I apologize for the delay in returning your message; I don’t spend much time on line during the weekends. And no, you did not disturb me; my Mother is not well either, so I completely understand your situation and concern.
The spinal cord compression noted in your Mother’s MRI sounds serious, how severe is her pain? She should be experiencing many more symptoms, than a burning sensation in her thigh and numbness in her hands and fingers. Would you characterize her pain as Intractable (severe, constant)? If her pain reached this level you really need to seriously consider surgery. With some injuries impacting the spinal cord, it is important they be treated quickly to avoid any permanent damage. And a surgical approach is usually based on the surgeon’s preference; however my understanding is that patients that are suffering from posterior compressions are generally operated on from the back. I’m sorry; I don’t have any first hand knowledge of acupuncture. If you decide to try it, check with her doctors first to make sure its safe for her to have it.
Did the surgeons that you have seen tell you that her surgery should be done as soon as possible? Did you mention to them about her lack of neck pain? In many cervical disorders, particularly radiculopathies, lack of neck pain is not uncommon. However I don’t know about spondylosis, I’m sure some people who have cervical spondylosis don’t have neck pain, but I can’t say for certain.
There are 2 forums here that I think will be very helpful to you. The first is the NEUROLOGY COMMUNITY; questions are answered by a Neurologist from India. He seems to answers questions fairly quickly, but if he doesn’t answer you right away, don’t be discouraged, he will answer you as soon as he can.
The other one is the NEUROSURGERY EXPERT FORUM, this Doctor can take several days to answer, but he is a Surgeon, and is very knowledgeable and interested in helping.You can post the same topic as you did in our forum, but you need to expand on your Mother’s symptoms. I hope everything works out for your Mother, and let us know her how she is doing.
Take Care
Here are the links:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Neurology/show/74
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Neurosurgery/show/331