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Cervical myelopathy caused by herniated disc at C4-6 level
Spine Health | Last Active: Mar 3 4:49pm | Replies (29)Comment receiving replies
Thank you for a wonderful and very educational testimony. My journey has also been approximately 2 years. It all started with the tip of my right toe being numb. My GP sent me to a neurologist and I had the EMG and NCV tests that turned out ok. He wanted to send me to a podiatrist but I told him I think I need an MRI on my neck ( only because my mother and brother has had surgery because of cervical issues, seems it runs in my family) MRI results showed c4-5 with severe disc-osteophytic disease causing moderate asymmetric spinal canal stenosis that is more pronounced right of midline with spinal cord compression and compressive myelopathy, and severe right neural foremen stenosis. There is mild cervical kyphosis centered at c4-5. c5-6 moderate to severe bilateral neural formidable stenosis and mild spinal canal stenosis secondary to disc- osteophytic disease. I was referred to a NS and was told I needed surgery because of the herniated discs at the c4-6 level. However, he did stated that I could wait. He never told me I could be at risk of paralysis. He also could not say that the sensations in my legs were caused by my cervical issues but stated the surgery could relieve the sensations in my legs by 75% which in hindsight his statement does not make sense to me now. During this time it was so new to me I did not want to rush into surgery without learning more about this condition. I had a second opinion shortly thereafter and was told surgery is recommended.
I guess I am trying to find the best surgeon who I feel comfortable with and so the hunt continues. I live in Hawaii and would love to travel to the Mayo Clinic to find the best surgeon.
Replies to "Thank you for a wonderful and very educational testimony. My journey has also been approximately 2..."
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@rjdm1 It is definitely worth the effort to travel to Mayo for surgery. They will get all the evaluations done in a few days and not drag this out for months. I would highly recommend my surgeon, Dr. Fogelson and he is a compassionate down to earth guy and is one of Mayo's best. I agree with that, and that was what the former Mayo CEO said to me after I had sent him a letter about my experience. I thought that was pretty cool that a CEO took the time to write a personal letter to me and he thanked me. What you can do is contact Mayo and set up a temporary patient account. Check that they take your health insurance. Then to become a patient, you will need to send in copies of your imaging and records for review before you would be offered an appointment, and you can request that review from Dr. Fogelson if you wish. I chose him myself because of his education and accomplishments and because he has both neurosurgery fellowship training as well as orthopedic spine training. He teaches spine surgery labs at conferences and teaches in the Mayo neurosurgery program where he was also trained. He does both fusion and artificial discs and is a spine deformity expert. I had seen enough spine specialists and watched surgeon's presentations before I got to Mayo, that I knew he really knew his field well and was very confident, and I knew I was getting good answers to my questions. I was offered surgery without hardware. Mine was a single level fusion which made that possible. Surgeons in general seem to like using specific hardware that they have had training in from the manufacturers, and getting an answer from Dr. Fogelson that the fusion heals better with just bone instead of foreign implants was a welcome honest answer. A lot of surgeons just do fusion or prefer artificial discs, and you can get an opinion on both with him. It may take 3 months to get in to Mayo, so if you are interested, you should apply. I can tell you from my experiences, I will only go back to Dr. Fogelson at Mayo if I need further spine surgery and I highly recommend him. I was loosing the ability to hold my arms up and control them and I'm an artist. He gave that back to me, and I recovered great and his surgery took away all my pain. I am 3 years post op and doing very well. I also have thoracic outlet syndrome and am in physical therapy for that. I had to travel to Mayo in a long drive. The hotels are geared for travel with airport shuttles and shuttles running to all the medical buildings and there is a lot of info on their website with links about accommodations. Rochester is a nice small town city surrounded by peaceful farmland. They have a lot of winter snow that can hamper travel, and they have an underground "Subway" walkway to connect buildings and some of the hotels without needing to go outside in the cold. You might want to read research papers of any surgeon you are considering so you can make sure you will connect to their area of interest. I think Dr. F would be a good fit for you. Let me know if I can answer any other questions. Find the surgeon of your choice before you get into an emergency situation and end up with a surgeon you didn't choose, but need because an an urgency. Mayo has a lot of good surgeons. I also considered Dr. Bydon at the time, and he is in the news now because of success with regenerative medicine research and the recovery of a previously paralyzed spine injury patient who is now walking again.
Here are a few other links about Dr. Fogelson.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/fogelson-jeremy-l-m-d/bio-20055624
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2012/12/23/repaying-a-gift-scholarship-recipient-says-thanks-in-a-special-way/
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2017/07/26/spinal-surgery-saves-teen-swimmers-mobility/
http://www.startribune.com/in-second-term-minnesota-gov-markdayton-dealing-with-more-health-problems/361662931/
http://www.startribune.com/gov-mark-dayton-to-undergo-third-back-surgery/497015811/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/neurology-neurosurgery/news/specialized-expertise-for-spinal-deformity-surgery/mac-20469055
Mayo Clinic Minute
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-scoliosis-screening/