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Recommendation for a neurologist to evaluate me for spinal stenosis.
Spine Health | Last Active: Feb 22, 2023 | Replies (16)Comment receiving replies
Hi Jennifer, I met with Dr Paul Celestre at Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans. He reviewed my X-rays, MRI, and examined me. My two worst levels were C5-C6, and C6-C7. His opinion was that I do not require surgery at this time. He added that there were surgeons who would perform a fusion based on the imaging, but again he advised no surgery at this time, with physical therapy, and follow up MRI in about a year. I questioned the need for PT, and he responded that it could help with balance. I have not yet scheduled PT. I’m not in any pain. I still have some positional hand numbness. I guess I’ll give PT a try and reevaluate in a year, or sooner in my symptoms worsen. Thank you for your interest, Doug.
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@dgcosentino831
Doug, thanks for your update. You may want to keep records of your symptoms on body diagrams and date them so you'll know if something changes over time and how fast it is changing. I did that on a dermatome map, and I could correlate exacerbation of my symptoms with the changes on new MR imaging. Diagrams can help if you need to take next steps toward surgery or also if you improve because of good core strength, you can chart your progress there too.
Are you going to get any other spine surgical opinions or where you happy with Dr. Celestre and have confidence in his ability to help you if your condition worsens? If you are progressing toward a need for surgery, other opinions can be helpful..... or not... I had 5 opinions from surgeons who had not figured out the problems, and one excellent opinion, so you know which one I chose, but the confusion of the other specialists also told me how good my surgeon was.
Jennifer