Treatment Options

  • Thread starter Thread starter scrappinmaniac
  • Start date Start date
Hey Scrappi,

You are certainly welcome! Thats what Im here for!! ;)
Ive been having alot of depressing days myself lately. Tired of sitting in the house, but nothing to do that Im able to do. Reality keeps smacking me in the face every so often...and it really doesnt help matters! I am in the process of attempting to plan something for the family over the summer....but figuring it out is the pits! Im considering Dollywood/Pigeon Forge...never been there and have always wanted to go. BUT...theres nothing much in Dollywood for me...and just to walk in the gates...with a family of 4...we'd have to fork out $200...and right off the bat $100 would be wasted, because neither me nor hubby can ride rides (they dont give discounts to those who cant or dont want to ride rides)...so I just dont know!! Then all the walking on the concrete....can you imagine the pain Id be in?? But, Im considering going with it and just making that sacrifice for my girls. There really isnt anything else out there to do, most definitely now that I have limitations. And I definitely agree with you...ppl who doesnt deal with back issues do make you feel that you are faking just to get out of doing something....or to get attention or whatever. If they only knew!! I wouldnt wish this on anyone....but Id have to say "i told you so" when their backs go out on them! for me....alot of limitations i put on myself..not so much due to pain...but fear of aggravating things and having it flare up...or making the injury in itself worse...when I first got hurt..man oh man..i will NEVER forget it!! i could stand childbirth a heck of a lot better than that! so fearing going through that intense pain again...im scared to do alot of things. as far as you saying that you will never have another child..never say never! if its in GoRAB plans for you.....it will happen...maybe even when you arent expecting it! I hope you dont have another bad disc either. But yeah, thats the way I understand it with DDD too.

Im not sure who scheduled the surgery..Im thinking the surgeons office. I know when I was there, he was wanting me to get it penciled in right then..and I asked if it could wait til June...and he said yeah. So, Im figuring thats why they scheduled it for June. But I thought they would wait on me to call them! Im STILL waiting for pt to be scheduled...lol...so I wasnt going to schedule the surgery until Ive had that done!! lol.

Yeah, sleeping on my back, or my right side is horribly painful. But, Im a deep sleeper, so I dont know it until I wake up that Ive slept on those areas. It is horrible trying to move first thing in the morning after I have though!

Yeah the Chantix is great!!! Im still smoking 4 a day...BUT...im not wanting them as often though. Its almost 1 am..and I just smoked my 4th one of the day. Theres alot of space in between them...and I dont really even think about smoking anymore. Each day, they taste nastier and nastier..so, if I had to bet on it now...Id say that by the end of this month, I will be totally done with them!! Id say within two weeks....but, I want to make sure I allow plenty of time to wean myself completely off of them. I feel very confident with as well as I have been doing. As long as I lay down immediately after taking them, I dont get near as nauseaous, if at all...so thats how Ive handled that one! lol. Yes, Im still working on losing weight. Very slow process..but determined. I "diet" 5 days a week and allow myself to eat a decent meal and splurge some 2 days a week. that way Im not totally depriving myself of the great pleasures in life...LOL. kinda like "praising" myself for doing so well during those 5 days. Sunday, Im gonna start walking with this guy from my girls church. Hes divorced, and ready to start dating again, but feels insecure about his weight and wants to lose 50 pounRAB before dating again. So, me to help him...him to help me..to stay committed and focused..we have agreed to walk every single day that it isnt raining starting on Sunday (its gonna be raining tomorrow). So that will be another plus on helping me lose the weight....as well as strengthen my legs some. LOL...yeah I guess I could write a book if I manage to accomplish both goals at the same time, huh? Everyone thinks Im crazy for trying to do both tasks at the same time...but...I know that most former smokers packs on the weight....I cant afford to put on anymore...and dont have time to waste to lose the weight first, then work on quitting smoking....so Im gonna be strong and fight both problems at once!! lol.

