Surgery.

[Greg Mitchell]

G"Day Gents,This morning the wife and I discussed surgery options with a neurosurgeon and I am now booked in to West Mead Private for an operation on the 19th of this month.Presently I am suffering a motor and sensory deficit in my left arm and hand, due to nerve entrapment with the collapse of several discs. The resultant operation will in effect be a new modern fusion technique.This fusion will be effected at C4/5, C5/6, C6/7. They also open up any of the nerve tunnels that have partially closed in an attempt to decompress nerves. (Foramenotimy)It had been recommended that I look at artificial disc replacement. Still experimental and just taken off the public scheme and even private health no longer covers it, for the cervical region. Whilst they have been doing lumbar disc replacements for some years, dual and triple artificial disc replacement in the cervical region is quite a contentious issue.So, what I have been dreading for years......a broom stick neck.I look forward to a speedy recovery and to get back flying in my magnificent Blue Emperor Butterfly Gyroplane.Lameroo was a blast and I"m looking forward to Wangaratta, next April, 2008.Fly Safe, ;DMitch.

[Adrian S]

Mate,My thoughts are with you for a speedy recovery and return to the Butterfly"s seat asap.Regards,Adrian

[airboats]

Whilst all surgery has it"s risks as you have no doubt discussed with your surgeon, this procedure can afford a good outcome.I speak from experience with an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion of C5/6 utilising an artificial graft done in december 05.Surgeon suggested to have C6/7 and C3/4 simultaneously with the C5/6, given poor MRI revelations, but I chose the lesser option to start with.It took a year to fully stabilise with near immediate return of normal neural function post op a pleasing thing to wake up to.I had Chris Cain in Adelaide do it at Wakefield private and was home in 3 days post op Mitch if you want some positive spin to consider.Only problem with the anterior approach (the cut is from the front next to your adams apple) is your swallowing can be affected for some time due to a number of factors related to anaesthesia tube placement and the general disturbance of the adjacent tissues. Happy to talk privately if you want more info Mitch.All the best,Mike

[Greg Mitchell]

Thanks Adrian,And thankyou to you and you lovely wife for a very pleasant evening up past woop, woop. Nice pad you have there Bloke.Mike, good to hear some positives, of course there are pretty good outcomes these days.I"ve pushed mine to long and to hard and kept the surgeons at bay, now I need some fancy work.Mike have you been back for any revison MRI"s to establish if you have any adjacent segment disease?I am most interested to discuss this with you as I am all Googled Out. 03 63834908 or email your number to

[airboats]

Away till tuesday Mitch (well offline and out of mobile cell range anyway) and will talk to you then. Call me on 0417811883.http://www.aans.org/education/journa...17-3-1.pdfThis link gives a comprehensive overview of both long established and proven arthrodesis (fusion) and newer attempts at arthroplasty (joint replacement) and the swallowing difficulties I mentioned are called dysphagia. You will see that arthroplasty has big issues with this alone.I put this on here as I suspect many of our members suffer from osteo arthritis and possibly cervical or lumbar degeneration requiring intervention like yours and indeed mine. Importantly, the results of avoiding spinal surgery with advanced neural pathway deterioration as you describe can create more problems than cervical arthrodesis with it"s associated small incidence (by comparison) of adjacent segment disease.My medico was blunt (and the MRI coupled with my symptoms was very persuasively clear) if I chose not to have surgery I could trip over the sidewalk and become Christopher Reeve in an instant. I had surgery 10 days later. Every case is different and I unfortunately had a congenital foraminal narrowing (born with a narrow hole in the spine that the cord travels through) complicated by repeated episodes of compression trauma (motorbike spills and diving accidents) in a background of osteo arthritis with multi disk degeneration. You may not be anywhere near this level of problem. For those wondering I was 48years old at the time of surgery.Trust your surgeon and talk to others who have been there. Catch you Tuesday Mitch.Mike