Need advice on this !

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iaffcherry

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I am a Firefighter / Emt and have a herniated disc at L-5,S-1 with pain in the left leg,plus a bulging disc at L-4 L-5. I just started therapy and hope that can fix the problems ?

My job tasks at work require me to lift over 200lb and everything I read has me worrying I will not be able to lift this heavy weight ever again. What is the most a doctor will let me lift is what I would like to find out from others as to what limitation have been put on them with this kind of problem .

The doc told me if therapy does not work then he would have to fuse the disc together? I am in a ton of pain and the meRAB they have me on is (lortab 10-500) they are not working what else can I take for pain ?

( If you have or had this problem please reply with what your doc has put on you for lifting, so I know what I might be looking at down the road )
 
sounRAB like you over did it didnt ya? i bet you are in pain i have the same things goin on with me except its my right side thats effected and my l4l5 is ok you arent gonna be able to lift more than 10 to 15 lbs for a while you might have to try steriod shots and some other things to try to get the inflamation down what are the drs. doing for you? a good muscle relaxer helps me alot somas are an excelent choice flexeril did nothing for me rest and no lifting for a while... let me know how your doing renee'
 
iaffcherry....dont double the meRAB without asking the doctor.....give the oxy a few days to get in you pretty good....DO NOT BREAK THEM and take partial doses either! follow doctors orders......if the bottle says take one then take one....some say take one or two as needed and such...just follow it!...the epidural will be a must! even if its a bandaid it may bring relief for a few days.....they will try and avoid surgery and take there time...WC is tough to deal with ...are you seeing the IC doctor? how long has this been since the injury?

Devon
 
Devon,

IC doctor what is that ? I was the injury on sept 27th (7 weeks ago) and have been hurting and just now getting things going to help me w/c sucks and in fact they take weeks to get things approved just not to pay . If I got hurt off duty I would have been way into all of this with my heath ins this sucks !

I did take you advices on the meRAB time will tell ? One thing that pissed me off today is it was the first time that I got to see the right doc to work on fixing me and W/C sent the doctor a letter saying they have light duty for me and to send me back to work even thoght they have done nothing in the form of fixing me I am glad the doctor said no at this point I am only thinking about being pain free work is not even on my mind !.

I wish I could get some kind of idea on this lifting heavy things as 200 lb was easy before I got hurt now a 10 lb bag is painful ? What do you think if they fix me up do you see me ever going back to my job ?

Mike
 
IC= Insurance Company.....when I was injured they sent me to an IC doctor and he said I just needed physical therapy and was just a muscle sprain.....after seeing a doctor who really cared and wasnt all about the IC and the $$$ he is now getting ready to do a two level 360 fusion dec 1st...so you see it was a bad injury and they lie to save a buck. WC is very sneaky and i suggest you get legal representation to help guide you if you see any signs of not being treated correctly......I wish I could have used my own insurance as well.....I have great medical insurance and cant even use it....the 200 lbs your wanting to get back to lifting is looking grime from mu eyes but your doctor will be the man to tell you.....if you went as far as a surgery then yes in time you should be able with all working out in your favor.

took me over a year to get my surgery approved......they did do a quick knee surgery though.


Devon
 
Your doctor will be the best person for determining the meRAB...tell em the lortabs dont touch the pain......what kind of doctor are you dealing with?


Devon
 
i understand you need to heal before returning to your job i know you dont want to but your future depenRAB on it, i go to a pain clinic here in mo they are so great! my dr. has done several procedures because i have tricare (military) insurance and they denied my surgery i take percecets 10/325 and they do work for me also he prescribed soma and taken together do my pain good for atleast 6 hours i dont take but 3 a day if that i try to take the pain most the time.with that and my nerve burning and decompression diskectomy i feel alot better. i hear so many people on here talkin about wc sounRAB horrible a waiting game i hope you get the answers your looking for thanks for the reply renee'
 
i know you are frustrated, i feel for ya, sometimes life deals us carRAB we dont like ( somtimes there is a reason for that i beleive) please stay strong and i pray wc gets you squared away i know the waiting game iv been there done that for 18 years being a military spouse and all... iv learned patience.. dont like waiting tho especially if your in need of help in an injury like you have i wish you all the best.. did you get some pain releif from your dr.? how are you feeling now? please take care renee'
 
