My Medical Update

[RHoldenSr]

Quite a fews years ago I was diagnosed as having degenerative spinal and disc disease.
As a result I am suffering from narrowing of the spine also.

Some of you may remember back during the first part of the year I mentioned my back injury. Well I tried to put off surgery as long as I could until the pain got so bad I finally ended up having lower back surgery in June. The disc had ruptured and was pressing on my Sciatic nerve. The Dr wanted to do a bone graft/fusion and I refused (Bad history on this procedure from other patients).

All went well with the sugery and I have been unable to do much of anything during this time frame. In addition I could not lift anymore than 15lbs :( This time the disc ruptured in the opposite direction so they had to cut away a small section of bone in order to access it.

Since 1982 I have had low back surgery 3 times; all 3 times I had ruptured discs that were simply removed and left the remaing disc in place.

This time around it was really hard due to the fact I had to find a new Neurosurgeon since my last one (Dr Benny Scott, Baylor Dallas) retired. He was my second specialist; I originally was seeing Dr Gordon Long who retired some time ago. Dr Scott was one of his partners and simply took over his patients when he retired.

I am now seeing Dr. Shaad Bidiwala at Baylor Dallas. My wife fell in love with him at first site and said go with him :) I said this is not a Soap Opera and I needed to know how good he is first LOL

During my recovery we were painting the back living room and I slipped and fell off the small step ladder :) Now as much as I hate to say it I now have a slight fracture in my Cervical Spine (Neck) with a bugling disc pressing on the spinal nerves again. I have been wearing a neck brace to see how it is going to heal and if the disc will go back in place.

This has not been a good year for us and with the mounting medical bills I have not been able to even think about getting any new camera gear :) My wife's medical insurance is not the greatest and it seems every year we are paying more and more :( So all my plans for expanding my stock photo business and etc are on hold.

I just wanted to say hello to everyone and hopefully I will be back more often.
I miss TPF and all the great members big time and especially the great get togethers.

The past few years I have been doing some research on the new artificial discs they have come up with and may be checking it out more seriously later this year or next year. I noticed that Baylor Dallas now has a number of specialist setting up and performing this procedure. They say it is a good choice for a patient with degenerative spine and disc disease.

A couple of questions I would like to ask:

Are there any members here who have had or known someone who has had the new artificial discs implanted?

How does one go about finding the top Neurosurgeon in his or her area?



Thanks for lending an ear and I wish TPF and all its members the best :)

[boxofrocks]

My grandmother has a vary similar condition to what you describe. at her age, surgery isn't an option, so I don't have any tips for you, but i can appreciate what you're going through.

Prayers coming your way.

[Sideline]

Sounds like you are in good spirits despite the obstacles you are dealing with. I hope you get to feeling better soon!

[laurielblack]

I can HIGHLY recommend Dr. Irene Willingham at Baylor Dallas. She is a neurosurgeon who has operated twice now on my fiance's back. She has corrected a major herniation on C5-C6 with NO pain left...NONE. The recovery time was less than two weeks, and only one night in the hospital. She most recently corrected his degenerative disc disease and a herniation in L2-L3 and though the recovery has been a little longer, he is 90% pain free there as well. She is one of the nicest doctors I have had the pleasure to know, and was our answer to prayer after having searched for five years for surgeons for his back problems. We tried several orthopedic surgeons in various places and two surgeons at the Texas Back Institute, none of whom thought they could help him at all. We found her and haven't regretted one second of the time or expense incurred. The hospital is great and the staff is top-notch. I would really encourage you to give her a call. PM me for details.

I hope you find relief soon, because back pain is a B*tch. God Bless!

[Terrancelee]

Hope you fare well through all of this!

[pippin]

I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Charles Banta at Presbyterian. He's not a neurosurgeon, but a spine specialist that specialises solely on adult spines.

I did my stint with two back surgeries in less than a week of each other, and have never been better. Sure, I've still got restrictions, but having degenerative disc disease like you (not spine though, just disc) I only see a specialist.

You may want to head away with neurosurgeons and head to an orthapedic/spinal surgeon like I did. He's one of the top doctors in dallas in his field, so you can't go wrong.

[Roy]

Wow Robin. Sure sorry to hear about all the problems. My wife had the bulging disc on the sciatic nerve and had some procedure done then later surgery. I helped her a great deal. She went to the Center for Neurological Disorders in Fort Worth. They have a team of doctors and the phone number is 817-336-0551. Might be worth a cal but it sounds like you have received some good feedback already and closer to you. Best wishes to you on getting the care you need. I know it can be tough with the insurance too. Prayers sent for guidance and a solution.

[RHoldenSr]

I really would like to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers

Laurie, Dr Irene Willingham was my first choice after Dr Scott retired due to the fact she was a partner with Dr Long, Scott and Coon originally. All of Dr long and Scotts medical records were suppose to have been passed ob to her office but they did not find mine at the time.

Sadly I found her to be short, and somewhat un-professional during my visit. She did not even take the time to go over the MRI's with me personally that I had brought with me. She also did not diagnose my condition correctly; she wanted me to go for physical therapy at the Tom Landy Sports Center which would have been a bad move with my ruptured disc.

I have another appointment to see Dr Bidiwala on Oct 27; hopefully I can dsicuss a long term plan with him. I was originally set to have surgery by his partner Dr Barnett but his schedule was booked so far ahead and I could not wait, so he asked Dr Bidiwala to take over for him.

Dr Bidiwala has been really nice and seems to be sharp my only concern with him would be his young age and experience. When Dr Barnett called him to talk to me about my case he was in the process of preparing for Brain Surgery on a patient using the new Laser Knife I saw discussed on the Science Channel just recently which is in testing at various Hospitals. He came right up and said he was waiting for the patient to be preped but had time to talk to me and what he planned for surgery.

From what I have learned so far in order to get the artifical disc surgery I need to see an Orthopedic Surgeon. Our Medical plan (Aetna) shows a complete lsit of them at Baylor Dallas now when just a year or two ago there was no one listed. The Artifical discs are new and have been used a lot in Australia and the UK for the last 10 years or so with great success. They are suppose to be far superior to bone graft and fusion as you maintain more freedom of movement and less pain and or complications after surgery.

My wife and I have been very busy lately remodeling and redecorating our home. Whcih is another reason I have not had much time to visit or even use my camera Our next big project is getting our Butterfly/Hummingbird garden and KOI pond ready for winter.

Thanks again to everyone and I hope to be around more real soon!

Originally Posted by laurielblack

I can HIGHLY recommend Dr. Irene Willingham at Baylor Dallas. She is a neurosurgeon who has operated twice now on my fiance's back. She has corrected a major herniation on C5-C6 with NO pain left...NONE. The recovery time was less than two weeks, and only one night in the hospital. She most recently corrected his degenerative disc disease and a herniation in L2-L3 and though the recovery has been a little longer, he is 90% pain free there as well. She is one of the nicest doctors I have had the pleasure to know, and was our answer to prayer after having searched for five years for surgeons for his back problems. We tried several orthopedic surgeons in various places and two surgeons at the Texas Back Institute, none of whom thought they could help him at all. We found her and haven't regretted one second of the time or expense incurred. The hospital is great and the staff is top-notch. I would really encourage you to give her a call. PM me for details.

I hope you find relief soon, because back pain is a B*tch. God Bless!

[Z_Ghost]

Hope you get well soon.
I know what it's like to have a problem that makes it hard to enjoy life and makes it hard to just get by day to day.