had Tlif l4-s1 with complete laminectomy on 8/3/10. I still have left leg pain

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stevhendrickson

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Today is 9/03/10 one month sence i had the surgery. I fell while walking/light grocery shopping 2 weeks ago. So my dr. had me an appontment on 9/01/10 to make sure i didnt screw up anything in my back. I went and had some xrays taken before the dr. appontment. The doc said everything looked great but he was worried about my pain in my leg is different than before surgery, he ordered a ct myelogram that day and i went and did it, i then had my blood drawn. My blood results are normal. But dont have the results for the spinal tap yet. Damn that guy was rough, i thought he would go for the surgery site but he went for l2 insted and bent the needle on what he said was a bone spur. He finally went were i have nothing covering my spinal cord. Now my doc has a EMG scheduled for 9/14/10. I dont think im going to have that test due to most people say it comes back normal. Any coments are welcome!
 
The results from the ct myelo should be back by n ow....give the dr's office a call. It's good that the dr. didn't mess around like some would or blow it off. Falling that soon after a surgery is a scary proposition; of course, that is true for anyone who has back problems.

As for the EMG, well I don't have a lot of faith in them, either. Mine came back normal even tho my left leg is weaker than the right leg and I have burning in the back of the thigh to the knee which indicates nerve damage. I take Lyrica which helps.

I hope you will let us know the results of the ct myelo.

Carol
 
I just got the results and the doc said he didnt find anything that was conclusive. He said he wants me to get a nerve block after the emg. I told him i didnt want the emg and he told me that i need to get it and then the nerve block later that evening on 9/14/10. I told him ok on the nerve block,what i have had read on the internet, around 50% of people have good luck with nerve blocks, but i havnt read anything good about the emg. Thanks for the reply. Dr. Joseph Cheng @ Vanderbilt Hospital is rated very high in his field and is a wonderfull nero.
 
For the CT myelo they have to be able to enter the epidural space so they go a few levels above the area of suspected problems AND they have to go above any area of hardware. Then they move the table you are on, a bit, to get the fluid they inject to flow to the area of question. So entering a few levels above is a good idea as it likely gave them a broader view of more levels.
 
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