DREZ

[Trax]

I suffered a Brachial Plexus injury from a high speed car accident in June 97 in my right arm, I completely lost all movement & feeling except for the agonizing phantom pain I get in my hand & forearm but it's mostly in my fingers. If that wasn't bad enough I also suffered a SCI in the accident at T12, L1 & L2 so I'm also in a wheelchair. None of my doctors ever told me about the DREZ surgery but about a year ago I found out about it online, I contacted Dr. Belzberg at Johns Hopkins asking if they knew of any doctors in my area(Chicago) that did the surgery because I can't afford to fly out there, well I never heard anything back until 2 months ago from his nurse who said she came across my email while looking through old ones. She said there are no doctors in my area that do it but they may be able to bring me out there to get it done & the first step was they needed to see a MRI to make sure I have an avulsion injury, well I didn't have one so I went & got the MRI done & they said it is an avulsion so looks like I will be having it done, what I'd like to know is have any of you had this surgery done & how helpful was it in getting rid of the pain? I currently take large amounts of pain killers to help with the pain but thats not always successful in helping, I'm just so tired of being in pain which I'm sure you guys can understand, at this point I'm willing to do anything to help.

[Dan]

Hi Trax,

I will preface this comment with the fact that I know many others who have a lot more experience with this area and understanding the narcotics and other medical solutions to the pain. I have had my injury over 30 years, all five avulsions, and I have always been able to deal with my pain by doing life and staying active.

I have been making the athletic sling for almost 10 years, so I am in contact with lots of people with this injury and know many who have done the DREZ. I have heard all results, very happy with it and received permanent pain relief to the tragic of it causing paralysis to the person's lower body and increased pain. I will say, most of what I hear is a temporary relief for a few months with the pain coming back.

I am going to see if I can get some people to add some additional comments on this and I do know Christopher, who has done tons of research on pain, should be adding some recent research results to the website.

My best to you,
Dan

[Trax]

Hi Dan, thanks for the reply. I have done some research myself into it, I found a research paper that followed 19 people that had the surgery, but it looked like these were people that had this done in the 70's but I did see that it didn't help everyone & some had it come back. I talked with the doctors nurse last week & she went over the possible complications like lose over movement but she said it was only a 5% chance of happening, also when I asked her how long the surgery took she wouldn't give me an answer, she just said it would take as long as it needed to take the pain away, which I found strange, so can anyone who's had it give me an idea on it. Another thing that sucks is now she's told me that they don't have anyway to bring me out there which was one of the main things I needed because I don't have money to get there, but it looks like some of my family members are gonna help pay for it which I'm extremely grateful for. At this point I'm willing to do anything to take the pain away, I just hope I'm not one of the ones that it ends up making it worse, even if the relief only ends up being temporary I'll take it, I'll count every day I get pain free as a blessing.

[OliveOil]

Hi Trax,
I have been researching the DREZ procedure for about ten years.
I am in REALLY SEVERE pain (became much worse in the last 2 years) as well and have reached out to Dr. Belzberg. They have my MRI and I am waiting to hear if I'm a candidate for the DREZ. I wanted to mention that I did see a Dr. here in Chicago about the same procedure. His name is Dr. Konstantine Slavin (University of Illinois @Chicago). He does the procedure once or twice a year.
He did tell me that there are very real side effects like paralysis in the leg and bladder issues among others.
I have read that the pain relief is often temporary. And it isn't usually taken away completely. It's often reduced by 50% or so.
That's still worth it.
Anyway, I hope you keep us updated with your progress.
thanks, Suzanne

[Weldernut]

Interested in opinions on this as I'm heavily considering this surgery. I was injured in a motorcycle accident 2 years ago. I'm in extreme pain, i deal with it by working myself till I'm to tired to stand. I read the stories and see post on other outlets where people awake pain free. I just now have discovered the negative side effects of the procedure. I look forward to hearing opinions.
Thanks, Joe