Quote Originally Posted by Dave Byrd
Birdie's got such severe stenosis that her spinal cord is narrowed down to about half its normal girth through C5 - 7. And the leg cramps get her, too. (She's my wife.) They started at night, with cramping for no apparent reason, and now she gets them during the day, too. She had one neurologist tell her it was nothing. And she had one neurosurgeon who didn't look long enough at her MRIs or reports to see what was really going on and told her she was in the early stages of ALS, a fatal motor neuron disease. This to a woman who's one of the brightest first-year med students in her class--and who's married to me, a physician. Just because people work in medicine themselves doesn't mean they get excellent care, we've found out.

She's been through the wringer, and while I know she dreads the surgery, I know she's going to feel better. She'll be glad to read your thread.
I've got C4 - C7 fused using a piece of donor fibula placed vertically, anterior. I chose donor bone because I wanted to limit the chances for infection. The donor bone didn't fuse as quickly as it could have resulting in an extra 2 1/2 months in that f-----g Miami-J brace. But, aside from the neck brace, the surgey was a piece of cake. Like I said, I stopped pains meds at two days post-op.

What was so wonderful about this surgery is that the relief from the symptoms is almost instantaneous. For almost three years I felt like I had a knife in my back, right around the middle of my shoulder blade. That was gone, completely, the day after surgery.

When your wife leaves the hospital, be sure to take the temporary neck brace they put on her after surgery home with you. She'll need it for taking showers. As I recall, the neck brace she'll be wearing to recuperate has replaceable pads. Be sure to get an extra set of pads when you get the brace 'cuz 24/7 in that thing and it gets kinda funky kinda fast so it's nice to have a clean (washable) set of pads on hand to swap out - and it beats the hell out of making stupid excuses about why you're sleeping on the couch.
PharmaCan Reviewed by PharmaCan on . Chronic pain....embarrasement? WTF? I just wanted to ask anybody else in chronic pain, or anybody with some knowledge on the psychology of the matter, if they experience or know of this. I know it's not really logical, but I'm finding lately in social situations that I feel really embarrased when I have to admit I'm in a lot of pain. I'll just be sitting with my friends hanging out, smoking a joint, whatever. Sometimes we have some people with us that are more aquaintances and that makes it even more akward. And suddenly I'm Rating: 5