(no subject)

[sprinklethief]

so i got my updated cervical spine MRI yesterday and... well... things aren't looking so good...


here's a view from october '07. if you follow the vertebrae you can see the spinal cord to the back. you can see the herniation pushing on it:


here's the same shot from yesterday. note i was in the same position, same MRI machine, same gear holding my head in place:



here's a bit more clear of a view from '07:


and the same view from '08. there's no mistaking the bulge:


what else is perplexing me is the total lack of curvature in my neck now. not a good sign. not a good sign at all.

i guess i can just come out and say it now ince these MRIs - at least to my untrained eye - seem to support the theory. my docs (i refer to them as my docs, they're actually a doc and a badass nurse practitioner - both of which are the best thing to ever medically happen to my life) are pretty sure i have ankylosing spondylitis. they want me to see a rheumatologist to find out for sure since the rheumatologist's office would be better equipped to test for it. they said that i could pretty much go down the list of symptoms and check them off, and the more i read about it, the more i realize i could have written most of the patient stories, right down to doctors writing me off and not wanting to look harder at my constellation of symptoms. they'd rather treat everything individually over and over and over again instead of wondering if there is an underlying condition. yay.



so that's my story. let's hope they're on to something.

Comments

[joybeans.livejournal.com]

oh geez, girl. I had to crack my neck looking at this. I wish they'd fix you. I hate knowing you're in pain. :/

[ciani.livejournal.com]

I hope they're on to something as well! One of the first things I noticed was the curvature. I thought it was common for the curvature to be altered when you had degenerative disc disease. What about the weird look of your spine below the bulge? Is that because it's being pressed on or is it something else?

[paroxysm-cycle.livejournal.com]

to my understanding degenerative disk disease refers to just the one disk that's diagnosed with it. that was in my lumbar and they scraped that bad boy (and its friends the bone spurs) out when they fused me last year. i haven't been diagnosed with DDD in my neck (yet) but i really wouldn't be surprised, tho from previous experience/mri's it doesn't look like it (but once again i am not a trained medical professional, just the victim of them...).

if you're talking about the second pic, i think it may just be the view. the muscle tone of my shoulders is all out of whack, one side is much thicker than the other for some reason (probably trying to support all that mess in my spine, lol) so i think that my thoracic spine might be shifted a bit due to not being totally level when it comes to my shoulder blades. they don't strap that part of you in either, just your head and neck.

[paroxysm-cycle.livejournal.com]

perhaps someday. i'm not holding my breath tho. believe it or not, cracking my neck actually makes it feel a little better until the accompanying burning sensation that follows soon after. then the muscles clamp down and i'm sorry i ever even tried, lol. once in a while its just the relief part, usually when i've taken my pain meds (which is becoming unfortunately more frequent these days. i went from 1-2 times a month to 3-4 times a week :P).

[ciani.livejournal.com]

ok, got it. I haven't had an mri of my neck so I wasn't sure if that was normal or not. are they still going to operate?

[paroxysm-cycle.livejournal.com]

i'm pretty sure that's the only way to correct this catastrophe. i really REALLY wish i didn't have to go through another surgery, but i don't think i have any other option besides being all fucked up on pain meds the rest of my life, and i HATE HATE HATE pain meds, i hate how stupid they make me, i hate how lethargic they make me. the surgeon i talked to last week wants to fuse, but i'm going to try to find a surgeon that does replacements cuz the idea of having my neck fused isn't flying well with me. granted i don't even notice any lack of motion in my lumbar, i imagine there's probably a bit more movement in the neck and a fusion might restrict that (not like the messed up disk, tendons and muscles haven't already, lol).

[ciani.livejournal.com]

Did you see if you can visit my neurosurgeon? He only does fusions if they're absolutely necessary. Another thing is that if you're looking at the cleveland clinic website you can look for the surgeons who specialize in minimally invasive techniques because they tend to go for fusion as a last resort.