!

Best wishes
Jenny

[pinkcloud]

The lipsticks a must Jenny - when we have had a naughty but nice time of eating lolly pops and ice-cream, the new dress has to stay in the cupboard - then out comes the new lipstick that matches your swimming costume for the next spa trip

I am so glad to hear that you are booking the biopsy with the doctor - remember what I said, something is there that the doctors just want to check out and hopefully its all ok - but if its not, its best to treat it earlier than later - we know that already from our experience with our disc problems hey Jenny

Shame about them testing kits - next time you feel woosy get down to the doctor. Maybe have a nice word with one of the receptionists so that they are kind to you and help you as soon as you phone in (not all receptionists are nice)

I hope your mums ok - lovely for you to have some respite

Spring? Its just turning Autumn over here - lovely and fresh but can be ruddy Enjoy the jasmine for us over here

Love Miss Cloud

[aainme]

i am new to this site. my name is laura and i live in new mexico in the usa. i was in an accident last december and have a T4-5 incomplete SCI . i am a nurse and still have been confused with all the changes my body goes through. there are days i feel like i am crazy, no two days are alike. because you have all shared your experiences with me i really for the first time do not feel alone. after the accident they wanted to do surgery on my back but i was so ill they did not think i would survive.i had to wear a brace like a shell, when i was sitting up or out of bed in the wheel chair. even when it was off my chest and back felt like cement.i was so scared i could not do easy things like roll in the bed.the doctors thought i would never walk again. the pain was so severe i really wanted to die.i spent 3 1/2 months in the hospital,i learned a lot about my profession being helpless in bed. i call it the good the bad and the ugly.i also thought i would never walk again but the nurses and physical therapists had other plans for me, they never gave up and i walked/dragged myself out of there.i was never sick before this so getting a main DR was a must. when i describe my pain he just kind of looks like he does not get it.i have spasms through my trunk and right leg every morning,i get up 1 hour early so i can sit on the side of the bed so my pain pills will start working and i can hobble around. the pain after i have been sitting is intense,i have numbness in the right leg and can not feel heat on my skin and all along my lower back, cold water or spray feels like fire. i have the band that squeezes tight right under my breasts,it feels like a belt pulled tight and causes my breasts to ache with pain. all these things i have read in your posts,i feel real now.....i was wondering if i was turning into a hypocondraic with a different complaint each day. i walk with pain but with the gratitude that i can walk....i am blessed each day because i am alive...i do little light duty things at the hospital. so really i thank you all for your stories,and i thank God for this site......love....love....love

[pinkcloud]

Laura hi. And a warm welcome.

Yeap, we sure do feel these pains and we are not 'mad patients who imagine it'. No one can understand a t-spine pain unless you live with it. I like this site as its full of 'real people' and not wackos. I wouldnt go anywhere else except Spinal Injuries Association.

I worked as secretary for consultants and the medical people I know find it hard to belive and sad for me that I lived this long time for 2 years before they found the giant disc herniation that was crushing onto my spine. And that I just took paracetamol. They knew me before and so luckily they knew I am a level headed lady who never took time off sick when worked.But they began to doubt my sanity when test after test failed to show anything the matter. The accident happened just after I was made redundant and I am lucky as no way could I EVER have managed work. But thats what you do when the doctors say your just anxious................

A lot of the nurses at the hospital I was treated were evil. Some were lovely. I am glad to have met you, a good nurse with a heart. I think you are doing so great going back to work. Because to REALLY understand what its like to lay helpless may mean you have an emotional link now that before, most medical people working with sick people 'kind of switch off to in order to get thorough a working day'. Let me tell you - the best nurses, physios, doctors are them who have been thorough real pain themselves. Because if you can get thorough that pain level yourself - you can look after others on the same level.

I too lay in bed - I tend to come on here early as it helps take my mind of the pain. I lay down and type. Then I get up to start the day.

If you like, maybe write a list of all the pain you feel. And we can reply and let you know if we have the same. Although I had pressure off the cord thanks to the operation, I feel so much pain still. I am thinking of upping the lyrica - they doctor said it will sedate me even more - but I prefer that to the pain. And they just told me Lidocaine patches cost £75.00 for 30 so I dont know how long they will let me have them on prescription as I get thorough 21 A WEEK.

I have put my picture of the disc bulge on this thread.

Happy to meet you, even though its under sad circumstances that bought us here

[pinkcloud]

Laura, I am going to write a list of my pain - then you can see how your compares.

