Wellness

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I am hoping to connect with others here that have had this done. I first saw a pain management doc and he ordered a MRI....went back for results and his PA told me they would recommend facet joint injections (doc never came in to talk with me that day) and the PA said if the doc wanted to do something else she would call me at home but for now this is what to schedule for (this was a few weeks ago or so now).

Anyway....she finally told me that I needed to get a CT scan done on my neck cause they found a lesion in their during the MRI....I was already home....also said PM doc concurred and that facet injections were recommened.

Had the CT done....came back that I have a cyst in their due to a birth defect....which was a big relief. Nothing need to be done....as it doesn't bother me and can be left alone. So....went to my regular doc (internist) who ordered CT scan and wanted his opinion on MRI/neck stuff too and he sent me to a Ortho spine doc.

Saw him (brought all my stuff along) he took x-rays of my neck also....told me that Epidural steroid injections in C5-C7 is what he wants done....not facet injections. He said I have arthritis in their plus nerve pressure (sorry forgot how he explained that) which was on my MRI and that along with all my symptoms made epidurals the way to go....gave me a order/referral back to same PM doc to do them.

Ortho (and my internist also) told me that these will not last long and you can't do them very often....and that eventually I must have surgery to correct the problem. Ortho said it would be the same surgery Peyton Manning just had and he would fuse C5 - C6 together....and I would loose about 20% mobility in my neck but 80% would be available as I have very restricted mobility right now and have simply been "living with it".

I tired to give decent info here (sorry to those who want to read a 1 line post!)....I have a few questions for those that had this done and/or this surgery.

1. Did you experience "hot flashes" after having the epidurals in the neck? I have read it can happen as a side effect.

2. Is it worth doing this just to put off what must be done in the future (meaning the surgery?)

I think I have some confusion as to why the PM doc recommened one thing and the ortho recommends another. When I pointed this out to the Ortho he said "well the PM hadn't seen the MRI (his PA was doing my appt for some reason!)" and that once he SAW the MRI he would agree that epidural injection was the correct course of action.

Thanks for any input....I am just learning about all this and had been doing chrio visits for over a yr hoping for things to get better....should have gotten a MRI awhile ago. Live and learn.