Cervical nerve impingement increasing drammatically

Thank you for your help.

I have already been taking temgesic 200 micrograms sublingual tablets. They do help but not always. They do have sideeffects like massive drowsyness and hallucinations in my case. I try to keep active as suggested by my physiotherapist but everytime I move I always get sore. My physio told me that it is better to move a bit rather than doing nothing. He told me that as we age our muscles become deconditioned.

Best regards

Alfred

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

Alfred, your earlier post gave me information to advise others against surgery with this physician. You've saved more than one person. The institute went out of business, I think they were sued, settled out of court and went bankrupt because of it. Deuk, though, is in business again, alone.
Did you ever find resolution for the seroma. Or did it turn out to be something other than a seroma--infection, something left behind like a surgical sponge. Is that the nerve sheath tumor. From the photos it looked too large.
I wasn't thinking of fusion, but I know the osteophytes can be removed. But the osteophytes can stabilize the spine, so might not be advised, either. The surgeon I saw does the nerve blocks in the office. Are they doing much of that in Australia.
I'm saddened that you are still suffering, but happy to hear you are still fighting it.

I have severe cervical stenosis in a large slippage at the C3 four. I am having a cervical fusion on Monday the 21st with two Neurosurgeon from John Hopkins that moved to Naples, Florida, where I live and opened a practice. They be fusing the first part through the front of my neck m C 3-4 and 4-5 after that is done, and my neck has been closed they will turn me on my stomach and finish by using the C6-7 to the T 1-2 . Living in this type of pain is no longer manageable.
Good luck to everyone suffering from this type of extreme pain. I saw four different neurosurgeons and knew that I was making the right decision.

I wish you all the best. I hope you pain will completely disappear

Hi gently how are you?

Are you sure that the deukspine institute went out of business? His website is still up an running. I could not find any search results referring to the closure of his institute.
As far as my neck is concerned my so called seroma can't be explained by two neurosurgeons in Melbourne Australia. There is no surgical sponge. I had another MRI recently but the report doesn't mention anything about it. Yes I keep fighting because I want to live life even if it hasn't been perfect since 2022. The pain is experienced daily and nightly. I am 68 and have 4 beautiful and lovely grandchildren to spend time with.
Best regards

Alfred,
I haven't read through any of this. You probably shouldn't either. Deuk did open a different practice under his name. It looks like there were personal injury suits as well as over billing and over treating charges.
https://palmerinjurylaw.com/blog/laser-spine-institute-shut-down-after-lawsuits-and-financial-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X-9GUSPNqcproblems/#:~:text=LSI%20said%20they%20were%20unable,helped%20them%20survive%20Chapter%2011.&text=Despite%20offering%20customers%20the%20latest,recohttps://www.facebook.com/spacecoastrocket/videos/-disturbing-behavior-by-surgeon-on-facebook-live-today-we-received-this-video-sh/577067155480921/
There were a number of suits like this one filed against LSI https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/superior-court/2020/617-eda-2019.html
There are surgeons in Australia that specialize in revision surgery. I don't know how it works there--if you can send your images or even if you can self refer. Pain specialists don't always stay abreast of what is available in surgery. I sure wish you could find help. There is a really good revisionist in Los Angles CA but I doubt you could be interested in coming back to the states for surgery that costs a ton.

Hello Alfred, I am so sorry you were going through all this. I remember when you came to Florida, but I didn’t know where you had gone. I’m hoping that you’re able to find a solution to stop this pain. I’m so sorry you had your hopes up for everything to be corrected only to be let down.

Thank you so very much.