13th March 2007
Okay so as a reminder I am 1 year and 4 months post op from a T10-L1 spine fusion. I was told my diagnosis was Scheurmann's disease with mild scoliosis. The problem is, the surgery didn't help the pain! Before the surgery I was on 4mg of dilaudid every 6 hours, 10mg of flexeril 3 times a day. Now I am on 8mg of dilaudid every 4 hours, 10mg of felxeril every 6 hours and 10mg of Zofran ( a strong anti-nausea med) as need. The pain right after the surgery was better where the incision was...i just had pain above and below the incision. But now the pain is back...from just under my shoulders to my tail bone. It's horrible...my friends and even my family think I'm overexaggerating, but I went to my surgeon yesterday for a check up and he settled the argument.
I had a set of xrays that were a year old, and CT scans that were 6 months old, but he hadn't seen the CT yet, he just got the print out from the radiologist. We found that the space between T8 and T9,and the space between T9 and T10 are showing degenerative signs. A year ago i was slight and 6 months ago it was much more obvious. So I'm going to get xrays this week and seeing him the week after. But he said that he doesn't believe the diagnosis is Scheurmann's disease. He said he believes it is DISH (Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis) disease. DOes anyone else have this, or know what it is? I've read the info online but personal experience would help. Plus I wrote before that I had a hematoma from the screw scratching my muscle...i found it in June of last year so now it's been there for 9 months and hasn't gone away...I'm planning on seeing a second opinion in 2 weeks about the lump (or hematoma, whatever it is) and the new diagnosis DISH disease. It's pretty disheartening to find out my spine is still degenerating, and just when I got the all clear for no restrictions in lifting and bending, I'm gonna need surgery again. I'm afraid its going to continue to degenerate above and below the fusion until there's no space left and I can't bend at all. Please let me know if you have any info or experience. Thanks
Ashley
I had a set of xrays that were a year old, and CT scans that were 6 months old, but he hadn't seen the CT yet, he just got the print out from the radiologist. We found that the space between T8 and T9,and the space between T9 and T10 are showing degenerative signs. A year ago i was slight and 6 months ago it was much more obvious. So I'm going to get xrays this week and seeing him the week after. But he said that he doesn't believe the diagnosis is Scheurmann's disease. He said he believes it is DISH (Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis) disease. DOes anyone else have this, or know what it is? I've read the info online but personal experience would help. Plus I wrote before that I had a hematoma from the screw scratching my muscle...i found it in June of last year so now it's been there for 9 months and hasn't gone away...I'm planning on seeing a second opinion in 2 weeks about the lump (or hematoma, whatever it is) and the new diagnosis DISH disease. It's pretty disheartening to find out my spine is still degenerating, and just when I got the all clear for no restrictions in lifting and bending, I'm gonna need surgery again. I'm afraid its going to continue to degenerate above and below the fusion until there's no space left and I can't bend at all. Please let me know if you have any info or experience. Thanks
Ashley