Any Dr.'s in the house

[DTLB58]

Update:
I seen the surgeon this morning and after about a hour consultation, looking at the MRI, reading the report, conducting some physical tests and talking it over he recommended surgery.

He thought after 6 years and all the other things I have tried it was fair at this point to consider it. He just gave his opinion and totally left it up to me. So I scheduled it for 2 weeks from today.

One of the other things I have to take into consideration with this, is that the company dr. told me if I try and return to work without surgery they are placing permanent restrictions on me. Only 8 hour work days and no repititive bending,lifting or twisting. If I have the surgery and it is succesful they would let me return without those restrictions. That is important because with the restrictions, it will one limit my ability to make more money and two, retrict me to move throughout the factory to other jobs if I so desire. The union also warned me with permanent restrictions the company could just tell me they don't have a job for me any longer.

Thanks for all the replies and info, it was much appreciated.


Had an MRI done on my back on Tuesday. See a surgeon Tomorrow.

I got the report from the MRI back today so I can take it to my appointment.

Here's where I was looking for some insight. My main problem is at the L4-L5.

The report reads: "Posterior left paramedian disc herniation and the herniated disc volume is decreased significantly from the previous exam. Specifically, the small extruded fragment has resolved. The remaining protruding disc flattens the ventral margin of the thecal sac and closely approximates the origins of the right and left L5 nerve root sleeves.

Is the decreasing volume good or bad? And that the extruded fragment resolved good or bad?

Me and my wife are reading it two different ways.

Just a little anxious, have been sitting around the house for 2 weeks now cause the comapny dr. won't let me go back to work until I see the surgeon.

[Boon]

You're focked.
Regards,
Dr. Love

[tyton75]

I believe its a good thing.. meaning that the amount of the herniation has decreased.. so the disc isn't as far out of Kilter as it once was

[DTLB58]

Originally Posted by tyton75

I believe its a good thing.. meaning that the amount of the herniation has decreased.. so the disc isn't as far out of Kilter as it once was

That's what I was thinking. But my wife looks at it this way. The disc volume has decreased, meaning there isn't has much of the disc left, which is bad.

[catfish307]

You will have to have your whole back replaced with a new one is what it means. No, just kidding but if the disc squishes out and hits the nerves have a gun ready because you'll want to shoot yourself in the head to ease the pain. Hurts like a MFer.

[DTLB58]

Originally Posted by catfish307

You will have to have your whole back replaced with a new one is what it means. No, just kidding but if the disc squishes out and hits the nerves have a gun ready because you'll want to shoot yourself in the head to ease the pain. Hurts like a MFer.

Well, just so they don't give me a new anus instead

It already has it the nerves. I've been fighting this fugger off and on for 6 years. I have had about 12-15 steroid epideral injections during that time. Went to the E.R. in the middle of the night last sunday to get a pain shot.

If it's getting better not sure why I have all this pain along with numbness and tingling in my left leg and foot and it hurts like hell when I cough or sneeze.

[ChiefsFan4Life]

Women tend to be illogical and irrational, therefore I would trust your judgement

[StcChief]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFan4Life

Women tend to be illogical and irrational, therefore I would trust your judgement

and will relationalize it to your last injury/sickness as occuring or associated with it again.

[savchief]

First...I am not a physician. I was an MRI technologist for 10 years and did/saw thousands of these.

As an example---The attached images are two MRI images of the area you are asking about.

The star is the herniated disc. That is what has decreased in volume for you. That's good, but a herniated disc can look several different ways on a MRI, yours probably did not look exactly like this one. Also, a "resolved extruded fragment" is good too.

The green arrow corresponds to the right edge of the thecal sac, the nerve root exits the spinal canal on the right,just to the right of this. the same area on the left is where the left nerve root exits. The thecal sac is the area on the left image that looks like a boomerrang just below the red star. It should be oval, or kinda tri-oval, not boomerrang shaped. this person has a herniated disk as well. Some herniated disks can reduce in size without intervention. Sounds like yours has to some degree. Did the pain get better recently?

The image on the left is taken as if you were sliced in to top and bottom halves at the level of the L5 disk (angled to the angle of the disk space. The dark circle is the disk space between the L4 and L5 vertebral bodies.The image on the right is as if you were sliced in to equal right and left halves going through the spinal column. The square block looking things are the vertebrae, the dark stripe from top to bottom is the spinal canal. In between the blocks are the disks.

Hope this helped

[DTLB58]

Originally Posted by savchief

First...I am not a physician. I was an MRI technologist for 10 years and did/saw thousands of these.

As an example---The attached images are two MRI images of the area you are asking about.

The star is the herniated disc. That is what has decreased in volume for you. That's good, but a herniated disc can look several different ways on a MRI, yours probably did not look exactly like this one. Also, a "resolved extruded fragment" is good too.

The green arrow corresponds to the right edge of the thecal sac, the nerve root exits the spinal canal on the right,just to the right of this. the same area on the left is where the left nerve root exits. The thecal sac is the area on the left image that looks like a boomerrang just below the red star. It should be oval, or kinda tri-oval, not boomerrang shaped. this person has a herniated disk as well. Some herniated disks can reduce in size without intervention. Sounds like yours has to some degree. Did the pain get better recently?

The image on the left is taken as if you were sliced in to top and bottom halves at the level of the L5 disk (angled to the angle of the disk space. The dark circle is the disk space between the L4 and L5 vertebral bodies.The image on the right is as if you were sliced in to equal right and left halves going through the spinal column. The square block looking things are the vertebrae, the dark stripe from top to bottom is the spinal canal. In between the blocks are the disks.

Hope this helped

Wow, awesome thanks for the info.


The pain has recently got better but only because I went to E.R. as noted Sunday morning and got a pain shot. I didn't sleep at all Saturday night. The pain has since slowly started to come back. There is always an aching sore feeling and from time to time sharp pains that radiate down the left and right leg along with the tingling and numbness in my left leg/foot.

I do have the boomerang shaped thecal sac on my MRI and the herniated disc does look similar to mine although mine has more of a point rather than the roundness shown in that one.

[catfish307]

I fought a bad back off and on for years until a couple of years ago I was pushing a lawn mower when my right leg started to hurt a little. Needless to say within a couple of day the pain radiating down my leg was so bad I realized why terminally ill people want to die. I finally had surgery about 6 weeks later to alleviate the pain. Herniated discs SUCK!!!

[Uncle_Ted]

Question re: the surgeon ...is s/he an ortho or a neuro? My colleagues who have done work comp and med mal cases recommend the latter over the former.

(Kind of a perverse irony that med mal lawyers can often tell you who the best doctors are in your area)

[DTLB58]

Originally Posted by Uncle_Ted

Question re: the surgeon ...is s/he an ortho or a neuro? My colleagues who have done work comp and med mal cases recommend the latter over the former.

(Kind of a perverse irony that med mal lawyers can often tell you who the best doctors are in your area)

The one that I will be seeing tomorrow is an ortho mainly because their are no neuro's in my city that my insurance will pay for. I have made the 2 hour round trip twice to see a neuro. The first time he said you don't need surgery, the second time he said your getting closer. This time the dr. that has been giving me all these injections said just go to this one in our city and see what he says, kind of a second opinion type thing.

[chop]

I read it the same way that you did. I'm not a Dr., but I did stay at a Holiday Inn express last night.

A year or so ago, my wife had a procedure done to a herniated disc in her back. They stuck a needle in the disc and removed some of the fluid in the disc causing it not to be herniated any longer.

[tyton75]

well.. its not like you are going to lose any volume of BONE... now if they were talking about the volume between disc's.. that would be something else..

women! lol