HELP!

I have had two fusions of the levels L4L5 to L5 S1 and I have to say the second fusion saved my life. I have a new product that is implanted in my back and it corrected my pain from the first fusion from 13 years ago when I had the first surgery. Unfortunately, I had not a clue that the surgery did anything to help me with my pain, it was a good looking visual on my MRI but prior to it, I had a Herniated disc that was completely blown out and was a massively large disk for someone of my size, which is why they did a anterior and posterior approach. After all of my 30 types of infections, ESI , nerve blocks, trigger point injections, facet joint injections, physical therapy and massage therapy and acupuncture and more pain, muscle relaxers, nerve conduction study, MRI, CT scans, etc over the 10 years following the first surgery , in 2013 I happen to rupture the L5 S1 disc and it was so painful. EVERYONE PLEASE READ:::::

I WAS SO LUCKYTO HAVE THE BEST DOCTOR'S IN TEXAS AND THEY WERE THE ONLY ONESWHO ORDERED A MILIOGRAM AND A DISCOGRAPHY, a discograman is a procedure and they do a Ct Scan to obtain the images. The procedure is not too bad but it was the only and first time I was offered thetest which is more accurate than any other thing to recreate your pain by injecting contrast withineach disc space so that you can tell the physicians if the pain of the contrary injected into that disc space is the same type of pain you experience, because they are purposelytrying to duplicate the same effect of the original pain of the patient when they are basically trying to add pressure by causing compression by injecting contrast at each vertebrae level so you can have a better chance of diagnosing the correct one bc if you do get the same results as what you are going through day to day by walking or doing daily activities and the procedure is the exact same feeling as what you normally experience, that's a very big indicator that the disc is what is definitely causing the pain before having a surgery that I did which I had done for absolutely no reason bc it was no different than before I had it. Anyway please LET ME SAY THAT YOU HAVE TO TELL YOURDOCTOR TO DO THE TEST BEFORE ANYONE CUTS ON YOUR BACK.

I did the test whuch 100% duplicated my pain at the expected level of ruptured disc and I had the surgery in Dallas Texas. There are so many different types of peek, titanium and 3D cages that are better than others for adequate fusions. I had a unique case and opportunity. If you are interested in talking about the options please send me a private message. I will be happy to help you understand the product and I'm only 37 yrs old and I have been dealing with chronic pain since 2001, drunk driving driver caused the first surgery and 5 weeks post op another drunk driver rear-ended me again. Needless to say I have experienced over 30 procedures, 2 ALIF surgeries and pain management as well as the SCS implant trial and surgery as of December. I have been working with the top Neurosurgeons in GA now who are reviewing my case bc my trial procedure was a success and now the surgery has been nothing but an implant inside of me for looks. I have no pain relief and I am feeling vibration in my ribs. I have to have it extracted within the next month. I want to know If anyone has ever seen this before or am I the only one who had such wonderful results in the trial which was over 80% pain relief during 97% of the week that I had it on. I never had to adjust the programs. However, I have a very big inclination that the lead placement in surgery was not exactly the same as the trial. Due to my situation which required two separate percutaneous leads used in the trial, after no response with the first lead inserted, they tried the second lead that was inserted higher up than the first lead. During the surgery, I have a very big certainty that the Medtronic rep is responsible for misguiding the placement during surgery and that's why I'm not getting the results I did with the trial. The first lead caused vibration in my ribs then with the second lead placement we finally got the best results that eliminated my pain. However, the rep claims that the "sweet spot " was in the area of T6-T8 and unfortunately the medical records for the trial is in the hands of the manufacturers rep, which has not been disclosed which has details procedure notes therefore I think the surgery was done based on memory. After 4 different representatives of the manufacturer, 6 months of adjusting the programs and 3 opinions it's not working the same as we anticipated. I am experiencing the same results as the first placed percutaneous lead that was vibrating my ribs and that's why there was a second percutaneous lead inserted to the left of the first one inserted higher and was covering the T7-T5 level which is exactly where they were able to achieve the desired results for me without any issues and it was a miracle week. I was so damn happy to have a week of relief and sleep without any meds needed for my pain, only used medication for the incision and procedure pain. I ain't have research the internet and found 2 Physicians one isn't answering so I'll just pain management and the other is a spinal cord stimulator experts in Atlanta who want my records and my description here asked you what I believe happened and they are going to have me in their office next week to go over there analysis and I'm just really interested in finding out their opinion before I extract the entire implants and paddle leads. I am so disappointed and it was the worst thing I have experienced in my lifetime. I got an apology from the District Area manager Medtronics but the rep went into hiding and I am furious. Please let me know if you want to discuss your own situation. Thanks for any feedback.

I had a discogram/discography before my ALIF surgery here in Scotland. Located my pain perfectly and proceeded with the double fusion. Unfortunately I have nerve pain from previous surgeries therefore I may end up with a SCS.

A lot of Surgeons don't like the use of a discogram as they belief it doesn't show anything whilst others do. Luckily my surgeon does believe in them hence my past 4 months in recovery.

Why do they say that is not " accurate test" per se?

No idea. My surgeon didn't use to rate them and was firmly in the 'I don't use discogram' camp. Now he is a believer in the test. It was a older Dr who performed my test and damaged nerves in the process. My left leg had a epileptic fit for 10 minutes due to this. But he couldn't come back out again as my disc space was so collapsed that he was frightened he wouldn't get back in again or damage more nerves.