To Jill - Necks

[Guest guest]

Hi Jill,I too had a broken rod and neck problems.  I had my original surgery in 1981 at Hopkins.  I am now 55 and havepretty severe flatback.  Two years ago, I had what they thought was a TIA.  I went to the hospital and I told the neurologistthat my hands were frequently numb.  They did a MRI and found bony spurs that were impinging on the spinal canal.Because I have had my aortic valve replaced I am not a great candidate for revision.  I am fused to S1 but even though I lean pretty far forward, I havelittle to no pain (knock on wood).  Anyways, I did have an extensive laminectomy in the cervical spine and now my neck is great.  The tingling, etc. is gone and I am doing great.  Thedoctor thought he would have to fuse but when he went in found the area to be stable so he did only a long laminectomy.  Because the spurs andpossibly discs (can't remember) were narrowing the actual canal I was always very hyper about driving in snow and walking on ice.  I was veryworried about becoming paralyzed.  Now I feel so much better.......You might want to check out your options with your neck.. I did see a doctor in the DC area at town who does do some revisions and he said the neck had to be addressed before revision because of the way you are placed on the surgical table.Good luck! (VA)