I think I have it but I am not sure

[Steve]

I don't know for sure if I have spinal AVM. 15 years ago I was hit while in a gate shack by a truck that hit the gate shack. I fractured T6 and got whip lash. I was not treated for the fracture, because the doctors insisted that I couldn't possibly have hurt that part of my back so they didn't even do x-rays.

I couple years later after complaining of cronic pain, they finally did a MRI on my neck, which they said showed nothing, but of course I had been telling them that it was my thoricic spine not my neck.

They did one on my thorasic spine a few months later and the only thing they found was a sporals node. They said that was the reason for my pain and put me on pills. They did a follow up MRI like 5 years later.

Then another one in about a year. That is the one that they finally noticed the black dot all through my thorasic spine. So they looked back at all the others and found that they all had black spots all through them also. They ordered a contrast MRI and sent me to a specialist at UCSF. When I went to see him, he said that his radiologist thought that it was artifact (a mistake in the filming), yeah on all four MRIs. I thought this sounded very strange, but the only way to know for sure was to have an angigram, which I thought had too many risks for a maybe you have it maybe you don't. So I figured if I dropped one day then I would know and put it out of my mind.

I moved to a new state and in the changing of doctors, of course they did another MRI. When I had that one done, I mentioned what I had been through with AVM thing and that I was left as maybe yes, maybe no. He said no problem he would just make sure that he took the images when I had a heart beat or something.

When the results of that came back again this new MRI place says I have it for sure. The doctor I see now is a pain management doc, so he doesn't know anything about it. And that is where it has been left. I have not followed up on it since then and that was a couple years ago.

My symtoms are burning, tingling, and pain across my back (where my shoulder blades are) and at times it comes down my left arm. Recently, I have noticed that my grip is getting weaker, and I drop things all the time. I also get alot of dizzy spells. I did have a brain MRI a year and a half ago, because I had really high blood pressure and severe headaches after the birth of my son. I asked if that showed any sign of AVM and they said no, so at least that is good.

Has anyone known anyone who has had this without losing function before they found it and has anyone who has had the different surgeries lost function from the surgery them selves or was the lose of function before the surgery and just didn't come back. I don't want to push my luck. I haven't lost any function so I don't want to have the angigram done if it will make me lose function. I have three children and two disabled parents that I take care of, lose of function would be very bad. My parents would have to go into a home, and I have worked so hard to avoid that.

Anyway any info anyone may have would be helpful. And what kind of doctor is the best doctor to see for this?