Hi @janagain you are in great hands at the orthopedic department at Ucsd! As far as I’m concerned, the best place to be. I was in the neurology department for years, which was not where I should have been and then when the neurologist gave up on me, they sent me to orthopedics, which is where I should’ve been years before I got there.
There is a lot of things, I can see, you are not quite understanding yet. What you are going to need is someone to break it down and explain it better to you. You are going to need to almost become your own doctor to understand what’s going on in your body. Our bodies are different to some extent and the reasons we get to cervical spine Surgery is different. Sometimes the doctors can only guess with the information we provide on our lifestyles and work as to why we are there. some of it is hereditary.
UCSD Dr. Zlomislic in orthopedics there is a magician! I have seen him for years. He has given me my life back with lumbar spine surgeries, fusions,, and cervical spine surgery.
I understand entirely why a doctor would tell you that they can’t do any more for you. You have to realize these are all specialty departments and they only work within their specialty. But you have to push them or go back to your primary care doctor to push them to refer you to other departments. There is a kinesiology department with an excellent doctor there who also helps to identify where pain may be coming from. In my case, I had a cervical spine surgery, which was anterior and it was AMAZING! It gave me like my life back From the time I was in an auto accident at seven years old. Unfortunately, the hardware did not hold because my bones were too soft and I had to have a posterior surgery three weeks later. that was unfortunate as the posterior surgery meant I was right back to the lack of mobility I had had right before the first surgery. Nothing lost nothing gained. In my case, I have inherited a musculature and an occupation that has made my muscular body compromised from long hours of commercial art, graphic design and illustration. So the my muscular part of my body was not healed in the surgery. That was a huge disappointment. And the fact that I lost some mobility and the pain was still there because the source of the pain wasn’t the cervical spine at all. It was the myomusculature. So now I go for MFR myofascial deep tissue release at an outside therapist who does wonders I go twice a month. I will probably go for the rest of my life and I’m 68 years old. Right now I choose to pay out of my pocket because the guy works wonders and he doesn’t take insurance.
In my case, I have complications because I am round shouldered, so it’s taking me a couple years for my bones surrounding the spine in my shoulder and shoulder blades to reposition themselves to be straight like the rod. There are a couple things I have to keep in mind as positives to my recovery. In my case, my doctor KNEW the surgery wasn’t clear cut and was not sure that all my pain would be alleviated. But by the time I got to surgery- I could not raise my arms, change my linens or do one more day of movement with the pinching. All of that is gone. However, the structure of my neck and shoulders relies on musculature that is unfortunately glued together. That’s where the MFR comes in to break down the Bluey substance that makes the muscles move as a group and pulls on my neck and pulls everything out of sink. It’s a multifaceted approach. I am exactly 2 years out from surgery and I am still in recovery mode. I still have to do the exercises. I still have to break down the scar tissue. I still have to get the muscles broken down. I still have to watch my posture and I still go see my wonderful doctor every 3 to 6 months to keep tabs on things. Another thing to know about Ucsd is that the doctors have a wonderful nurse team. Before and after surgery, they are there to carry information back-and-forth between you and the doctor so rely on your nurse team when you are not sure about any little thing. Arleta there is great. All the surgeons in orthopedics are great. They can’t predict 100% of your outcome because they don’t know 100% of your body. And if they aren’t sure you have to believe them. I didn’t and I pushed for Dr. Z to do my surgery because I had such success with him doing my lumbar fusion and because I wasn’t functioning well with my neck anymore. But he warned me and he was right. BUT, there are so many positives about my surgery. My posture is incredible now. All my neighbors see me walking my dog and they say I look 10 years younger because I’m not standing all hunched over. I have that dang rod in my back! Another positive I just felt two days ago was in a fall. I took over a gap in the sidewalk. The rod in my neck back held my head up so that I didn’t smash my face on the concrete! I did break a tooth, but it would’ve been so much worse. I would’ve fractured my face and have a subdural hematoma if that rod wasn’t in my cervical spine to keep my head lifted during the fall! like @heyjoe415 I have degenerative bone diseases and all the rest and I’ve had many joint replacements for the last 12 years 15 years. They begin to be not as successful at a certain point because our bodies are in deterioration at the same time. But you take the gains you can get.
Dr. Z and I had this discussion last time because the bones around my lumbar spine are in decline and will probably have surgery within a few years. But you just can’t do surgeries all the time so you have to rely on your doctor and you have to do your part.
I am kind of used to a lot of pain by now and I take a small amount of opioid every day and I go about my business with my body in deterioration. I am fortunate to have observed my ancestors acutely. They all suffered with the same degeneration, arthritis, gout all the rest —pain. I am so much more active than they. Some days, some seasons some whatever can be very taxing, but I have my passions, my joys and activities which sustain me. The key here is to find a sage Dr. that you can rely on, hopefully for life that gets to know you, your body, and will provide you with the remedy or direct you to what you need. I probably should be in constant rehab or PT, but it doesn’t suit my lifestyle so I’m sitting here on my stationary bike at home doing an hour before I go for a walk and then begin my day. If you have any questions about Ucsd or orthopedics, I’m happy to share what I know!