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Spinal Cord Compression Symptoms from A Benign Tumor

Spine Health | Last Active: Mar 23, 2023 | Replies (7)

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@valc66

Thank u for ur response. Yes the primary care was giving him a hard time getting a referral but by some miracle he was able to get in with another Dr at the office who actually listened to him and gave him a referral to the neurologist. Our older son has ms and this son thinks he may have it or something else like u were saying. It could be a number of things. I have had back and neck problems for years and just had to do an updated mri and they found a mass in my spine so I am trying to find out if it is cancer or not and the drs. Just don't seem to take things to seriously especially when cancer runs In our family. It took them a year going to numerous drs. With every one telling me they didn't know what was wrong with my oldest son to finally get a diagnosis. I finally took him to a specialty hospital and he was almost at the point where he could no longer walk. He was also having trouble using his hands. The er dr there sent him to a specialist with the hospital and within 5 min of her being in the room withhim she diagnosis him and sent him directly to the hospital where we stayed a week for treatment. Head transferred from there are spend another week in another hospital doing physical therapy and now walks normal. He still has issues but so much better. Always scares me when he as a flare up though. Sorry for the long response. I just want everyone to know don't give up on finding what is wrong somewhere out there someone has ananswer u just have to get to theright person.

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Replies to "Thank u for ur response. Yes the primary care was giving him a hard time getting..."

@valc66 You are so right about advocating for yourself. The doctors see so many patients and their attention moves on to the next patient. It sounds like you have a lot on your mind with your sons, but don't neglect yourself. You may want to look for a neurosurgeon that you want to see in your insurance network, and present that to the primary care doctor. They often tend to refer to their friends and buddies in the medical world and don't take time to look for a surgeon with a subspecialty that may be a better fit for you.

I went through 2 years of chasing doctors who wouldn't help me, so I turned to Mayo Clinic. The others were getting the diagnosis wrong in that they didn't understand what was causing pain even though they could see the ruptured disc on the MRI. I was searching for medical literature and found cases like mine that I found because of reading a Mayo surgeon's' literature that led me to other cases like mine, so I knew he would understand my dilemma.

Does your son receive treatment for MS? My family had been involved with a swimming program that many MS patients attended, and it did help them a lot because the water takes away the need to be weight bearing and you can work on strengthening muscles and not worry about balance.

What is your next step for yourself and your son? Do you have an oncologist to talk to about the mass in your spine? That may be an avenue for referral to a spine specialist.

Jennifer