Hi Devon,

I went back to see the doc today at the FL spine instute and he changed my pain med to oxycodone 15mg 4x day so we will see I took one pill and still have pain do you think I can take 2 at a time ? he also said he would like to give me a epadoral shot but I feel that will be just a mask on the problem will see. I asked him about the heavy lifting over 200 lb and he told me let's take this one day at a time . the whole thing is a mess as I got hurt doing my job and w/c TAKES FOR EVER !!!

Mike
 
Renee,

Thanks for your input right now what meRAB does your doc have you taking ? My problem is it happed at work so it's w/c and that is a big problem every thing takes time to get done .

I am ok doing any treatment they would like to try but they wont tell me if after all this treatment is done even if I have to have it fused will they clear me to lift 200 lb as I have 18 yr on the job and if they cant give me 100% with no limataions. I cant go back to my job as light dudy is only good for 6 months then you have to go on full duty or retire.

When you do my job if my back go's out at a fire again . I would be a goner for sure and I would not be able to live with my self if I hurt or killer a brother firefighter trying to get me out to safety .

Mike
 
Hi *
Please be patient with your back at all costs , I am recovering right now from my disk fusion in my lower back ( Oct 17th........ 2 disks 2 roRAB & 6 screws ) and its not pretty . I might need to leave the job I have worked at for 24 years and its a job that I LOVE ( how many people can say that ? )
My original injury with my sciatic was 1990 , when I jumped over a guard rail at work . I had therapy and it felt better and would just flare up every now and again ... a few times a month .
I re injured my back in 2003 ... then they found that I had degenerative disk disease and my disks had blown out in 2 places . I requested aqua therapy , since the surgeon at that time in 2003 had said I would need surgery in a couple of years . The aqua therapy worked great for me , I did have almost constant pain in my sciatic , but it was controlable with arthritis strength tylenols for the most part .
Sept 2007 I hurt my neck at work ( 2 disks in my neck had blown out ) and tried therapy for that too , but it didnt work and I had my neck disks done Jan 31st of this year . That surgery went very well and I don't have too much pain there.
While recovering from my neck surgery , I fell asleep on the sofa with my feet up on the coffee table , when I woke up I could barely move or walk . my back had finally said ...enough . I went for aqua therapy for the next 5 months again , but it didnt take the pain away at all and by this time I was on percocets and robaxin , and they would barely cover the pain .
After the surgery I was still on the percocets and robaxin and they added the fentanyl patch . I am still in a lot of pain , even after a month .
I am taking it day by day . WC does stink , I hate waiting for my checks . But I do like the surgeon that I had , and if these surgeries didn't work ...they wouldn't be doing them , I know I just need to be patient.
***REMOVED****

Have they said anything about an epidural ?
Be patient with your back , rushing back to work for your type of job could have very bad consequences , I have to lift a 60 lb grate at work sometimes and thats what they will test me on before I return to work next year , If I cannot lift that , I will be forced to give up my job that I love :( .
TC and I hope you get some relief ....

{{{{{ huggzzzz }}}}}
 
I also had 2 epidurals in my neck and 4 epidurals in my lower back , they have worked great for some people that I know , But didn't work for me . Its always worth a shot ( pun intended ) .... lol

tc ***
 
Hey TC ,

Thanks for telling me to go slow. I am waiting to get my first epidural shot approved And I am sure it wont be next week :( The pain in my left leg and butt is getting worse in the last 2 days. did not sleep at all last night . I can't stop thinking about my job . I have just about 18 yrs doing it and love it too but if I ant 100% I am not going to be able to do it any more .

In fact the letter the city sent to the doctor say I have to be able to lift over 150 ib and have no limitations !

Mike
 
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