Should I be scared?

[Stoop]

First a little back story, in Feb 2006 I dozed at the wheel in Nevada and rolled my car 5 1/2 times.  The car landed on its roof and when I took my seatbelt off I fell on my head, breaking my neck at C5-C6 vertebrae.  CT scan taken before the surgery showed the break and the doctor brought in his laptop and showed me what he was seeing, therein he told me that by all rights I should not be able to walk.

 

Fast forward to this Sunday night/Monday morning, my neck was hurting more than it ever did (since the accident it has been in constant pain) and I went to the ER thinking maybe I had worsened the damage.  The pain turned out to be just muscle spasms, I must have slept wrong or something.  The ER doctor ordered a set of CT scans and when the results were made available he called me out of the room I was in and showed them to me on the hospital's computer.  Slightly more detail (tech advances in 16 years) but pretty much what I had seen before.  But apparently the doctor was shocked, asking me "How are you able to walk or even move your arms?"  He ordered a collar for me and put me on a 10 pound restriction.

 

Here's the thing though, in my mind I've been living with this for 16 years.  This is nothing new.  I've been able to get along by just keeping a 50 pound weight restriction (which had been given to me by another doctor in 2008)  In my mind the doctor just got scared over nothing.  But then I look back and think, he may or may not have specialized in the spine, but his knowledge of anatomy and medicine is far superior to my own (I was more interested in the Biology of the girl in front of me than what the teacher was teaching back in school).

 

I'm trying to get ahold of my primary care provider to get a referral so I can get the restriction lifted, but how would you take the ER doctor's reaction?

[Woodstock HGM [HGM]]

Follow the `0 lb restriction  you would be surprised how much strain lifting puts on the spine and neck.   I would talk to your PCM and find out options,  and By All Means wear that Collar as it will help tak some pressure off of your neck and fracture,  and be ready for other issues happening  numbness in hands and feet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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