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My husband and I are struggling with the instructions I was given to “take these pain meds and be patient!” My whole life is turned upside down! I was prepared for the very difficult 3 month recovery from the posterior cervical fusion. I was not prepared for the debilitating PTS afterwards. I can’t even travel to be with my daughter who is giving birth to our granddaughter any day now and I have been an absentee grandmother to my 18 month old grandson. Why? Because of pain. Then surgery to correct pain. Then pain after that. And drugs that make me feel like i’m only half there. And yeah the docs are pretty sure it’s the brachial plexus but are they POSITIVE it’s not the cervical spine? Am I waiting for nothing? These questions keep me awake at night.
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Thank you for sharing your experience @adriennes I am so sorry for your suffering. When I manage to pull myself off the pity pot, I have been looking at yoga (which I have done a little but many of the positions rely on shoulder & arm strength which I do not have), and meditation. Interesting idea about training your brain to override nerve damage - I will definitely follow up on that. The mind-body connection with regard to healing is amazing. Started reading Dr. Gary Kaplan’s book Total Recovery: Breaking the Cycle of Chronic Pain and Depression, which looks promising. Do you practice mat or reformer Pilates?
I agree - pain is very similar to, but much worse than radiculopathy! I went thru a terrible period of “oh no I feel so much worse than before surgery!” This was my 3rd cervical spine surgery and he had to go in thru the back which makes for a long and difficult recovery. Although when I got the diagnosis of PTS I was happy I wouldn’t need surgery, I was hoping for a quicker fix.
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I really am so sorry, the pain is relentless, I know, I still struggle numerous times a day, but it subsides, time is all I can tell you. It is the worst the first couple months, denervation and atrophy set in on the affected arm, I do pilates with an amazing instructor who is helping me retrain my brain to override the nerve damage and strrngthen that side. Read all you can and advocate for yourself. Dont give up, its a very long illness, i have a 3 level fusion with hardware, the symptoms are very similar to radiculopathy, times 1000! I got through the worst of this with a doctor open to whatever she could do. You are not alone, you found us here, bless you, I'll keep you in my prayers.