1. Tight band just under the breast area - feels like I am being squashed by a vice.
2. Leg weakness, my legs just start to turn in when I am tired.
3. I prefer to walk with my legs apart - my physio explained this is becuase I am trying to protect my spine from twisting
as I walk.
4. I drop food down my top as I cant bend over properly to reach the plate.
5. Feels like I am having a heart attack, my left breast hurts really bad and the whole of my left side goes numb ( before operation
not very often now)
6. I cant lift my arms up above my head well and I cant carry anything above a certain arm level. It pulls of my back
(the doctors said my level of inury had nothing to do with arm paralysis - it is because it pulls on the t-spine area)
7. I have stabbing pains in my legs, and muscle spasms where it looks like something is trying to escape out of my skin (fascilations)

Thats just for starters - I also get other things going on - with bladder and bowels. I am probably repeating myself here Laura but this is the worst bits in a nutshell.

This post has been edited by pinkcloud: 03 September 2010 - 09:57 AM

[aainme]

Thank you Pink cloud for the info,you would think the doctors would have given me a clue what to expect or at least told me the things happening to my body are not unusual for a t 4-5 sci.I did read in someone else's post that the doctors have not a clue about incomplete sci. everyday starts with pain the minute i move the body spasms start, some mornings it is very early and i try and find a position that stops the spasms and i try and sleep some more, then i move again and the cycle starts again. I take vicodan two tablets then i sit for an hour then i try and start my day.Some days my leg feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. My back is always stiff and sore the lower back feels like i was hit with a 2x4,standing erect causes leg spasms and i feel like my leg will give out.my whole lower body has numbness. I am super sensitive on the right side, they had me do desensitation to the leg because just a hand placed on it would have me in tears.I am better as time goes on but one bird seed on the bottom of my foot is enough to make my leg buckle. my breasts feel like a squeezing ache kind of like a mammogram...I tell you this kind of injury is not for cry babies....we are tough and strong...in body,mind and spirit....i walk like a 90 year old some days but i always remember that thank God i can walk....i remember someone in the other car was killed and i have my husband....it is hard to feel sorry for myself when i know the other lady in the car lost her husband.... life is all about your attitude....hugs

[pinkcloud]

[quote name='aainme' timestamp='1283552356' post='181153']

Laura, no the doctors have not got a clue - they just give you a sorry look.

All them symptoms you add - yeap I have them too. The stiff part - ooooooooooo dosnt it take you back to the first time you tried to get off the bed and couldnt even roll? I remember I didnt want to walk - it was too painful and hard. Still is, but at least we can. We are much luckier than others on this site. But when the pain hits real bad after extra walking/physio, it dont always seem much of a great thing to do. But then like you I pick myself back up again. I read some stories on here and kick meself up the backside.

I am lucky too that I did not land down a 50 foot drop in scotland off the horse and I am glad I jumped off when I did instead. Or I too could have been dead. I am sad to hear your story of your accident - sounds absolutley horrific.

I too have to tune in and remember what I have - like you and thank God I am alive - even if some days, when the pains so bad, I only thank him that I am here so that my boys did not loose their mum.Since the operation, I also have lots more empathy with others and really enjoy things the simple things like raindrops on my face and the freedom that I am not locked up in a horrid hospital somewhere trapped for months.

Sharing the good love and attitude YOur right, its the only thing that gets us thorough

I hope as a medical person you can make a difference, however small, for us SCI's. You have got more change of the doctors taking notice of you than of them taking notice of us non-medical people I am sure.

Bestest wishes

[jennyau]

Hi Laura and welcome ,you are in great company in here.,I also was glad to find this site and like you was confused with the changes my body goes through a different issue every day. There is a great comfort in sharing and learning from the wonderful people on this site,
Jenny

This post has been edited by jennyau: 04 September 2010 - 11:13 AM

[countryhicks]

[quote name='pinkcloud' timestamp='1280999137' post='176300']
Hi all

A few months ago I had discectomy for t7/8 cord compression. 3/4 of my cord was being compressed. Although I have very good freinds they are all able bodied and so in some ways I feel very alone with my SCI. I am incomplete.

If anyone out there has similar thoracic injuries I would like to hear from you for shared support and inspiration.

