Cervical facet joint nerve ablation failure?

[Kokanee]

Hi Katie,

Still hanging in there; what you described is exactly what I've experienced; ignorance and outdated medical practitioners being taken as "experts" even though they are 10-20 years behind the curve.

I use this handle for most things online, it's actually from neither, just something I picked when I was a teenager playing computer games.

I will update here when I've had a chance to speak to the specialist I'm seeing for this, Dr. Murphy of KOPI here in Kingston. He is awesome by the way, very cutting edge and US trained, he knows his stuff; he actually was trialling a new ablation machine w/ 4 leads instead of 1, cut the procedure time from 1 1/2 hrs to 30 mins for me.

[Katie]

I really hope he's able to help somehow. My first visit was to a 'specialist' in Kingston. I'll pm the name if you like...totally useless. He said that he gets half a dozen people like me every day, and to just go home and take more drugs....it's only pain. He destroyed my out of country application.

[Justin]

Hi Kokanee, I'm sorry that you are still dealing with this and that everything is moving at a snail's pace.

I would definitely look into out of country treatment if you are not getting anywhere in your system. I also had nerve ablation that did nothing for my pain and in the end that wasn't my pain problem. We completely get where you are, and how hard it is to live in day to day pain. I had 3 years before surgery and then another year of healing. I had just about no life during that time, didn't go places for fear of getting into pain or not being comfortable, etc. It is a hard place to be and hard to see an out. Saying that, though, I am finally on the other side, 4.5 years later. I'm having a baby, something I was told I would never be able to do post spine problems. I have very low pain levels, can do just about anything I want to do (I still don't do crazy or excessive stuff, as I don't want more back problems) and I have my life back. It can and will happen, just takes time. Get multiple opinions, do your research and then more research. Best of luck,
Kathy

Kathy's post above is spot on. We have all been there--in pain--so please don't feel like you are whining or complaining. Chronic pain is completely draining and affects every aspect of one's life.

Kokanee,

Perhaps you could get your hands on your XRays/ MRIs to send to US and/ or European orthopaedic specialists. The cost can be free or minimal for more opinions. This could give you ammunition to battle the medical system or at least help them make an accurate diagnosis/ course of action.

I'd imagine a lot of US doctors would be happy to help. Most Americans are very appreciative of your service. I am.

You can find a great number of surgeons that have helped others on this forum.

Good luck to you and thanks again for your service and sacrifice,

Bob

As Bob mentioned, thank you for your service. In 2003, I had no where to turn for solutions. Thus, I started looking overseas and found an excellent "solution" after exhaustive research. Personally, I had to sell a brand new truck and rearrange a few other things to get the care I needed. It was well worth it as I went from being bed-ridden to living my life once again.

I have spoken with Katie at length in the past about the Canadian system and how she was in "limbo" for many years regarding her spine issues. It sounds like you are facing the same obstacles that she did.

Please let us know how we can help. You're not alone in this--we are right beside you.

[Kokanee]

Thanks for the advice Justin; I would love to go overseas, but financially I can't make it work right now. I should be getting a large medical settlement down the road, but shouldn't have to spend it on a medical procedure to get fixed. I'm actually going in tomorrow to get assigned a new GP, as my current one has not followed up on sending me to the University of Waterloo Neuro division (leading experts in Canada wrt/ surgical intervention for spinal injuries) for over a month...

Unfortunately Dr. Murphy (KOPI, he did the ablation) did not have any idea why the ablation didn't work when the nerve block he did before did, I have to wait until 18 Oct to see him again, but for now I have not been able to find anything online even remotely relatable to my specifics.

[Jack-of-all-trades]

I've kind of been reading your posts lately with more interest to learn from your experiences. I'm dealing with C-spine issues now. I had many of the procedural fixes for my lumbar spine that didn't work with the accompanying disappointment that you have had. The two hour fix you described earlier sounds about right for lidocaine or something similar used as a local kind of like what the dentist uses to fill a tooth. It tends to spread out rapidly to an area larger than the point of injection, depending on strength, amount used, whether it has epi in it circulation and other things. Sometimes they mix a longer acting local with it in which case the effect is more like 8 hours, give or take a few. Whether the facet ablation worked or not at least now you know the approximate area that is the pain generator.

My situation now is that I did the dance, so to speak with my L-Spine for three years involving epidurals, facet injections/ablations, IDETs (don't even consider that one), discogram, trans-cutaneous nerve stimulator's, and others. I had/have three bad Lumbar levels. L5-S1 was ultimately determined to be the pain generator. Had fusion last December. I can't tell you how many times I have though about kicking myself in the butt for not having fusion sooner. I had about 5 months of being pain free before my C-spine decided to act up. If it's operable without affecting movement to much post-op, I'm skipping the dance.

If you are one of the few who TDR is indicated, go for it. If not fusion sometimes gets a bad wrap but it can work too.

[Kokanee]

Thanks for the thoughts, sounds like you've been around the block a few times

I'm still at the point where I am just trying to get the medical system to acknowledge that there is an actual problem, let alone that it is operable. I'm aiming for a dual level ADR, and am waiting on a date for an appt with (supposedly) one of the top neurosurgeons in my country who specializes in spinal injuries and ADR research.

Thanks for the input!