honestly, considering what is going on now and whatever was going on pre op here i would actually go and at least obtain EVERY single record and document from anyone who did anything to you like your surgeons clinic notes directly from his office, along with any and ALL of your MRI results too(getting these from either the ordering docs or the actual facility that did them? the facility is usually the quickest and easiest)? and the more important thing here besides those telling MRIs would be to simply call the hosp where you had this surgery done at and ask them for the med records dept and then tell them you just want to obtain all of your hosp records. you do the very same thing from any doc who has had any part in this whole situation too? they will simply send out what is a release of information document that you just sign, telling them exactly what you want(i usually, in the hosp situation with any surgery say "any and all documants contained within my central medical file" along with specifically asking for what are called "op notes' too) and then send the document back to whoever you are needing the racords from. in about a week or so, everything will just start showing up in your mailbox.
i have had to do this for many many years not only just so I know without a doubt that i have indeed been told EVERYTHING about me, my MRIs and what took place in my surgeries along with all the follow up surgeons notes too? this really gives YOU the best overall 'impressions' of what your surgeon actually 'feels' is going on or what happened during that surgery as well(both with the hosp op notes AND his follow up visits with you office notes)? but this also allows us to simply keep our very own medical racords at home for OUR files since this IS all very much now a part of YOUR ongoing medical history?
and one really important piece of possible info here is if you actually did have ANY real what is called 'intraoperative monitoring' done during your actual surgery?? this involves placing little electrodes like ALL over your body, and not just what they would do only on the chest and back when simply doing basic heart monitoring during the surgery? this is ONLY used when any surgeon feels they have ANY possible chance that the actual spinal cord may be involved in any way during your surgery. its kind of a 'safety device' for the surgeon and for you too since it would kind of tell that surgeon by what shows up on the monitor which is constantly watched by a neurophysiatrsit, whether or not what they either are about to do when they simply touch any given area of spinal tissue or after they actually have done something, that a motor or sensory nerve was hit within either the more outter cord level but still inside the cord, or even hitting the outter nerves as well.
you would have had to have been introduced to the neuro phys pre op if this actually took place just like you have to also meet with any anesthesiologist pre op too? by law, anyone who is going to be having any direct part in your surgery, you just DO have the right to ask questions of. if you are unsure as to whether or not you actually had intra op monitoring done, when you write down on that release you will get from that hosp,along with asking for those really impoortant op notes? also ask for ANY possible intra operative monitoring op notes too. they also by law HAVE to also make their own set of their op notes. this particular document, if this was done IS where ANY possible issues occured during your surgery would actually be mentioned when the surgeon just utilizes it. its kind of nice forthe NS since he does NOT ahve to mention in HIS notes then,anything adverse that occured since it IS covered in the other op notes. believe me hon,i found all this part out the very ahrd way when my intra notes were NOT even in my hosp central file but i KNEW i had that level of monitoring done? i lost out my first round of trying for SSD ONLY becasue the actual op notes that HAS my damage in them were not in that file and i had to obtain them from the actual neurophys himself thru HIS office, it was like playing detective just getting my very own right to info there.
but i would most definitely start just making basic phone calls to any docs/your surgeon offices you have seen about this and the hosp and the facility where your MRIs have been done too, or you can actually just show up to the facility to obtain your own MRI reports, they can pop those off for you while you wait just a few minutes and get them much more quickly too. all you have to do to obtain those MRI reports is fill out that same release document right when you walk in after telling them you simply need all copies of any and all MRIs or any other imaging studies done there too and they will just look them up in their system and run them off for you right then.
once you actually start getting this stuff, that is when you just start reading thru like everything,esp the MRIs both pre op and post op to actually just see what it was you possibly were not actually even told about. this sick practice just does go on out there esp with the "surgeons' and any real specialists actually.
what you are really trying to find out here overall is was your cord actually involved or compromised in ANY real way shape or form and you were NOT actually even told. everything i mentioned above would actually allow you to find out the MOST possible real solid info on you and your overall pre op and post op status. and that info IS simply needed right now in order for you to even know what just is possibly damaged or even possible right now to regain? it all depends more upon what WAS injured/damaged or compromised. good luck with this, just make some phone calls and wait for the releases to come and get the process going. you and every patient simply DOES have the right to know what i mentioned above to you. FB
I might add it is not just the upper part of my body it is the lower part as well!