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Hello, just thought I'd give an update. I had the MRI and have to have an op, just a case of waiting for a date now.

Good luck

I'm really pleased for you Sky, I know having an op is not nice but if it will help you then that's great. Much better than being told there is nothing they can do. Take care of yourself and hope the op will be asap. xx

Do hope it isn't long before the op and you can get it over with and start work on the mending. Good luck .

I suppose that's good news in a weird sort of way Bad that you need an op but good it should fix your problem. Hope it all goes well

I'm glad you got some answers Sky - I had a feeling that's what the MRI would say. Do you have to have both of the discs actually removed, or just have a discectomy done (which is where they take the part of the disc off that is bulging onto the nerves - this is what I had done twice).

If it's covered under ACC, ask to see Mr Nicholas Finnis - Christchurch Brain & Spine Neurosurgeon. This is the guy I had who did both of my ops and he was just fabulous. He's at the Bealey Clinic, 110 Bealey Ave, ph 365-5325. I highly recommend him!

I originally had Janus Bonkowski, he's a neurosurgeon too, but didn't seem quite so "on to it" as Nick Finnis, so if you are able to tell your ACC Case Manager who you'd prefer to see, he would be a great start!

My ACC Case Manager has been just fabulous as well - she has been very sympathetic to my pain and got onto the surgery part really fast - in fact my surgery was brought forward by 2 weeks as I was in so much pain!

If you see Nick Finnis, he does his ACC surgery at St Georges private hospital (not all surgeon's do!). With ACC patients, you are funded to share a room - a 4 bed ward, but I opted to have my own room with an ensuite - which you have to pay $60 a night extra yourself for - I thought it was worth it both times as it is really nice to have your privacy when you are fresh out of major spinal surgery. They will send you an account out, so you don't have to feel like you've got to pay for it when you leave the hospital. The staff are just lovely too and in fact, a friend of mine is a nurse there! As for the food -mmmmmmm yum!!!

Let me know how you get on - feel free to txt me on 0211139411 and I will give you my home number and we can chat if you like! Gail.

Hope you get sorted soon.

I got my mri results today and it's official I Have athritis in my spine....... Mainly in my neck and thorasic region and there are now three vertabrae with anginomas inside pressing on the spinal cord but until the pain is unbearable they don't want to "open me up" as if I was going to let them.

I don't know if you can get these following drugs over your way but oxycontin and oxynorm are good for moderating the pain. Nothing kills the pain but these do work. having said that here I am typingthis at 4.46 in the morning because of no sleep due to pain,lol....

Keep your chin up

BA

I hope the operation comes quickly and that you are on the mend soon!
Good luck!
Same for you Big Al, but in reverse, let us hope you don't have to have the op too soon.

123sologne wrote:I hope the operation comes quickly and that you are on the mend soon!
Good luck!
Same for you Big Al, but in reverse, let us hope you don't have to have the op too soon.

Come hell or high water I'll not be under the knife but thanks for the wishes. Sky, good speed for you getting sorted.

Good luck to you both.

Hi thought I should post an update.
I had a disc decompression of my L5 S1 five days ago and I feel fantastic!
No pain at all, just a dull ache where the incision is and my foot is still a bit tingly.
So glad to finally have the op and now I just have to recover and I can get back to normal life. I've never known pain like the pain that comes from the sciatic nerve, I'm just glad it's gone and will be very careful to treat my back properly so I don't injure it again.
Thank god for surgeons and modern technology.

Yay! So please to hear that you are felling better

That's fantastic Sky but why on earth did they keep you waiting so long for the op? You should have been in immediately. Is it as bad as UK National Health Service there?

My brother in law had a very nasty shoulder injury and the NHS told him to just take aspirin so he went to a private consultant who whisked him in to hospital immediately for a repair operation, tied his shoulder joints, bones and tendons etc (I don't know the exact details but all his bits in his shoulder had become detached ) together with special string and did things to his rotator cuff and other things and he should be better much quicker.

Excellent news Sky, glad to hear you're feeling better at last.

yay glad to hear you are on the mend