reassurance needed..if possible

[Dobarreyth]

hi,
I'm so scared right now, my 20 yr old daughter had 2 microdiscecomy procedures done in Jan 2007 due to a severely prolapsed L4/L5 with nerve root impingement. She had most of the disc material removed and a laminectomy. Although she healed from the ops, she was left with back/leg pain due to the nerve healing and significant scar tissue. She's currently in the process of being referred to Martin Knight at the spinal foundation (so any info anyone can give me about this guy would be gratefully received). She always has back and leg pain, and takes Diclofenac, dihydracoceine, paracetamol and gabapentin every day to cope with the pain. I think she'd just got her pain levels to a tolerable level where she can function (albeit to a limited degree), when last night the unthinkable happened and now I'm scared to death ! She is a full time student and had gone out for a rare night out, was coming home and someone ran into her, taking her legs clean from under her, she said she went from a standing position to straight down on her bottom, but managed to jump up herself almost immediately. It's obviously killing her right now, though she says the pain is in the bottom of her spine (coccyx) as opposed to the operation site area. Obviously we're worried of the chances she did some more damage to her already weak and damaged spine. If anyone out there can offer any advice or reassurance I'd be so grateful - she's been though so much and was trying a rare trip out on a normal student night, I feel so sorry for her, plus I'm in Sheffield and she's in Preston so it makes it twice as hard. Sorry for rambling, but I'm so afraid for her.

 

[Thomas S]

hi .i live in preston and i am in a similar position to your daughter.i had an op at fullwood hall hospital last oct 2006.i had the l4/5 done but never really recoverd .i now have leg and back pain and am at this moment in time trying to raise funds to have an op with mr knight.
mr knight is a very nice man to deal with and i feel my only real option.my consultant in preston just wanted to fuse my lower spine but martin knight has given me another option.i had an mri 1 month after the original operation and it really didnt look like they had removed any of the disc bulge .so mr knight feels that they didnt do a good job.the first consultation with him costs £200 but he is very thorough.he listens to everything you tell him and is very understanding .the only problem is you cannot get the treatment on the nhs.what he does is quite amazing and i have actaully contacted old patients who have made very good recoveries who where in the same position as me and your daughter .by the way i am only 33 and had no previous back problems but now my upper back hurts and live with daily pain.
where did your daughter have her surgery ?and who did it ?
my only advice is pay £200 and visit mr knight it would be worth his expert opinion

 

[FPS Addict]

hi there,
thanks so much for replying, I'm sorry you seem to be going through the same nightmare as my daughter - it seems an area where there is little practical knowledge and even less support within the NHS. Interesting that you are in Preston too, my daughter is a student at UCLAN there and I'm sure she'd appreciate the chance to correspond with someone who is going through the same experience as she is, and could maybe tell her what to expect from a consultation with Mr (DR?) Knight. So if you could maybe send me a private message and maybe an email address she could contact you on that would be really great. To answer your question, she was actually operated on in Sheffield in January of last year by Mr Rowe (Neurosurgeon) then again when the disc re-herniated 3 weeks later, the second op was done by Dr Surahb Sinha who is Mr Rowe's senior reg, this second op was a mammoth 7 hour procedure and she needed a blood transfusion. We've had a couple of scares since then with bouts of terrible back and leg pain, she's had a couple of revision scans that show that what remains of the disc is still in place but there are large amounts of scar tissue tethering the nerve which is causing the back and leg pain. I'm just hoping and praying that she hasn't done any further damage with the fall she had on sunday and that Mr Knight can do something to help her pain levels and mobility - he's our last hope too.
Thanks again for replying and much love
Kate

 

[PietreveweigE]

hi .from what mr knight has told me he can deal with the scarring as this can be as problematic as the original herniation.this is why i have opted to be treated by mr knight as i believe that having another "open" procedure will give me excessive scarring.my scans already show that i have scarring after 1 procedure so i need endoscopic "keyhole" surgery to sort this .mr knight is the only man in this country who does this.
your daughter can email me.

i will send you my home email.

thanks

colin