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Cervical laminoplasty surgery for balance: I'm scared
Neuropathy | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (15)Comment receiving replies
thank you Jennifer. so sweet to take time to reply. No, I do not belong to any groups nor do I have anybody left in terms of "support system". I'm almost 82 & my entire body is at war. I can't begin to put words to my symptoms. Many new one's began after I caught covid early this year & my medicines which were a miracle & gave me hrs of relief, suddenly stopped working. My receptors in my brain were affected badly. New pain began in my legs after covid. Freezing as if inside a frig full time & layers of clothing can't help. It is so deep inside. I am not responding to any medicines at all. I'm also burning & freezing in my feet & legs. My face nerve damage began 18 yrs ago after undiagnosed shingles which destroyed right side of facial nerves. it's excruciating. The meds I was taking prior to covid kept my facial pain manageable, my neuropathy manageable & in the last 6 yrs I've gotten arthritis & osteo everywhere. I've had severe emotional trauma for the last 18 yrs which I can't put into writing. I'm really frightened to undergo surgery as my entire body is at war in pain. And now I can't take any pain meds as my receptors went through something that the medical world can't explain for post covid people. My circulation is not working properly. How could I get thru the cervical surgery or recover? Something unexplainable happened to my neurotransmitters after covid & I'm in unbearable pain. I am flammable everywhere & I am fighting to stay alive, Today is worse than yesterday. Each day it grows like a forest fire. It sounds like you had the surgery? How old are you? What other painful symptoms did you have prior to surgery? It sounds like you have a support system in place? How long did it take you to recover? And I'm sure you could take something for pain relief during your recovery? What pain went away after your cervical surgery. I know I'm full of questions. Did your neuropathy go away? My list is long so I apologize. I'm grateful I got one response so Blessings. I cannot find the right words to describe my condition but I can't bear another day of these horrible symptoms. Thank you truly. judy
Replies to "thank you Jennifer. so sweet to take time to reply. No, I do not belong to..."
@lilyteddy33 Hi Judy. Have your doctors checked you for blood clots in your legs? My mom had them. The way you are describing your legs being cold and painful, that is what I think about, and I know Covid could cause micro clots and affect circulation. They can do an ultra sound to check. My mom takes a blood thinner Eliquis for this.
In answer to your other questions, at the time of my spine surgery, I was 59. My husband did all the shopping since I couldn't drive after my surgery for months. I chose not to have hardware on my spine, so I had to stay in a neck brace for 3 months until the bones fused, and then do rehab and physical therapy. Full recovery is about a year, and I felt pretty good after 6 months. I had all kinds of crazy pains everywhere in my body being caused by spinal cord compression in my neck prior to the decompression surgery. Those pains were gone when I woke up from surgery. I just had pain in healing that was caused by the trauma of the surgery itself and where they cut through tissue. In the hospital they gave me pain medication and it nauseated me so much, I chose not to take any after I got home and I did just fine. The meds didn't take away pain completely anyway, and I found I could tolerate it without drugs. I was on the healing side of the problem, so having "healing pains" was easier to accept than having pains warning of a problem. A few years later, the pain from breaking my ankle and the resulting surgeries, was much more painful and for a much longer period of time than the spine surgery. Compared to that, spine surgery was an easier recovery, but I wouldn't call it easy. Again it is different for everyone and can have different success rates depending on other conditions that affect health. Everyone is different in what they can tolerate, so I don't know what your result would be. You do need to mentally prepare yourself for major surgery and be on board with the plan. That leads to better outcomes and lower stress throughout the journey.
My case had been confusing to doctors because they couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of the pains all over my body (even in my feet and legs), so 5 surgeons refused to help even though my imaging showed the ruptured disk and bone spurs, and they all knew how to treat that. It was in coming to Mayo, that I found a surgeon who understood my symptoms (called funicular pain) and he helped me. My arms were getting weak and uncoordinated from the spinal cord compression, and the surgery gave me back my coordination. I had to rehab to get strength back. I am an artist, so it mattered to me a lot.
It's good to ask questions, and I see that you are getting responses from others as well.
Jennifer
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@lilyteddy33
Have you seen a pain management specialist to try new medications and treatments (like spinal injections) for your pain? What medications were you on before Covid and are you still on them even though they are not helping? Have they tried anything new to see if it helps you? I have read that Covid has caused neurological damage for many.
You should find out exactly what is going on in your cervical spine and what levels are affected. Is your spinal cord flattened/compressed? Do you have disc bulges or herniations and bone spurs? What levels would the surgery be done?
I have small fiber polyneuropathy, congenital spinal stenosis, myelopathy spinal cord compression injury and degenerative disc disease and had cervical and lumbar spine surgeries plus have a history of trauma. The cervical spine surgery was much less painful than lumbar surgery. I am 55 and female and a single parent of a teen son. Not easy to deal with daily pain, weakness and numbness so I empathize with you. I also do not have family or a support system which makes all of this scary. My pets do provide comfort and I am so sorry for your loss of your dogs.