Some Answers - Finally

Hello. Yes, I've been avoiding my blog for quite some time, but I have had little news to report on the ADR front. Since May I have had three epidural injections and a radiofrequency ablation at the S1/L5 and L4/L5 level. I have been put on Lyrica for the nerve pain in my low back and legs, and am now taking 450mg a day. It's made my mind a bit foggy and I don't have the memory I once had, but my husband tells me it's probably due to the fact I turned 30 in May. What a funny guy - one of the reasons I love him so. I've been taking small doses of Vicadin on and off, depending on the pain. Unfortunately the last month has brought a lot of increased pain, probably because the results of the ablation are wearing off.

The biggest change has been the course I have been taking for diagnosis of this pain I have been having since the surgery. I tried the Cleveland Clinic back in May with little results; basically the orthopedic surgeon, who I was referred to by one of my bosses since the doc was a personal friend, wrote me off. Didn't want to accept me as a patient, thought I was fine with the docs I was already with. Well, another boss referred me to the head of the pain management department at the Cleveland Clinic. I'll call this doc Dr. M. I have only had two consults with him, but at the first one he recommended an MRI, since I had not had one since the surgery. He then wanted another ortho surgeon at the Clinic to look at the MRI, so I set up an appt with him.

Dr. McC (abbrev.), the new ortho doc, not only looked at the MRI results (which showed the other discs in my spine were ok), but ALSO looked through my patient file with all of the scans and reports that have taken place since 2003, which I had brought with me. And guess what he found - a pedicle fracture at the L5 level, most likely caused by the disc. And he found this by looking at CT scans from October 2005. Scans which three ortho surgeons were to actually look at, but obviously didn't look at all or closely enough. And the wonderful radiologist at Akron General, who did the report on the scans, missed it as well. Dr. McC asked if he could keep my records and films so he could go over them in more detail, and I set up an appt with him for this Thursday.

To my surprise, he called me last Thursday at work. Yes, a doctor that I have only seen once called me personally. He gave me the news that he and another doc looked through my films and scans, and not only do I have one pedicle fracture, but I have two. Both pedicles are fractured at the L5 level. More than likely this is the main cause of the pain.

What's next? Had another CT on Monday so they can see how the fractures have progressed. I see Dr. McC tomorrow, where we will talk treatments. Originally he told me I was probably looking at a fusion, but during our call last week he told me there may be other treatments available depending on the CT results. He also told me they would try to save the artificial disc at all cost - in other words, he will do his best to keep me from having a fusion.

I'm thrilled that I finally have an answer as to why I have the pain I do; and it makes sense, as I did have about two months after the surgery where I felt great and then one day in July it just all started going downhill. I'm also angry that I've gone through an additional 14 months of pain just because other docs did not do their job and actually look at the CT film. The pain has been very difficult lately, and given that my work and personal life is so overloaded with stuff to do I'm feeling very overwhelmed. I have realized that I am only one person and I need to ask for more help than what I am use to. I also need to prioritize, and maybe not do all of those little things that are on my list but probably do not need to be taken care of. Of course that is difficult to do when it is the Christmas season and you have all of the cookie exchanges and parties and events to attend. I can't wait until it's over!

This is about my life before and after ADR. Obviously ADR has been successful for many people out there, but in my case I believe I was not the ideal candidate for it. I have learned after the surgery that I have arthritis in the facet joints in my low and mid back, which is not helped by ADR; it is helped by fusion. A discography was not done before the surgery, even though I asked and was told it was not needed. However, that might have shown that my pain was coming more from the facet joints and less from the disc they removed. The disc they put in was about twice the size of a typical disc they put in other individuals. With the extra height putting more strain on my spine and the arthitic facet joints, is this why I'm left with two pedicle fractures? My guess is yes.

I will try to be better about giving updates. I've come to realize that this blog should not just be about the big events in my life regarding ADR. After all, I'm dealing with the effects of this surgery every day. And no matter how much I hate to admit it, it affects my life greatly every day. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful support team - my wonderful husband, parents, brother, friends and co-workers. I could never make it through all of this alone, and I am eternally grateful to each of them.