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uberwekkness posted:I'm working on a figure skating story at the moment, and I need to make sure that all my facts line up, and that I have a realistic idea of a timeline for this character's medical experiences. I had a spinal fusion back in 2012. It was misdiagnosed by two doctors initially. Started with pain in my left shoulder which the first doctor misdiagnosed as a strained rotator cuff. He sent me to PT and after the first session, the therapist determined that it was not my rotator cuff. Second doctor misdiagnosed it as bicipital tendinosis (strained biceps tendon) and sent me back to PT. Same result. By this time the pain was getting slightly worse so the third doctor sent me for an MRI. MRI results came back as a bulging disc between C5/C6, and I was referred to a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon said I needed surgery. I asked if there was any other more conservative treatment and he said I could get a cervical spine injection, but that would only be postponing the inevitable. I was referred to a pain clinic and had a series of three injections in my neck over a nine-month period. Each one relieved the pain and numbness temporarily. After the third injection, the doctor at the pain clinic said there was nothing else we could do, and that I should go back to the neurosurgeon. By this time, my left arm was in so much pain that he prescribed me Oxycontin. I went back to the neurosurgeon and scheduled surgery. I had an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion (ACDF) where they removed the bulging disc between the C5 and C6 vertebrae, and replaced it with a cadaver bone, then put in a titanium plate with four screws to hold it together. The first thing I realized when I woke up was that I was no longer in pain. Recovery was two weeks wearing a plastic neck brace 24/7, and two more weeks wearing it during the day. No driving, no bending, and no lifting more than 5 pounds, and no exercise more strenuous than a brisk walk. There was no PT involved, as recovery was just the incision site healing and the bone fusing together. The hardest part was being an active person and not being able to do anything but walk for a total of 12 weeks. Once the recovery period was over, I was pretty much good as new. I have complete range of motion in my neck, and can do everything I could before the surgery. Hope that helped.
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May 8, 2019 17:54
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Cat Army 
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 09:23 |
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