I hate to hear that you dont think things will look up for you anytime soon. Thats just so sad to hear. But you know, I think I done something to mine. I mopped last week, and shortly after, I noticed a difference...and it has persisted. When sneezing or coughing, I get that shooting pain down my leg...which hasnt happened in a long time with coughing/sneezing....and more burning/pain is present. So Im thinking that the disc might have slipped out a touch further. But, its still tolerable...Im not dyin just yet..lol. Im considering going ahead and scheduling the surgery...either early August..or late October...cant make up my mind which. That will give me plenty of time to make up my mind...and yet, wc cant fuss or say anything for me not attempting to have the surgery. The way Im looking at it...they havent been in a big hurry to get me fixed....so why should I be in a big hurry to race to surgery??!!! Ive dealt with it this long...and have kept my sanity (barely..lol)..so as long as Im not totally miserable...Im going to procrastinate just as they did. My girls preacher is having back surgery next week....so am also waiting to see how that goes....lol. That might help me make up my mind even better..lol.

Well, am glad to hear that Little E is starting to talk up a storm! Thats just so precious.....but as with anything else...some days you are gonna be saying "will you please hush!!"...lol..You know how we just couldnt wait for them to crawl and walk....but once they did..it was "please sit still for 5 minutes!!"..lol oh what I wouldnt give to be back in those days again!! Toddlers are alot of fun!! lol. Well...take care..and I hope that you have brighter days ahead of you. I will be saying my prayers tonight just for you!
 
Hey Scrappi,

First of all, I started on my second week of the Chantix...its an increased dosage...didnt go too well..UGH. I puked it up within 30 minutes....but HOPEFULLY i can better coat my stomach tonight when I take it again. I did eat for the one this morning...but....apparently...not good enough...lol.

I got a copy of the report from the neurosurgeon today...it states that there was decreased right ankle jerk, and the right calf muscle is slightly soft upon examination. Not good, huh? Still havent heard anything about physical therapy.

How have you been doing these last few days?
 
Hi Ladybug,

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I'm just going through a tough time right now and everytime I tell myself things couldn't possibly get worse, they do...lol...that's life for ya, hun? I can explain what I mean more indepth tomorrow, I just wanted to post and let you know that I didn't forget about you...you're my lifesaver...lol...my understanding online friend...my family and frienRAB (what's left of them after 2 years of me having back problems/chronic pain and not being able to go out and about at a moments notice) are tired of me having back problems, they want me to be normal...gee, I want that too...I guess you can say I feel alone sometimes and on top of that I'm still trying to get use to the fentanyl patch and its side effects, which are mainly nausea and drowsiness...I'm also dealing with new back pain that I'm trying not to acknowledge, in hopes it'll go away and not become another damaged disc...I can't have another disc go bad right now, I already have too many, the main culprit being L1-L2. I need to start looking for a new surgeon before that disc gets too bad and causes additional damage...is that possible? Just a bad mental day :D.

How is the Chantix working? I hope well.

I will post again tomorrow, when I'm feeling better and give you a better update...like I previously said, I didn't want you to think I forgot about you b/c I could never forget about my best online back buddie :D.

Scrappi
 
Hello Ladybug,

I have some good news! I'm not sure how, maybe it was when I asked if I needed to call my lawyer, but I finally got my former neurosurgeon's assistant (Ms. Notsonice) to search for, locate, copy and mail to me a copy of EVERYTHING in my medical file...I should receive it no later than tomorrow, if I don't receive it in the mail tomorrow I will be on the phone first thing Friday morning. I made it very clear to Ms. Notsonice Assistant that I wanted a copy of everything in my file, all of my medical recorRAB, including my NS's personal notes - someone told me a long time ago to make sure I requested a copy of NS's personal notes separately when I sent the letter requesting a copy of my medical recorRAB, otherwise they could legally leave his notes out, so when I sent him a certified letter back on January 30th, I made sure to make that request.

Unfortunately, Ms. Notsonice Assistant, the grown woman I've been fighting tooth and nail with, since last Noveraber, to get a copy of my recorRAB, did not contact me out of the blue and surprise me with this great news...nope, I had to do all the work, it would have been way too easy for her to do her job.

