Had three cervical discs replaced, having serious problems..need help?

Question

Last December, I entered into a study to replace three bad discs in my neck with silicone ones and some bracket and eight screws. According to them, this was all suppose to fuse together and I'd be back to normal. Well that hasn't happened. I have huge air pockets around my screws, the symptoms I had prior to surgery have not only returned but intensified. I am on 800mg of Ibuprofen for the swelling of my hands, flexerall to try and relax the muscles that are freezing up, Valium to help me sleep (everything stops moving as if I'm paralyzed when I lay down) and Vicodin for the pain (which is a severe burning feeling down my arm and from the base of my neck to mid spine). The drugs are making me sick, the pain is limiting my lifestyle and I'm desperate for some other alternative. I am a mother of 5 who was extremely active, so depression is starting to set in as I watch my life slipping away from the sidelines since I can't do ANYTHING. I've done the physical therapy already.

After physical therapy, my range of motion improved but the pain has not. I've also done acupuncture with no relief, tried hot and cold compresses, excercise(walking) to improve circulation, injections in my neck to dull the nerves causing the pain but nothing has worked and it's getting worse by the day. My husband now has to get literally get me up out of bed and help me get moving until the drugs kick in. I can't live this way anymore...my kids need a mom, not a cripple with a cloudy thought process from the drugs! PLEASE...any advice would be helpful. Re-doing the surgery is not an option...It was $64,000 and my insurance won't cover it since it is still in a "study" process and not FDA approved! No goofy answers please...I'm at my witt's end...I really need help with this.

I was told they cannot remove these silicone discs or the brackets holding them together...this was my only option. I have rh negative blood, so donor bone was not an option and I'm small framed so they could not take the bone from my own hip. Is there anything that can kill the nerves causing the pain without loosing function of the limbs themselves?

Answer 1

I'm a MRI/CT technologist. Your vertebrae should have fused, in theory. All your radiculopathy is steming from your instrumentation pushing against nerve roots. I'm sure you've heard that though. If you think you can handle it, mabe another fusion, with different type of cages to take the place of silicone implants. There really isn't anyway around the other fusion instrumentation as far as i know. You are a mess, it seems like. Sorry! Try and keep your head up. Your family needs you. Good Luck...