I find this website amazing and enjoy reading the threads. I have learnt so much and am so much more positive and in control of my life

ps my profile pic is of me pre-injury
[/quote
Pinkcloud,
Yes ma'am! i was in a car accident this january. paralized from the T-3,4 down. Doc. said after surgery that t-3,4 was wedged together. threw some rods in me and out i went..(on a bed of coarse). but by the grace of god i now have the ability to walk with a cane.

but how about you any progress???? i'd love to hear..!

hicks out

[pinkcloud]

Hi Hicks

Hey you sure sound like a happy soul - are you pain free now? I'm not no better than I was before the operation pain/ability wise - the only difference if I have the drugs now to make me feel better - before I was just on paracetamol.

In me head I am in a good place, coming to terms with stuff. Pain and lack of mobility - yeap accepting that too. Moving away from me old life and enjoying the new more. Lifes no good if you are always fighting - I dont fight with people but I was having an internal fight with my spine and it wasnt doing me no good.


Coming on here helps a lot. Good to meet ya, any thing that helped you or you want to ask go right on ahead anytime.

Hope to see you on another thread soon

Miss Cloud

[countryhicks]

pinkcloud, on 08 September 2010 - 07:16 PM, said:

Hi Hicks

Hey you sure sound like a happy soul - are you pain free now? I'm not no better than I was before the operation pain/ability wise - the only difference if I have the drugs now to make me feel better - before I was just on paracetamol.

In me head I am in a good place, coming to terms with stuff. Pain and lack of mobility - yeap accepting that too. Moving away from me old life and enjoying the new more. Lifes no good if you are always fighting - I dont fight with people but I was having an internal fight with my spine and it wasnt doing me no good.


Coming on here helps a lot. Good to meet ya, any thing that helped you or you want to ask go right on ahead anytime.

Hope to see you on another thread soon

Miss Cloud

Miss cloud,

After my surgery i was in intense pain. because of having my upper back muscles ripped on and put sowed back together. i had to be feed by my parents and grandparents for about a week. lol.. so during my stay at the hospital i was taking laoratabs like candy for the pain in my back. the nurse took my blood like every two days and found out my liver was being eat up. so they put me on ultrums which was a joke.

and recently i had a musclur pain on the right side of my back so i went to get in the trigger point injections which was about 2 weeks ago and still pain. he gave me prescriptions which help a little, i'll go get them and and send the names to you, cause i damn sure cant't spell them.. ha ha!

other than that i pretty much pain free...

hope to hear from you again!

Hicks out

[pinkcloud]

countryhicks, on 09 September 2010 - 03:09 PM, said:

Miss cloud,

After my surgery i was in intense pain. because of having my upper back muscles ripped on and put sowed back together. i had to be feed by my parents and grandparents for about a week. lol.. so during my stay at the hospital i was taking laoratabs like candy for the pain in my back. the nurse took my blood like every two days and found out my liver was being eat up. so they put me on ultrums which was a joke.

and recently i had a musclur pain on the right side of my back so i went to get in the trigger point injections which was about 2 weeks ago and still pain. he gave me prescriptions which help a little, i'll go get them and and send the names to you, cause i damn sure cant't spell them.. ha ha!

other than that i pretty much pain free...

hope to hear from you again!

Hicks out

Hi Hicks

ahhh Hicks this is great news - yes please if you can send me medicine names that will be great.

I have come to the conclusion now and am hearing my neurosurgeons words for the first time since the operation 'I cant take all the pain away - but I will try and prevent it getting any worse'. Which he has done. I have read lots of here and realise that the body does not just repair in some cases. I still hope I will be pain free in 18 months but I dont have time to waste on false hopes it will.

I understand mine was a bad case and I just have to accept it. The pain is still as bad as it has been for the past two and a half years - its just the drugs making it better. I feel a lot more content within myself now. I see the rehab team at sheffield and ask about pain relief - accept and move on. This is me life. I am lucky that despite the pain its a nice one.

I sad to hear the injections dont work - that was me next course of action as well. I give it a shot though - just in case it does

Thanks to a chat with a guy on here called Scribbs. I just woke up out of a nasty sci 'mind coma' I didnt even realise I was in

Speak later

[countryhicks]

pinkcloud, on 09 September 2010 - 05:44 PM, said:

countryhicks, on 09 September 2010 - 03:09 PM, said:

Miss cloud,

After my surgery i was in intense pain. because of having my upper back muscles ripped on and put sowed back together. i had to be feed by my parents and grandparents for about a week. lol.. so during my stay at the hospital i was taking laoratabs like candy for the pain in my back. the nurse took my blood like every two days and found out my liver was being eat up. so they put me on ultrums which was a joke.

and recently i had a musclur pain on the right side of my back so i went to get in the trigger point injections which was about 2 weeks ago and still pain. he gave me prescriptions which help a little, i'll go get them and and send the names to you, cause i damn sure cant't spell them.. ha ha!

other than that i pretty much pain free...

hope to hear from you again!