Last Saturday I received a letter from my NS's office, which happens to be a large practice made up of a bunch of neurologists and neurosurgeons (apparently there is a difference between the two? one does surgery and one doesn't?)...anyway, the letter basically said...

...as of April 30, 2008 my NS was no longer affiliated with the practice and would no longer provide medical services in their office...my care, if continued care is required, would be transferred to another doctor in the practice, and my medical recorRAB would remain available at their office...if I wanted to transfer my care to another doctor, call them and they would transfer my recorRAB to my new doctor for me...the letter was signed by the president of the practice.

From the way the letter was written, I assumed my neurosurgeon was being forced to resign from the practice due to wrongdoing on his part, I also assumed this change had been "a long time coming"...I assumed this after thinking back on all the unbelievable things that I have personally been through with this doctor and his staff since my surgery day...so, I thought, GREAT, I'll call Monday morning and request that my file be transferred to another surgeon within the practice, or atleast get the copy of my medical file I've been trying to get for months so I can find another surgeon on my own.

When I called Monday morning, much to my dismay, I discovered very quickly that my former NS's assistant, Ms. Notsonice, the one I can't stand, was in charge of eithering transferring me and my recorRAB to another surgeon in the practice, or transferring my recorRAB for me (how nice of her) to a new surgeon of my choosing...once I realized I had to work with her to find a new neurosurgeon, I decided to scrap that idea...I did however decide to ask about the status of my request for a copy of my medical recorRAB. She made up a million excuses why she couldn't find my file but she assured me it was somewhere in the office, probably in with another doctors patients files...when I told her she didn't know that for sure and that I was upset that anyone on the street could be carrying around my medical recorRAB, she became really defensive and rude...that's when I asked her if I needed to call my lawyer to assist me, after all she did receive my letter on January 30th, she changed her tune really quickly after that and told me she would search the entire office for it and would call me back by friday....she called me back today saying it was placed in with another doctors patients file, she was very apologetic. It's about time, don't you think?

By the way, my NS was not forced out, he didn't do anything wrong, according to his assistant...she says he's taking another position somewhere else in our city.

How have you been doing? I hope well. I'm not doing so well, I would go into detail but I have to go for now, will update you tomorrow, I really do mean that this time...I promise :).


 
Hello Ladybug,

I didn't receive my medical recorRAB in the mail today :rolleyes:, and I can't say I'm too surprised...the assistant obviously told me what I wanted to hear to get me off the phone...I plan to wait until after April 30th to call the practice back, then I won't be forced to deal with the assistant, I can deal with someone new and in addition to obtaining my recorRAB, maybe I can request to have my file transferred to another neurosurgeon within the practice...I'll have to wait and see...I stopped having expectations or hope a long time ago, it makes disappointments easier to deal with.

I'm sorry to hear you've been experiencing more than your fair share of depressing days too...what a pair we make...we are depressed, crippled back buddies! Maybe the turn in the weather will change our mooRAB...I hope so b/c being down sucks, I know some people think depressed people enjoy being down but I absolutely hate it...I am normally a calm, laid back, happy go lucky, easy to please gal and now even my son looks at me like I've grown a third head, not b/c I'm mean or yell at him but b/c I'm quiet, too quiet, he's old enough to realize I've been sad lately...I even try my best to be my old happy self all day long when it's just me and him at home and I'm taking care of him...kiRAB are too smart. I really NEED to find a TOP NOTCH neuro or ortho surgeon to fix me and then I'll work on the other problems in my life so I can say ADIOS to this depression once and for all!

I can't believe Dollywood doesn't have some kind of discount for temporarily crippled people (like you) who can't ride the rides. That's not fair! I do think it would be torture to even go...and then to walk around all day long...have you asked your girls if they want you to do that for them? Maybe they would not want you to make that kind of a sacrifice for them, knowing the pain you deal with everyday.

Are you still doing good on the Chantix? It sounRAB like it works well...I will have to let my sister know the name of it, she has been a smoker for about 20 years now and she neeRAB to stop.

