Good morning Dr. Corenman and thank you very much for your prompt reply. I do not know if those levels have fused. I have never been told and have no reports stating they have fused. The only imaging ordered by my surgeon was the two week post op X-ray that I also included in my post. The other imaging (CT and MRI) were ordered by my GP and pain management doctor and they have not reviewed the CD’s only read my reports and they don’t really know what to do for me, however, they both agree I need a surgeon to review the actual images.
I am just as confused as you are because originally I was told all three levels would be operated on, however, my medical records from the hospital only show two levels and that the plate was attached from C4 to C7. That never made sense to me because pre-op MRI showed broad based disk herniation, myleothopy, foraminal/spinal stenosis and osteophytes at c4-c5.
I was able to look at the MRI from 11/2012 on my computer and to me the area doesn’t appear to look very good or like the examples of successful fusions I have found online to compare to.
The MRI report you read was performed at nine months post-op and I have not had any further imaging since, however, my pm doctor wants to order an new MRI, so I could easily request specific types of imaging if only I knew what to ask him to order.
Is it possible the areas the radiologist points out as being “very large” means there’s empty space, where there should be fusion?
Is there a particular type of imaging or positional views that would be better suited to tell us exactly what is going on or more specific in order to provide a more concise report so that these questions could be answered?
What type of imaging would you recommend? Would you be willing to be the second pair of eyes I need?
Thank you again so much. You have no idea how grateful I am.
