Case Description

I had spinal surgery to repair a ruptured disc in Feb 08. After returning to work for one month, I again had pain running up my spine and down my leg. I returned to my surgeon to try and find out what the problem was. I have been returning to him with recurring symptoms, new symptoms and the last time I saw him was August 09 for him to tell me, there was nothing else he could do. It was just nerve damage and I would have to learn to live with it and manage it with pain meds. I have continued to struggle and just went to my family doc with another concern. It is getting worse, and my symptoms are worse. I needed a copy of the last MRI which was in August, and when I got home, I decided to read through it. WHat I found made me cry. It stated I had a Tarlov cyst. Never heard of it, and the surgeon never told me about it, so I assumed it was probably nothing of concern, until I looked it up. It is a very rare thing, and if left untreated, can cause irreparable neuro damage. It accounts for EVERY symptom I have!! There is no cure for this, and only short term relief, but something is better than nothing after everything I have been through. I went back to my family doctor to enquire as to why I wasn't informed, or sent to a neurosurgeon, and he had no idea. To add insult to injury, this cyst was found in JUNE 08!!!! That is when I first went back off work and back to the surgeon for the pain. I am angry and have suffered for 18 months, and he knew I had this affliction and never bothered to even tell me. This has not only affected me, but my husband, and my children. I spend alot of my time laying down to relieve the pressure and the pain. I am now concerned about the damage that these 18 months have done to me. My family doctor is working to get me into a neurosurgeon as quickly as possible. There are no doctors in Canada able to treat this. But, I could have spent these last 18 months getting some treatment and relief, even for a short period of time. I want to know why this was even withheld from me, and why he did nothing to help me. I had to be the biggest pain even to see this doctor and he made me feel as though I was whining and should just learn to live with pain. I had seriously started to doubt myself, and was having days of terrible depression wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I can't even begin to tell you how this affected me, my self worth, my trust of doctors, and how my family has been impacted. This kind of behaviour is reprehensible. I need to know what my options are. I don't want to cry anymore, I want to make sure this never happens to another person. Please, PLEASE, any advice or help you can offer is going to help me more than you know.