Hicks out

Hi Hicks

ahhh Hicks this is great news - yes please if you can send me medicine names that will be great.

I have come to the conclusion now and am hearing my neurosurgeons words for the first time since the operation 'I cant take all the pain away - but I will try and prevent it getting any worse'. Which he has done. I have read lots of here and realise that the body does not just repair in some cases. I still hope I will be pain free in 18 months but I dont have time to waste on false hopes it will.

I understand mine was a bad case and I just have to accept it. The pain is still as bad as it has been for the past two and a half years - its just the drugs making it better. I feel a lot more content within myself now. I see the rehab team at sheffield and ask about pain relief - accept and move on. This is me life. I am lucky that despite the pain its a nice one.

I sad to hear the injections dont work - that was me next course of action as well. I give it a shot though - just in case it does

Thanks to a chat with a guy on here called Scribbs. I just woke up out of a nasty sci 'mind coma' I didnt even realise I was in

Speak later

PC,

would you describe your pain to me? like where it is and how it feels,(stabbing,tearing,buring. etc). reasoning is i have made good friends with my neuro surgeon, and i'll see what he thinks.

Everyone is diff. so yea i would try the shots as well!

Hicks out

[pinkcloud]

yeap Hicks, I can explain the main pains - its wrote in here but I put it on again.

Stabbing pain in scar area - severe

feels like two men are sitting on each shoulder and are pulling me spine apart - worse on walking and lifting even small things

Left pain near where bit of rib took out - feels like a stitch and stabbing pain

Tight band just under bra strap - feels like I am being squeezed the life out of

Cant tolerate standing still or sitting up un-supported or in any chair - can cope with one at home and where I can put me feet up. Pain comes on too much and I feel so sick with pain I feel like I will pass out.

Legs go numb, pins and needles, numb (espeically after walking too much or doing stairs) give way.

I walk with a limp, mostly heavy and I drag the left leg

I doubt he will be able to comment - as they dont tend to without seeing a patient. I fell off a horse, landing on me head. Left for 2 years before they found the SCI. By that time 3/4 of the spinal cord was compressed, from the left side. Its called a giant thoracic disc herniation.
YOu are most welcome to tell him though as it may interest him. It was a surprise to my surgeons. Especially as how I coped with it just on paracetamol until they found it and I have been in agony since day one. I take any drug suggestions to me doctor and see what he can do.

Just had quick look at your profile - you are only 7 years older than my son. You are a young brave heart. Nice to hear from ya

I am so glad you are being treated so well. Great to hear.

[JimG]

pinkcloud, on 03 September 2010 - 09:56 AM, said:

6. I cant lift my arms up above my head well and I cant carry anything above a certain arm level. It pulls of my back
(the doctors said my level of inury had nothing to do with arm paralysis - it is because it pulls on the t-spine area)
7. I have stabbing pains in my legs, and muscle spasms where it looks like something is trying to escape out of my skin (fascilations)

That's what I like about this site......others who have the same issues.

After 9 months of having doctors tell me my T6 herniation was "nothing" and that I had ALS.....I still feel anxiety about the arm weakness following my surgery and the continued fasiculations in my biceps, until I read this.

I can't grab a gallon of milk off the top shelf of the refrigerator, and when I'm tired/fatiged.....raising my arms above my head feels like I have 50lb. dumbbells in my hands.

Prior to the last surgery.....I was strong as hell in my upper body and very muscular....both of which are gone now.

Fortunately though....I don't have any bowel, bladder, or sexual issues, and very little pain.

The only thing that bothers me are my rhomboids on the sides of my spinal cord get achey.

I had a mini-thorocatomy with a 4" scar along my right shoulder blade, and that hurt for about a month post-op.

The chest tube area hurt for probably 4 months, and I'm still numb in the area (though it's getting smaller).

I miss physical activities, as I was quite an athlete before my ski accident.

I was in the gym every morning at 5am, and thought nothing of going out and running 10 miles, and most Saturdays during ski season started out early with a work out at the gym in the weight room, followed by a hard day of skiing.

My avatar is me sit-skiing, but now that I need my arms to walk/climb stairs/etc......I don't dare risk a shoulder injury (which can happen easily), so I have to sit on the couch and watch it snow now.

