For the past couple of years I have been suffering from a Prolapse disc in my neck and I am finally going to be fixed. It took them ages to figure out what was wrong with me because they wouldn't listen to what I was telling them. I have a similar problem in my lower back (dehydrated disc between L4/L5 and L4/L5 have degenerated) which gives me sciatica down my left leg and is similar to the symptoms in my arm. I suspect that this disc in my neck has been there for many years as I have always had problems with my neck since I was around 30 years old.
A couple of years ago thing got worse, a lot worse. Every time I turn my head I can hear the bones grinding and if I have had my head in the same position for a while, when I turn it it goes off with a loud crack. I also get pin's and needles along with numbness in my left hand and lower arm and a burning sensation in my upper arm. I drop things a lot and it's also affected my grip.
They started off by sending me to physio which just made things much worse. Then my gp referred me for a MRI scan. The hoops you have to jump through up here to get one is ridiculous. The gp can't actually refer you anymore and his referal get's sent to the physiotherapy department at our local hospital (Dr Grays in Elgin). That was a 20 week wait just to get in there!! They then assess you (points based) to see if you qualify for a MRI scan. Luckily I did and after another 12 week wait had to go down to Aberdeen (130 mile round trip) to have that done.
Two weeks later had to go back down again to see the consultant to get the results. He then wanted further tests carried out to see if I had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome as well so that was another 12 week wait and yet another trip down to Aberdeen. Had that done (was negative so loads of time wasted) and had another 10 week wait to see my consultant down in Aberdeen again. He then offered me the operation which I accepted because at this point I had little to lose. He informed me that there was a 12 week legal guarantee of treatment for my operation and said he was looking at mid August.
Mid August came and I hadn't heard anything from them and in the meantime things have gotten even worse. Most afternoons are spent lying on the bed because It just get's on top of me. I am used to debilitating pain from my back but this takes things to a whole new level. Two weeks ago I telephoned them and reminded them that their 12 week window was going to run out in four days. Within a hour I had a admittance date so it would seem that I was lost in the system. Their 12 week legal target turned into 14 and a half weeks so that's another failure for NHS Grampian.
So tomorrow I make my way down to Aberdeen on public transport as I am not allowed to drive for a couple of weeks after the op. They make a slit in my throat, move my windpipe and carotid artery to one side to get to my spine, take the bad disc out and replace it with something that looks like a hockey puck and then screw a titanium plate to the vertebrae on either side of it and sew me back up. There's a good video on how it's done
here (top one). It takes 20-30 mins apparently which is much less than I thought. I get admitted at 15.00 tomorrow and operated on Friday morning. All being well I shall be back out on Saturday. There are some possible bad things that can happen such as a stroke or paralysis from the neck down but it's 99.95% safe and the consultant has never heard of it happening. He just had to warn me that there could be consequences. Another couple of things that could happen are loss of feeling in the arm which I already have anyway and a hoarse voice that usually clears up after a few days but can become permanent in rare cases. I can live with that as long as the op works. So hopefully by the weekend I will have a much better quality of life than I do now. I am a bit nervous as I tend to be a pessimist and worry a lot but I am sure things will be ok.
I do hope the nerve ending treatment works well and gives you some much needed relief. 
