I had neck pain 3 years ago and found out that I had a herniated disc at C 5/6, minor cord compression, and foraminal stenosis. I conservative methods. After 3 ESIs I had pain relief for 2 years.
Recently I started having severe neck pain radiating into my head. I went to the Pain Management Doctor for another 3 ESIs. This time I didn’t get relief. The Dr sent me for another MRI to see if anything had changed. He requested that the radiology center send him a report (he didn’t want/need to see the MRI). I asked for a copy of the MRI on CD for my own records and took it home to compare to my last MRI.
While waiting to see what the report said, I looked at my new MRI and compared it with my old one. I noticed that I have a black semi-circle on the disc that wasn’t there before. When I look at a different view, it looks like the black is on the vertebra, not the disc. I also noticed that there are large bright signal things that are only on the C 5/6-disc area and not other discs.
After a week of not hearing from my doctor about the report, I called his office. They told me they didn’t have it and would call the radiology center. A little while later my Dr called me and told me the report said that there weren’t any changes since last MRI. I asked him about the black thing and he said there wasn’t any mention of it. He told me I should go see an orthopedic doctor.
I’ve made an appointment with the Orthopedic Dr but I can’t get in to see him for two weeks. I’m still in a lot of pain and I’m concerned that the radiologist could have missed something serious since he said nothing has changed. There are changes that I can see. I hope the radiology center didn’t rush through the report because my doctor put pressure on them to have it done.
Here are some of my current MRI pictures. I’ve put arrows by the ones that I was talking about. Could you please look at them and tell me your opinion? http://s1182.photobucket.com/albums/x445/cas111/