Occipital Neuralgia Online Support Group

Good Morning Everyone,

I made a post on Thursday about my surgery with Dr. Jho in PA on May 22nd. I was back to work on May 24th and worked yesterday as well. If it weren't for the bandage on the back of my neck and a very slight tenderness when I turn my head a little too far, I would never know I have been through surgery. I am highly impressed as many years ago I had to have my L5 worked on and there were times after the surgery I wanted to die. It took me over a year to start feeling somewhat normal after it also. I have not been on any narcotics, even after the surgery. I left the hospital with a release to do anything I could tolerate. I am more than impressed at this point and I want to give all you others that are suffering out there some kind of hope. Please go to this news article link about another success story of Dr. Jho's. In my book, he deserves all the hype and then some. http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/02/13/kdkas-jon-burnett- benefits-from-neurosurgical-neck-procedure/

Congrats! Glad youre doing so well!!

Hi,

Great news on the surgery. Here's hoping that you have really turned a corner and occipital neuralgia will soon be something that is in your past. Did Dr Jho comment on what he found on performing surgery, i.e. was there anatomical evidence of a pain source?

Look forward to more updates.

Best Wishes

Bill

Yes, My C1 had collapsed down on my C2 and was sitting on the nerve. I am waiting for the down side of all this, and it hasn't happened yet. I am not a negative person by any means, it just seems unreal to feel this good after all the years of feeling so horrible. I thought the surgery would take the wind out of my sails for a least a few weeks. I was shocked that I left the hospital with a full release to do whatever was tolerable. The only restriction was no baths. I am stitched internally, glued and steri stripped on the back of my neck. I just assumed that I would have an incision on the front of my neck and was surprised to wake up with it on the back. I am more than highly impressed. I know now how my neck became injured. The odd symptoms that occur with O.N. and locale of the pain in the body, and circumstances like having a shoulder surgery a year prior led me to seven doctors over a 4 1/2 year period of time before I was diagnosed. As far as the injury, it occurred back toward the end of 2006 when my husband and I went to King's Island and rode the Son of the Beast roller coaster. That ride was so rough and treacherous and near the end of the ride I felt like my whole cervical spine got crunched down. I grabbed my husbands arm before the ride ended and told him I wasn't alright. I immediately started throwing up when I got off the ride. The pain was intense and lasted for some time. When the symptoms arrived, it was the spasm type headaches that felt like an aneurysm blew out in my brain, pain in shoulder muscle, pain in right neck muscle and an obnoxious ringing in my right ear. Eyes became sensitive to light and the one that amuses me the most are the hot flashes. Since surgery, I haven't had any and I dealt with them 24 hours a day almost on an hourly basis before. Strange part to that is they were accompanied by a sensation as if carbonated bubbles had ran back up into your sinus cavity. I plan on updating periodically. As of now, I have none of the symptoms I had before. I feel blessed beyond measure right now.

A picture of me the morning after surgery with Dr. Jho and his assitant Patrick. Please excuse the hair. It was a mess and there was some blood in it from the halo. I thought I looked pretty good considering what I had been through and no makeup. LOL!

Post edited by: themaryb, at: 05/27/2012 03:02 PM

Sorry here is the image. It didn't attach the first time.

Hi,

Many congratulations again - so great to hear a good news story. How come previous scans, etc had not detected the anatomical problems that Dr Jho uncovered during surgery?

Bill

I am from Knoxville area in TN. I had a local neurologist look at my scan. They definitively saw 2 bulging disc and 2 hemangiomas all in the cervical spine area but there was never anyone here or there that said they saw what was causing the O.N.until after my surgery. The neurologist is the one who diagnosed me. Dr. Jho performed a C2 nerve block on me on April 3rd as a diagnostic. I had 10 days of bliss before the symptoms returned. Once they knew that worked, I was cleared for surgery. It has been a tough road and years of agony. I can tell you that in a sense I was terrified to go through this, but my quality of life was horrible, so I didn't feel like I had much to lose. I'm glad I took the gamble!

Hi Mary - I had surgery recently too - a c2 ganglionectomy - they took out the nerve root and I'm numb - kinda..long story. But anyway - my question is this, cuz I'm kinda confused....if your c1 collapsed onto your c2 - what exactly did they do in surgery to fix the ON?

My ON was completely gone too, after surgery, I felt great but I'm 4 weeks out and feel like crap now...

They shaved bone out to create room for the nerve and blood vessels. Dr. Jho believes in leaving the body as normal as it can be. I liked that concept and I thought that the worst case scenario would be that I wouldn't be any better. I feel so bad for you. Please take the time to send me a pm. I would love to hear more of your story.

Mary