foot drop

[Dianna8]

Is there anyone out there that has had foot drop after having back surgery? And who has filed a lawsuit and won. Because right now I am really upset with my doctor. He said the surgery went very well and he was baffled as to why I had foot drop , And after many phones calls to his office. I finally got him to send me for an EMG, And it showed I have nerve damage from my knee down,  And now he wants to turn me back over to my family doctor. His assistant tells me I'll just have to wait and see if the feeling comes back in my foot. And I was also told by my Physical Therapist there was nothing else she could do after she looked at the results of my EMG.

[gogonzo]

I don't know if you still follow this discussion board, but I just joined this site and saw your post. I had surgery last year to detether my spinal cord and woke up with a paralyzed left foot. Like your doctor, mine said something similar in that surgery went well and all the monitors were fine during surgery. It wasn't until, I was being closed up that one of the monitors went crazy and he wasn't sure why. As a result, I now have foot drop because the L5 nerve suffered trauma during surgery, likely the pooling of blood at the root. Now the nerve has to regrow from the spinal cord down to my foot. With the rate of an inch a month growth, it will take 2.5 years to get down to my foot. It's been a year, and an EMG shows that my nerve has reinervated into the muscle at my hip which is good news, but there is still a long way to go. My neurosurgeon called a peripheral nerve clinic to see if he could refer me to see about tendon transfer surgery and was told that I need 4/5 strength in my ankle to be a candidate for that surgery which seems a bit ridiculous. I am interested in finding out about nerve transfer surgery, but as of yet, I have no knowledge of who does it other than John Hopkins.

[Tableone]

Gogonzo, you are VERY fortunate that your emg showed improvement! I have my emg scheduled next month but don't know if it will show improvement. If we wait too long our window of time when the surgery can be effective will be over. contact Washington University medical school in St. Louis and go there; a flight is certainly worth not being paralyzed the rest of your life.
Good luck to you! I am in excruciating pain from my severe foot drop and do not know if I will ever get better.

[cornerthree]

I am so very sorry to hear this. I also have foot drop. At Washington University in St. Louis I understand they are doing "nerve transfer" surgery. This might be your best bet. Look into it. I'm going to. Good luck to you and God bless you!

[ShelDunn70]

What causes foot drop? I woke up with it with no symptoms. Please help. I feel so alone. I have foot drop in both feet.