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Several MRIs over the years have all confirmed compression of my spinal cord and exiting nerve roots. The MRI reports are tagged with "urgent action required." The problem is the pain coincided with flares of my autoimmune condition. I took prednisone and other anti-inflammatory medications to quiet things down. The biologic I'm currently taking seems to prevent the flares from recurring.
I have symptoms of dysfunction but my gait is still "functional." I have an antalgic gait but a rollator helps. The surgeon says surgery isn't likely to improve anything but surgery may slow down the progression. I'm afraid surgery might make everything worse so I avoid going to the neurosurgeon as much as I can. Surgery will also involve a "lengthy time to recover."
My last visit with the neurosurgeon was over 2 years ago. I was encouraged to call to make another appointment when I was ready to do the lumbar fusion. I'm still not ready for surgery so I guess there is no need for me to call.
I don't think there has been too much progression but I don't really know. I don't feel much of anything below my waist anymore. I only wish for things to stay functional. I have had cauda equina syndrome (CES) symptoms in the past but only during flares of my autoimmune condition.
I developed heterotopic ossification after my knee replacements. The orthopedic surgeon said I shouldn't have anymore surgeries. I don't know if that meant spine surgery too.
"Immunologic processes involving cytokines and chemokines, which are prominent in various rheumatologic conditions, contribute to the pathogenesis of heterotopic ossification and may be reduced with early treatment with biologic therapeutics."
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4417939/
Replies to "Several MRIs over the years have all confirmed compression of my spinal cord and exiting nerve..."
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@dadcue Mike, having diminished feeling below the waist is a significant symptom. I also understand the complication when you have heterotopic ossification and how surgery may trigger that because of the inflammation involved in healing. That does put you in a tough position. Spinal cord compression can cause incontinence of bowel or bladder as well as issues with balance and walking.
I do remember another spine patient on Connect a few years back who had become so disabled by spinal cord compression that he was wheelchair bound. He also had significant constipation problems so bad, that his doctors wanted to do a colostomy. He didn't know there was a connection of that symptom with his spinal cord compression. He did have spine surgery and then was able to avoid a colostomy. Also he regained the ability to walk again after some months of rehab. He set that as his goal after surgery and he achieved it.
Perhaps with research, an answer may be found as to solve your spine problems without causing bone formation in the wrong places. I encourage you to keep on searching through medical literature, and search names of authors and publications cited in the footnotes to see if there is more research going on. Another good place to look would be government clinical trials.