My wife gets on me not to get bitter/angry whenever I watch a show like The Biggest Loser, or Kirstie Alley's new reality show when they're working out and whining about how hard it is.

I would give anything to be able to put in a good hard workout every day like they HAVE to.

And I'd have a big smile on my face like I used to wear.

[pinkcloud]

[quote name='JimG' timestamp='1284147259' post='182182']

HiJimG

Yeap same as - got a small rotator cuff injury going on too in shoulder. that of course = double bo~~ocks dose of insult to injury.

I really dont think it would be as bad if I had been the settled down kind of gal who loved sitting in all day watching tv..........still finding it tough to adapt.

Rhomboid pain - yeap that name of muscles rings a bell - I sure thats what my muscle group of troubled ones are called.

I'm not glad you have this JimG - but I am glad I aint mad an imagining it - I have learnt the talent of fixed smiles too - behind it lingers a ball of cuss words though

[aainme]

Well i just wrote a long post and the darn dog jumped up and it was erased somehow, that is what kind of day it was,,,,,yuck. i was wondering if you all would share about your meds you take for pain. and you have me curious about the arm/shoulder weakness a couple of you have.They called my injury a brachial plexis injury, but i have the same weakness on the right, my fingers in the joints feel like they have glue in them, the left gets a burning/shooting kind of pain at night when i sleep. That is like i said i feel crazy that everyday has a different list of pain, and my big question is does this ever get better? Some days i feel strong and can handle the changes in my life and some days i do not know how i can live being in pain most of the day. Thank you pink cloud for all the answers you have shared with us....hugs to all,,,,,,,laura

[pinkcloud]

Jim G and Laura

What was is that made the surgeons find the herniation? How big was the compression - mine was over 3/4 of the way into it.

I meant to say but was tired last night.

My physio explained to me that for most people, with t-spine injury, gravity in itself is too much for the back to lift - the weight of the arm itself is enough.

For example on lying down, I can manage to stretch my arm all the way up over my head. On sitting or standing I can only lift it up to a certain angle - then the 'pulling in my spine hurts too bad'.

The same is with every range of movement (didnt used to be it took time). Lying down? No worries.

Sitting or standing? No chance. Have a go you both and see? Let me know.

I just wish that neurosurgeons would take heed of what happens with thoracics post-op - it may help them in developing a better operation or somthing other than just taking the pressure of the cord.

Everyday now I re-hear my surgeons voice 'I cant take the pain away or any of the symptoms but I can try and stop it getting any worse'. I am accepting this now. What I dont understand is, if the pressure is off the cord - why do we still get the same symptoms as when it was on? Maybe it dot matter and I just have to accept it.

Of course we have the operation site pain to deal with as well now, as any other nerves they may have accidently tweaked in surgery. JiMG and Laura, if we think about it, our bodys were busy trying to recover from the heriation the first time - then the surgeons knives and forks come in, the body dont understand whats going on - and its got to try and repair itself all over again. Laura, you think from a medical point of view - so thinking of things this way, may help you a little more? As for the pain issues - I am dealing with that at the minute.

Laura I will pm you

This post has been edited by pinkcloud: 11 September 2010 - 07:48 AM

[JimG]

My left rotator cuff is problematic for me. I seem to keep re-spraining it every time it starts feeling better.

I had several doctors all look at my T6 and tell me...."oh...that's nothing.....it's ALS"

The MRI image from the side doesn't look all that remarkable, but the CT scan straight down does:

[pinkcloud]

[quote name='JimG' timestamp='1284247441' post='182298']


Yeap - I reckon too that the MRI should be done sitting or standing - when the real pain strikes.

ALS - Motor neurone disease hey? I'd say that this was SOMETHING. Yeap my thoracic symptoms do seem to mimic that - I had a brain scan when my left eye kept having fascilations and I told them it kept feeling like I was having a stroke. Brain scan was normal but it was the opthalmolgist who suggested it could be coming from the spine.

Clever guys them, apparently the eye is a source of information for a lot of diseases/conditions. This MRI, thus here I am now. Left side rotator cuff tear with me too - me shoulder burns like hell even on walking sometimes. Left side disc bulge I had too. And seeing as doctors dont like to listen to us much, I see a lot more t-spiners going thorough hell thinking that they are imagining things.

Legs dont work great - arms dont work great - abdominal muscles fecked. Ahhhh so if the life of a t-spiner hey