L5-S1 herniation neurogenic bladder not Cauda Equina

jellyfish,

No worries. Was the SEP test like an EMG? How good is it at picking up spinal cord nerve issues or demyelination? I've heard of Evoked potentials before but mostly in terms of people getting it to rule out Multiple Sclerosis or something like that.I'm also surprised no one ordered it before but most of neurologists/neurosurgeons from the past have just said my disc herniation isn't bad and sent me out the door

Very depressed and feeling pretty raging. Just got back from meeting the neurosurgeon and I asked him to look at my MRI from just before surgery. He now thinks I had Cauda Equina Syndrome (Atypical) based on my MRI because even though my disc herniation is not compressing the thecal majorly I have very severe spinal stenosis (congenital) and he thinks that made me much more susceptible to a disc herniation as well as atypical Cauda Equina which progressed slowly and without weakness. I just got home and screamed and broke a bunch of things in my apartment. To think I spent 10 years yelling at the top of my lungs I had Cauda Equina syndrome and everyone just sat on their asses and did nothing and left me impotent and with 90 year old man's bladder. To think, they had very possible godamned break and they wouldn't have lost anything doing surgery on a mild disc herniation considering I was in so much pain.They had 10 YEARS!! and my symptoms were not even bad til year 9. The doc wants to wait for the Evoked potential just in case the arachnoid cyst might be causing but based on my MRI like he said he is definitely leaning towards Cauda Equina. My family practically disowned me because I had dropped out of college (eventually finished my Aeronautical engineering degree at the height of my symptoms) and my sister and father made fun of my symptoms and told my doctors not to listen to me. My mom wants me to forgive my sister even though she's not even apologized to me for all the nasty things she did. Both my sister and father misled the doctors and kept pushing me to psychiatrists and my dad wouldn't even let me see a neurosurgeon saying he won't pay for something that is all in my mind. He died last year and only near his death felt guilty about how he treated me. My sister who lives nearby never apologized for misleading the docs and just tells my mom "Oh well, that's what we thought. It was psychological. He has to move on." I blame them just as much as I blame the doctors for doing this to me. I mean if was crazy, let the doctors decide. Instead, they violoted my privacy laws, shamed me to whole town, and told docs it's all psychological so they had made up their minds before they even examined me. We are all prone the pre-judging people by first impressions. They all shamed me about my symptoms to suffer in silence so I held so much inside.

I'm so furious right now, I'm going to wait for the Evoked Potentials and then I'm going to go and confront every f*ing neurologist, psychiatrist and person who made fun of me and who called me a hypochondriac, stupid, and tried to have me committed and i'm going to slap them in their face.  At least it will give me some closure. And I will bring my case out in the open.

Update on my situation. Neurosurgeons dont think arachnoid cyst responsible in the thoracic spine for my symptoms. Sent me to physical therapy and facet injections for lower back pain because of the aforementioned l5-s1 disc herniation. None helped. Physical therapist gave up one me because I wasn't getting better. However I am getting much more pain and saddle anesthesia. Numbness in inner Buttocks and anus. Saw another urologist who thinks cauda equina. Also did a penile doppler and says sexual dysfunction neurological. For the first time I had incomplete emptying upon bladder scanning. Was retaining 70 ml which isn't awful but had never had retention before on multiple bladder scans. I now literally have no urge to urinate and have to press on my bladder to see if it is full and gauge my pain level. I'm concerned that despite my worsening back pain and numbness and new incomplete emptying neuros still aren't doing anything. I mean, if my back was fully decompressed I shouldn't be getting worse. No sciatica or weakness but so what? I'm just frustrated and dont know what else to make them take me seriously. They're not going to care until I'm self cathing myself. Does anyone think open discectomy can offer better relief than microdiscectomy which is what I had or a single level fusion? can that visualize cord compression better. They still dont agree I had cauda equina which is idiotic at this point

Your logic is sound. Doctors tend to insist the MRI, or other tests, are infallible and that our symptoms therefore are irrelevant. How logical is that?