L5-S1 herniation neurogenic bladder not Cauda Equina

r0hbart ,

  I have attached my "worst" MRI which was done 2 days before my L5-S1 discectomy in May 2014. If you're wondering why I had an MRI so close to surgery it's because the surgeon was going to do the microdiscectomy based on the MRI I had done 3 months before. However, his "genius" nurse manhandled me during the neurological examination at the office visit, while I had excruciating bilateral sciatica, and during the strength test inflamed my right  leg and foot so badly that the pain had tripled. I didn't even get so much as an apology. A few days before the surgery, during the pre-op consult I was told I was going to get a left sided microdiscectomy and my right side was fine. I was furious and said things had changed and my right side was worse due to the  Neuro's nurse messing up. Long story short, they did the MRI and in the operating room, the doctor thanked me for forcing him to do another MRI because he had to now do a much bigger two sided discectomy now but of course never took the blame or apologized.  And this happened at BWH hospital in Boston which is one of the BEST Neurosurgery hospitals in the states! As you can see form the MRI, I tried to match your slices but either way, I looked through the Axial view and didn't see the secuestration you had yourself. On the sagittal view you can see there is quite a bit of disc herniation poking through. The Neuros keep telling me they've seen people walking with much worse than this....Whatever. Thanks.

I saw my x-rays briefly at the hospital, but don’t have a copy of them. I should try to get them...not that I have a herniation. My back is just “broken”.

phugoi1982, the hospital sent me to a nursing home, rather than home to my house, because I couldn’t do a transfer from my bed to my wheelchair without assistance. After that, in the nursing homes, I wasn’t “authorized” to get out of bed alone. Next, the aides would come to get me out of bed, while saying that some “other” paralyzed lady could get herself in and out of bed without assistance,...in other words, making a bad comparison of me with a phantom resident. (Your mention of hearing a Neuro say that others could walk with your injury reminded me of this.) Later, I saw the other resident the aides had spoken of lift one of her feet and then the other. She was “paralyzed”, but had no broken back...and was much younger than me. It’s so annoying to have people make unflattering comparisons of us with other injured people!

Throughout history, good, smart doctors have been ‘trashed’ by those of the status quo. Jealosy? Avarice? An insatiable appetite for adulation?

It may seem like a very minor suggestion, but...taking olive leaf powder (with water) orally might disinflame your sciatica enough for you to feel an improvement. (I suggest using just the simple powdered form, or else making a tea from the crushed leaves,...NOT an extract, though an extract is what is usually pushed by marketing.)

www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=15152
“Authors of a recent paper1 found an association between sciatica and bacterial infection. They used serological testing with 140 sciactic patients who were selected as controls for a spondylodiscitis study. The researchers had unexpected finding: Thirty-one percent of the slated control patients tested positive for gram-positive microbes. These patients denied having had surgery or any infection in the previous six months. When the authors looked at 36 more patients who had undergone a recent microdiscectomy, they found that 19 had positive bacterial cultures when the disc tissues that were removed were tested.”

“...Some of the many choices for clinicians include echinacea; goldenseal; garlic; astragalus; mushroom extracts; probiotics; olive leaf extract; and colostrum.”

In my opinion, using a SyncroZapper could also diminish bacteria, which would decrease pain and encourage healing.

See research abstract. (They make you pay in order to read the whole article though.)
Association between sciatica and Propionibacterium acnes.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(00)05109-6/fulltext

As hmalbet's mother used to say regarding doctors:

Mar 15, 2016 22:57:59 GMT -8 hmalbet said:

" They are all asses"