If you had bulging discs in your neck and lumbar areas (which appear to be touching the thecal sac etc.)and had symptoms of pain radiating down you hips and legs, as well as numb/tinly hands and feet for 5yrs. Then had your calves, ankles and feet swelling every once in awhile, as well as tingly/numb hands (mainly thumb area) off and on. Would this be signs of pinched nerves or water retension or any other normal aging process??
The reason I'm asking is 'cause this is what I've been going through for 5yrs and counting!! My family dr says that he thinks it's water retension and when I insisted that he run some tests to be sure, he sent me for a doppler scan on my legs (I was told to check my veins)which came back normal!
I've been told that I have sciatica, bulging discs both cervical and lumbar areas, DDD, DJD, and whiplash grade 2 disorder! Yet noone takes me seriously on how much pain I'm in or wants to do anything to get to the bottom of this!
I've seen so many different drs in these 5yrs and most don't want anything to do with me once they find out this was from a car accident and that lawyers and ins is involved. I'm beginning to think that I won't get any help til the lawsuit is over and by then I'll have permanent nerve damage among other things!!
I also think that because I can walk into their offices and I'm not crying my heart out, that they think I can't be that bad off!! I can barely even function at home, never mind going back into the workforce! My marriage is on it's last legs 'cause of stress etc. I just don't know what to do anymore or where to turn!!
I'd love nothing more then to go back 5yrs and change that whole day so the accident never took place 'cause it's robbed me of so much!! My kids don't have the mother they had before and my hubby certainly don't have his wife!! I also don't have me anymore!!! I'm not living anymore people, I'm existing!!!
Sorry that my question turned into a vent!! I'm just beside myself and don't even want to get up each day anymore!! What for?? To endure another 24hrs in pain, not getting anywhere in an end to this agony!!!
There's no need to respond to this, just thank you for letting me get this out!! Take care!!

------------------
your friend, out2lunch

Hi:
Maybe you should talk to your lawyer. If this is a result of an accident, no dr. will want to be involved. They wouldn't want to be subpoened to testify if your case goes to court. The insurance company will want to send you to IME and DAc's attempting to establish that this was pre-existing or a malingering problem, or some sort of psychological problem - then they won't have to compensate for damage done in an accident. They will choose dr.'s that seem to lean that way, and they pay them well.
it's the job of your lawyer, to send you to the appropriate dr.'s to make sure that any injury from the accident is recognized before any settlement is reached. Make sure you see specialists and have the appropriate tests ordered.
If you have a lawyer still working on this after 5 years, then you must have a case and reasonable expectation of some kind of reimbursement.
My husband suffered a brain injury in an accident in 1996 in Ontario. The insurance company did everything to try to prove that he was faking, and his injuries were not possible, and he had character flaws, and he drank tea that must have been responsible for his insomnia, etc. etc.. he wasn't of course,faking.
After he settled, it took a while for things to settle down for him. He still needs medication, he still can't work, many things are not the same. But, he has reached a point where he can volunteer an hour here and there. He is so much better emotionally. When your integrity is being questioned for years, it's hard to have a sense of peace with yourself and others. You will be better after you settle. Hang in there, I know how draining those years before settlement were. We had friends abandon us, they don't know what to do with pain and illness. Even relatives don't understand.
Melanie

Hello out2lunch,
I know exactly how you feel. I to wonder why do I even bother getting up in the morning it seems like the summer is almost going and the only thing I have done is sat and layed down for most of it. I have DDD through out my whole back.
And it seems like it wont get better for me either tell my court date has come and gone. Call the emergency room the other nite I was in so much pain and they said we can see you but not alot they can do since I have DDD but up the pain med. So they also make you feel like it is all in my head. Which really sucks. Also it is just as hard on our families because
like my hubby says he wishes he could do something to take away the pain but he cant. Most of the time I just sit and cry Im not the women he married and I wish i could be normal again. Do you know the thing that makes me the angriest is the place where I worked and got hurt at they never once called to see how Ive been in 10 months. well Im sorry you are having a bad time you need to vent do it it really helps. Keep me posted Kathy

out2lunch,I haven't seen your post in awhile and i can't tell you how sorry I am you are going thru this as you can see you are not alone I can relate to every thing your saying marriage,pain ,Wc case all of it.i wonder every morning why I have to wake up and see no purpose to my life now and wish also to go back to that dreaful day that took my life away,maybe we're here to help each other thru all this b***S*** that has to be worth something doesn't it!!Kathy,I went in to my work place the other day when my electic was out and was treated like a leper and no they haven't called to see how I am!!So maybe we should build us a arc and load up and move on two by two!!!!Hang in there I know how sick you get of hearing I do but when it's all you have to offer we have to give it,just know we care a lot,my only life now is what you see me doing now,so you are important to me and a lot of others!!!!!You are in my thoughts!!!!!!!!
Linda

Hi Melanie, thanks for all your advice!! I am trying to hang in there, believe me!!! I've been to all the ins drs etc. I know I have a case too, it's just draining every ounce out of me and my marriage!! Take care!

