I had a MRI of my thoracic spine, I found at least 10 of the 12 discs were bulging, a lot have turned to calcium, one was really pressing on the spinal cord.
I get the report back, it says possible bone lesions on the left pedicle and possibly on the transverse process. Probabal that they are benign “osteiod ostoma” but they are recommending a CT of the area and a bone scan. My pain doctor that had ordered it, is very clueless, he said he had to Google it, to see what it is. I have a lot of pain in this area, that is why I ordered the MRI. It was amusing, he said the pain can be controled with NSAID’s, I reminded him that I have tired everything, that is why I was with a pain doctor! I will have my Hematologist Cancer doctor take it over next month when I see him, for my 6 month check up.
The report said no significant discogenic disease, with all my discs gone and bulging, what would be significant of that?
This is the main lesion:
This is another i age of the lesion, looks like the nerve is also lit up, might explain the pain?
This is one of the worst bulges pushing in on the spinal cord, but must no be significant enough to mention. It is right below the lesion.
I don’t know if these leasions had snything to do with PsA, but I read that the vertebrea disc surfaces were enthesis areas. Like my blood cancer the lesions might be tied to chronic inflammation in the spine.
I know it seems to be something new every couple of weeks, such is life…
Jeeeeeeeperzzzzz Jonsparky, it just goes on and on for you, doesn’t it? What a miserable thing to have pointed out to you. But I guess it is best that you know.
Obviously, you have to wonder whether the findings are connected with your PsA. Wish I knew, but if your pain doctor had to ask Dr. Google, I guess it’s not too much of a defeat not to know.
I know, huh? Never a dull moment.
At least the Pain Doctor was honest, I guess osteoid osteoma’s are not to common. This area has been hurting forever, just thought the Pain Doctor could do some shots for it.
I would not be surprised if it was related to PsA, at least through the inflammation, it is right next to the enlarged ascending aorta, (previous post, last months problem). i can see why I was having the costocondritis.
To be continued…
Dear @Jon_sparky, gosh it sounds horrific, just hope you get someone to give you some decent answers, sort your pain and your spine out very soon. Thoughts are with you…Anne
here is what it looks like on the CT from 2015, I love the 3D imaging, the perfect toy for a insomniac. I dimensioned the lesion almost 8 mm, it will be interesting if ift grew.
When I first saw it, I thought I looked thinner in the photo! It is a sardine color, or maybe “spare Ribs”?
It is kind of a fascinating image. My ribs in the front look like they have had some erosion, or someone was chewing on them…
My CT is scheduled for next Thursday. It this is a osteoid osteoma, I might have had it since I was in my 20’s, no wonder I had a painful back! Looks like it is on my CT from 2015, so if it was bone cancer I would probably be dead…
I will have my Cancer Doctor look at it, maybe he might follow up with a brain scan, to see what is flairing up in my head, it is a black spot on the T1 image.
spare Ribs indeed it is kind of fascinating, isn’t it, I can imagine being a radiographer would be interesting, if very lonely, job.
Hope the osteoid osteoma is as expected when you see your Cancer Doc, I must admit I had the same thought if it was on your CT from 2015, but still ouch!
My Cancer Doctor is going to see me Monday, so I will see what he thinks. Not very concerned with the osteoid osteoma but wondering about the hyperintensity in my brain, so hopefully he will either poo poo it, or do a brain mri. I would like to combine the CT with whatever he is thinking of doing, as I do not need the extra radiation from the test. I don’t want looking for cancer to be the cause of the cancer!
I was scheduled for my CT scan today, they called me yesterday canceling, saying the the insurance company denied it, then I told them to reinstate it, that I would pay cash, then I called my doctor’s office, they said insurance approved it, so when I went in today, they said that insurance denied it, I said “no, they approved it” she finally got through and confirmed that it was approved. We do need to upgrade our healthcare system!
I was talking to the tech, I told her that I had 10 bulging discs and they never mentioned it on the MRI report, she was baffled, but didn’t think the Radiologist was in cahoots with the insurance company as, he would be fined if he got caught.
So now I get to look through more images…
It was mainly the insurance company, first they refused to pay for the MRI, then they had 3 doctors look at the request for the CT, and rejected it. The same insurance company no claimed my brothers cancer surgery, giving him the stress of thinking he had to come up with $150,000, luckily my other brother’s wife is a lawyer, so she straightened that out real fast. They were hassling him on imaging to follow up the cancer surgery, how wrong is that?
No doubt there is also incompetence involved with the office, but that too is a symptom of the broken system, the people working in the offices are often overtaxed by to many doctors per office workers and to much hassle having to re-submit claims 2-3 times to the insurance company before they accept it.
