Survey needed on cervical discectomy and fusion

[Guest guest]

Hey guys,

I really really need your help.

It was suggested to me by NIH to ask you all (the experts!! ) how many of you

have had cervical fusion and if it helped numbness, tingling and pain (

really really bad pain) in the neck, across shoulders and down the arms. Also

did it help with headaches--migrane type headaches?

Also, how many have had that awful sounding test ( I don't know the name of

it) that they can do before surgery where they stick needles into your spine

(yes, WITHOUT anesthesia) and you say if it hurts like your pain , doesn't

hurt or hurts differently.

Those who have had either of these, I would love to know how it turned out,

problems or special considerations becuase of EDS, etc...I am still in a bit

of a shock as although I AM ready to cut my head off ,I never expected the

visit to result in such a strong statement for surgery.

Thanks for all your help and listening and support right now. I aplogize for

being such a pest, I don't know where else to turn.

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

I had cervical fusion for severe central spinal stenosis. Oddly enough, I

didn\'t have any real problems with neck pain, but did have occasional

numbness in right arm . However, it was during a workup for chronic

dizziness that sent me to the neurosurgeon. Supposedly, the surgery was to

relieve that. (The dizziness was an inner ear problem, but that\'s another

story!)

Considering how awful lumbar surgery is, the cervical was a piece of cake!

I had a wonderful neurosurgeon who did a multilevel fusion from C3-C6. I

didn\'t even have to wear a brace! It was an anterior approach, was only

housebound for about 10 days (vs.4 months for lumbar) and was then able to

drive. Of course, in typical EDS fashion, I developed a synovial cyst on T1

which compressed the nerves to my right arm and was unbearably painful, so 3

weeks later, I had a second cervical surgery, this time posterior, and had

new fusion extended to T1. In typical form, I had already develped

foraminal stenosis on the nerve root exits for C4, 5,6 along with the

synovial cyst that NEVER appears in the thoracic spine! Lucky me!

This surgery also went well although a year later the incision still has not

completely healed and is still scabbing over. My skin is so fragile that

I\'ve had to cut all the labels out of my clothing since they irritate the

scar. Another fun EDS trait.

Seriously though. I\'ve had about 30 surgeries and the cervical spine

surgeries were among the least painful post op and fastest recovering that I

had. In fact, I was still in a cast from my basal thumb joint replacement

when I had the first one.

Judy

Hey guys,

I really really need your help.

It was suggested to me by NIH to ask you all (the experts!! ) how many of

you

have had cervical fusion and if it helped numbness, tingling and pain (

really really bad pain) in the neck, across shoulders and down the arms.

Also

did it help with headaches--migrane type headaches?