I am not sure when it occurred or whether it is the result of suppressing a sneeze or the tumble I took when a ten foot wave pounded me into the sand and rocks while I was surf fishing in southern California, but somewhere in that time I developed a burning sensation in the cervical vertebrae close to the base of the neck where it joins the shoulders. It was very annoying, but I could endure it without much problem and sometimes was even able to forget it was there for short periods. I had some issues with range of motion of the neck and depending how I slept, I could get a strange tingling down my right arm and shoulder. This went on for about six weeks before becoming a problem I could no longer ignore. I had trouble sleeping, headaches, nausea, shoulder muscle spasms, and a new more ominous symptom of my toes developing a feeling a lot like what you get when lidocaine starts to wear off.
At this point I was in severe pain and using ice packs 6 times a day to get even a little relief. All this convinced me I should visit my primary care physician. The exam showed hyper-reflexivity, muscle rigidity of the right shoulder and arm, blood pressure 220/157, my usual blood pressure being 115/74. Oddly, to me, the physician assistant wanted to do an EKG which was normal. At some point I started having symptoms of shock (blood pressure drops, clammy sweaty skin, and dizziness) which must have frightened them badly since they were thinking I might be having a TIA (transient ischemic attack) or a mini-stroke from the elevated blood pressure. I was pretty sure what the problem was, but they wanted me to go to the emergency room of the nearby hospital, so they called the MT’s and had me transported. In the emergency room I was taken right in, the physician called ahead and had them prepare for me which was a good move. The ER doctor wanted a CT scan to rule out TIA and noted the severity of the pain and ordered some morphine which really helped me to lay on the CT platform for the scan. Even with the morphine I still had tears in my eyes when I could sit up after the scan.
The radiologist reviewed the images and found no indication of TIA or stroke but did see some of the problems. They sent me home with a prescription for pain (Tylenol #3) and some anti-nausea drug. The next morning, I got a call from the PCP wanting me to go to a local imaging center to get an MRI for a more detailed view of the cervical spine. The MRI took 20 minutes and was as close to hell, for my pain, as I ever want to get. I had taken 3 of the pain killers to prepare and it was still horrible. The radiologist interpreted the images and came back with diagnosis of mild spinal stenosis at the C5, C6, and C7 vertebrae with spinal cord impingement at the C7 vertebra. I spent the next week in bed, laying on ice packs, taking pain killers and anti-nausea meds, and trying to mentally leave this world. By the 9th day I was recovering somewhat, at least the pain was subsiding. I was able to stand and walk for increasingly longer periods of time and even sit at my computer for a few minutes. The pain, which was steadily decreasing, was now manageable although the nausea was still with me plus a nagging dull headache. I finally quit taking the painkillers because I hated being on them. So, with the pain retreating I became aware of the effects of the spinal cord impingement at the C7. Moving my head in the wrong position would trigger numbness spreading from the neck into the right shoulder down the underside of my arm and into the thumb and little finger followed by a creeping numbness up the right side of my neck continuing up the right side of my face to my forehead. I am also having some issues with walking and get random foot and toe numbness in my left foot. I am feeling uncoordinated and sloppy while walking unless I really focus and try. I am also losing fine motor skills in my right hand. It is now hard to write with paper and pen and I frequently drop the pen (thank dog for keyboards). There are a lot of ghost sensations, so much so that I get weird feelings that this is not my body. It is all incredibly horrible to endure for so long (3 months now).
The medical front with insurance has been terribly frustrating. I turned 65 last October and subscribed to a Medicare Advantage plan and of course they have different copays based on using in-network and out-of-network providers and you absolutely must get a referral for specialists. My PCP recommended I see a neurosurgeon to determine further treatment. It took 2 weeks to get the referral approved for an out of network surgeon. Once the referral was approved I scheduled the appointment. The soonest I could get in was 4 weeks (Sept 5, 2018). I was totally devasted and thrown into deep despair when I got a call 1 week before my appointment from the “Patient Navigator” telling me the neurosurgeon’s office changed the doctor I would be seeing because the neurosurgeon did not evaluate patients for surgery. This would require another trip to the insurance advisory board for approval with up to another 18-day delay. Sorry to say I teed off on her saying I probably would not need a surgeon by the time this gets approved because I would be a quadriplegic by then. She apologized profusely, and I apologized to her saying it was not her fault, but it was the fault of the neurosurgeon’s office staff for not changing the referral when they first got the it 3 weeks before. After that, I called the neurosurgeon’s office and told them to forget the referral I would just pay this out of my pocket and forget the insurance. I have the money to pay for all of this. Unbelievably, I was informed that the surgical practice had an agreement with the insurance company that any patient they saw with insurance had to go through the insurance company. I was on the verge of cancelling my insurance and going on Medicare A&B with a supplemental policy when the “Patient Navigator” called with a new referral with a different surgeon’s office and to the non-surgeon that would do the initial consultation and it was on Sept. 5, 2018. I think I was overly appreciative to her, but she deserved the praise.
Sorry for the long preamble and now to my request for information. How many are out there with this condition that are not being treated? From my own experience, once the initial pain has subsided, you have all the strange sensations that are bothersome and feel really icky but are manageable. People that can’t afford to be off from work, can’t afford the doctors and treatment, or just think they have a pinched nerve that will resolve on its own if they “take it easy” for a while. Please understand, this is a serious condition that is degenerative in nature. The longer it goes on the more damage occurs. It will not get better on its own. A good analogy for this type of injury is the wiring harness of your automobile. As your car ages, the wiring harness moves around from bumps and jostles on the road. Eventually, the insulation will rub off some of the wires in various spots and when those spots touch metal, strange intermittent electrical malfunctions will occur. Read the links I provided above. The most frightening part of cervical stenosis with impingement of the cord is that a sharp blow to the back, such as in a rear end auto collision, can result in paralysis while you would be uninjured otherwise. I am afraid to ride in a car now.
I still cannot stay at my desk and computer for too long, about an hour or 2 at most followed by cold packs to the neck and shoulder, so bear with me. I will check in from time to time to answer questions and look at your responses. I am not looking for sympathy and included all the gory details, so others might gain some knowledge about how this problem can affect you physically and mentally. I would also like to say Medicare for all must become a rallying point for everyone including those that do not frequent this site. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments and/or advice.
P.S. I plan to get a second opinion, so if you have used or know a great neurosurgeon specializing in cervical spinal surgery I would be appreciative of the information.
