CT Myelogram

I had the CT Myelogram done last month and already had the follow-up appointment with my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Asdourian. The only thing I'm waiting on is Dr. Clavel's assessment of the test results; it's been three weeks since I've sent in my results. The CT myelogram was a fairly simple process. I was injected with novocaine to numb the area first before being injected with contrast. All of this is something I've grown accustomed to so it was a painless procedure. The table I was lying on was tilted upwards to allow the dye to move towards my lower extremity. I could feel the dye coursing through my legs. The lower half of my body immediately became numb and tingling. While I was on the table the radiologist took X-rays. Then I was wheeled into another room for the CT scans. All of this seemed simple enough till 72 hours had passed.

After 72 hours of having the procedure done, I was back at work and was experiencing the worst spinal headaches ever. Every time my body was in an upright position either from sitting or standing I had a massive headache and felt so nauseous that I was dry heaving...Gross! I know. It turns out I had a CSF leak that was causing the spinal headaches. After having spoken to Dr. Asdourian, I was en-route to the hospital. He suggested I go in for a blood patch. A few minutes later, the radiologist, Dr. Sexton calls and to tell me he would inform the anesthesiologist that I'll be coming in for the blood patch. Seconds later, Dr. Andrews, the anesthesiologist, calls to tell me to not come in. Even though I vehemently opposed the idea of waiting for the spinal headaches to pass, I finally took his advice and acquiesced to stick it out. For the next three days, I did nothing but wait. During those three days, I did a lot of lounging around either in bed or on the couch. Dr. Sexton was also kind enough to call me every day to see how I was managing the headaches. Sure enough the nausea and headaches subsided so that I did not need a blood patch.

Since the ADR surgery I have not been able to fully regain my flexibility. I now finally know why. The CT myelogram shows a large bone spur impinging on the nerves. Hence, I'm still experiencing pain in my sciatic nerves and in the anterior tibia muscle.

Dr. Asdourian told me surgery is an option. But he advised against it because of the size and location of the bone spur. He said it could possibly do more harm to the surrounding nerves. For now, I've decided to leave it alone in hopes that the bone spur doesn't get any bigger. I am also taking Lyrica for the nerve pain. Hopefully, the pain I'm experiencing now will be the worst it gets. If so, I can deal with that.