Hi,

Two neurosurgeons in Australia (this is where I live) told me not to get operated. This is only required in extreme cases such as no bladder function or incontinence.

I was told that the ACDF may stabilize the neck but they could not guarantee that I would be pain free because now the CNS has become too sensitized and a lot of pain may be nociplastic rather than nociceptive. I try to walk, superlight gym exercises and exercise bike.
Twice I tried to get nerve blocks here through pain management but they denied their services saying that my case was too complex.

I made a big mistake in 2023 going to see neurosurgeon Dr Ara Deukmejan at the Deukspine Institute in Melbourne Florida. He performed a decompression laser surgery on my left C5-C6, C6-C7 discs and bilateral C5-T1 rhizotomies. This surgery left me with a dropped head for over a year and a bump at the rear of my neck that I did not have before surgery. His surgery has severely restricted the neck tilt back. It feels as if there is something blocking the backward movement. I paid him $72K USD. What a ripoff! Also he has made me worse than before. I wish that I never went there.

Anyway it is like water under the bridge.

This is my latest cervical spine MRI from July 2025:

Report

MRI - CERVICAL SPINE (Dates are in australian format IE Day/Month/Year)

Clinical:

Neck pain and shooting pain to right side.

Technique:

T1, T2, fat saturated and oblique sequences of the cervical spine with comparison made to patient's prior study of 19/04/2024.

Findings:

Generalised straightening of the normal cervical lordosis is noted and is unchanged from prior. No fracture nor aggressive marrow signal abnormality.

Craniocervical junction is within normal limits. Mild degeneration of the atlanto-odontoid articulation. Foramen magnum is capacious. Flattening of the ventral thecal sac at C4/5 but no site of significant cord compression or cord signal abnormality. Mild curvature towards the lower cervical spine convex towards the right, however, this is associated with a more
prominent appearing thoracic curvature towards the left which is incompletely imaged though I do note presence of a thoracic scoliosis towards the left side on prior MRI study of 21/12/2022.

T2 hyperintense lesion in the left upper thoracic paravertebral region measuring approximately 24 x 20mm, which is similar in size and location to the MRI thoracic spine from December 2022 and overall is most favoured to reflect a nerve sheath tumour at this location. This is also not significantly changed in appearance comparing to the more recent MRI cervical spine 19/04/2024.

C2/3:
No canal or foraminal stenosis. Mild facetal degeneration.

C3/4:
Uncovertebral joint disc-osteophyte complexes noted bilaterally, slightly more prominent on the right side and there is also mild bilateral facetal arthropathy. MOderate right and mild left foraminal stenosis.

C4/5: Moderate bilateral uncovertebral joint disc osteophyte complexes. Minor facetal degeneration. No canal stenosis, however, moderate bilateral foraminal stenoses are noted, slightly more pronounced on the right side with compression upon both C5 nerve roots.

C5/6:
Minor uncovertebral joint osteophytosis. Facetal degeneration is also noted, more so on the left side. No canal stenosis. Moderate left and mild right foraminal stenosis. Mild compression upon the C6 nerve roots, more so on the left side.

Patient Study Date/Time
30/07/2025 10:13

C6/7:
Uncovertebral joint disc-osteophyte complexes noted though larger on the right side. Mild facetal degeneration. No canal stenosis. Moderately severe right and moderate left foraminal stenosis. Compression upon the right C7 nerve root.

C7/T1:
Moderately advanced bilateral facetal degenerative arthropathy and borderline anterolisthesis of C7 upon T1. Uncovertebral joint shallow disc osteophyte complexes are noted. No significant exiting nerve root compression.

Comment:

Generalised straightening of the normal cervical lordosis and multilevel degenerative spondylosis and facetal arthropathy are overall similar to the study from 19/04/2024. Multilevel uncovertebral joint disc-osteophyte complexes resulting in multilevel foraminal stenoses are also similar to prior. Left upper thoracic T2 hyperintense ovoid rounded lesion is again noted and is overall similar to prior, most consistent with a nerve sheath tumour.

Best regards

Alfred