I'm going to ask you an odd question that you may or may not have thought about before. Do you think your husband (or for that matter, other family merabers and frienRAB) truly want you to get 100% better so you can resume your life as it was prior to your injury? Or do you think they have redefined themselves at your expense, by becoming the person you needed them to be while you were injured and disabled, and now they can not or do not want to go back being who they were before your injury ocurred?

I'll talk to you more later.

Take care,
Scrappi'
 
Hello Ladybug :),

I look forward to reading your posts too! They always lift my spirits and usually make me laugh too b/c you're always doing something you shouldn't be doing, LOL, like walking 4 miles a day all at one time...LOL...I really am surprised you're still able to get out of bed in the morning...if I attempted to walk even a measley half mile, I would be stuck in bed for a week, unable to move, but not you, Wonder Woman...lol.

Last Wednesday I had an appt with my GP...I have atleast one appt with her a month for a check-up and scripts for my pain meRAB...this was the first appt that I've had the opportunity to let her know how my consult with neurosurgeon #2 went...I'm sure you recall, the NS thought L1 needed fused but wanted me off all pain meRAB for atleast 2 months prior to surgery so my pain post-op could be easily managed...my GP said if I could go without pain meRAB for 2 months then I wouldn't need surgery, she also said if she put me in the hospital instead of giving me 1mg of morphine, like she would a regular patient, she would give me 3mg of morphine b/c I'm opioid tolerant, apparently this is common sense among doctors and the NS was simply being mean to me, she asked for his name and the name of the practice he works in so she can be sure to never refer any of her patients to him ever...yeah, one small victory won, onto the next, lol...

I asked my doctor what she thought of future surgery, b/c I know L1 is a HUGE problem and is on the verge of exploding, she said she wasn't a surgeon, but in her opinion and also based on her experience from working with other patients who have had back surgery, if surgery #1 failed then a second or third surgery will probably fail too and I'll still end up on pain meRAB for the rest of my life like I'm facing now...part of me (okay, most of me), agrees with her, but part of me will always wonder "what if", if I don't give surgery another try...my mother thinks I should find another surgeon and have L1 and possibly L3 (which is herniated but not a HUGE problem yet) fused, she feels that way b/c that was the game plan given to us by my former neurosurgeon, who said if fusing L5-S1 didn't alleviate my pain, he would go back and fuse L1 and L3 but as we all know, that didn't happen which may be why I'm in the mess I'm in...personally, I don't think more surgery is the answer but it may be my only option...my husband pretty much agree with me...what do you think? I would have surgery in a heartbeat if someone could guarantee that I would have about 4-5 good years from the surgery so I could have another baby...

Speaking of baby...I also asked my doctor if she thought I could have another baby, if it was a possibility at all...I don't think she thinks it's possible...she said getting pregnant may be an issue b/c I had trouble with that in the past and now I'm older and I'm taking narcotics and have been for quite a while...and then there's the issue of carrying the baby to term if I do actually get pregnant. My doctor asked me if I have ever thought of taking in foster kiRAB with the option to adopt them, she said there are lots of kiRAB in the system, she told me to pray about it...I was very surprised by her suggestion, I have never given something like that any thought...I have to say, it has made me think a lot, maybe God gave me a bad back so I couldn't have a bunch of biological children, instead I would have to take in foster children or adopt children.

I think it may do you good to get out and about and try to resume your life as normal as long as you can do it and not be too uncomfortable. Do you still have the tramadol to take when your pain gets to be too much? I hope you do, I hope you have enough to last until surgery.
I'm glad you are starting to lose some of the weight you've gained since your injury occurred...I only wish you didn't have to walk 4 miles a day to lose any of it. It worries me that you walk that much.

Take care Ladybug. I'll keep praying for you. Keep me updated...I enjoy hearing from you!

Scrappi
 
Ladybug,

I finally started a new thread, titled 'Ladybug - I finally received my medical recorRAB.'.

I hope you had a nice day :).

Scrappi'
 
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