------------------
your friend, out2lunch

Thanks also to Kathy and Linda!! Your support really means alot to me! You're right in the fact that we all mean alot to eachother 'cause we're the only ones that truly understand just what's been ripped away from us! I hope one day soon we can atleast get the ins/wc off our backs and breathe a little easier, take care!!

------------------
your friend, out2lunch

Hi out to lunch:

I can totally relate to going back to your work where the accident happened. We always take up money and things when someone is sick or hurt. Lord knows on a daily basis they came around taking up money and I always put in even when I didn't have it.

They never as much sent me a card. When I was in the hospital a couple weeks ago for a week, one of the girls was there with her grandmother and happened to see me in the hall. She said oh my gosh I had no idea you were going through so much. She said you know I don't think anybody at work knew you were this bad. She said everybody thought you were just taking awhile to recover.

Anyhow my close friends from there keep up to date with me , and that's all I care about. You know who your true friends are when the going gets tough huh?
oh and by the way my job fired me , can you believe that. I work in a pre-school and the lady that does the hiring said,,,,, Well now that you've hurt your back , regardless if you love kids.... that just won't be enough anymore.

I told my neurosurgeon about this the other day and he got so angry at them lol. He said you need to call them back and ask them if they've heard of the Disability Act. lol He was really great to me the other day. I needed that after all this nightmare after the myelogram.

Anyway girl you keep your head up and don't worry what people think. If this accident has done anything positive at all,,,,,, it's taught me that what quality of life I have now is way too precious to waste on people or things that don't mean a hill of beans.

I cherish what sanity I have left and I know you guys do too. Keep the faith and I'm think bout ya ! Lisa http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
Accident at work March 24, 2003
Diagnosed with strained back and given 3 weeks PT
Continued pain -sent to neurosurgeon MRI showed bulge at L5- continued PT
May appt showed no improvement and increased weakness in right leg. Ordered Myelogram and EMG on May 28th
Myelogram and EMG moved to new date/ June 19

Myelogram showed no impingement. EMG showed nerve damage to the anterior tibialis.
Have drop foot and numbness in thoughout right leg/moving sometimes to left leg.
Numbness in perineium area.
Constant pain treated with Soma and Loratab 10.5.
Was hospitalized for a week after myelogram with ringing ears and pain.
Visited neurosurgeon July 10 and told that I'm having post myelogram syndrome and he believes all my symptoms will pass.
No improvement thus far with nerve damage.

Hi Lisa, I lost my job too over the situation, and they even made me make up time that i took off of work to go to PT, i did make up 4 days worth of time, and they said I still owed them 4 more days, then they let me go, saying they could not afford to keep me, yeah right, they had hired another guy a week and a half before they let me go, oh well, the attorney asked if I wanted to go back, but NO WAY, they couldn't pay me to go back to that place again, in the nine months I was there, it was pure he**, i hated it, well anyhow I guess it was all for the best, and you know I kept on working with my injury because I could not afford to stay at home...life goes on...ttyl
Michaela

Hi Lisa, thanks for the support girl!! My head is up and I'm doing better today! That was just one of those days where we all get sick of the life we've been dealt! Maybe if I'd had a choice in how my life was going to go from now on, I'd feel better about it all! Also if hubby could be more supportive of things he don't know anything about, I'd get through each day easier!
I wish you well, take care!!

------------------
your friend, out2lunch

Dear Out2lunch:
Hope I'm not being too bold here, but not sure if you understood what I was saying. After having gone through the no fault system in Ontario for a personal injury claim, my husband and I were disappointed to find out that our insurance company, to which we had paid premiums for over 20 years, were now responsible for paying for his personal injury. The accident was 100% caused by the other party. We thought this put them in a position of conflict of interest. Afterall, they also had to be accountable to their shareholders. They were very concerned about settling for the lowest am't possible and trying to prove there was nothing wrong with him. He hasn't worked in 7 years, this is a man who worked an average of 60+ hours a week and did volunteer work.
If the dr.'s you have seen and who read your MRI were hired by your insurer, maybe a dr. hired by your lawyer should also assess you and your test results. Afterall, x-rays and MRI's are all open to interpretation. Medicine is an art. I recently had an MRI done in the U.S. and the radiologist stated that I was surgical status, with spinal stenosis. The Canadian radiologist that reviewed it for my family doctor, claims she couldn't see what he was talking about. All the reports from the various ct's, ct/myelograms, etc, have contradictory reports. Each one was interpreted by a different radiologist.
Most hospitals can burn you a CD of your MRI and you can then make copies for next to nothing. If your MRI isn't current, maybe you need a current one.

Melanie

Hi Melanie, I understood what you were and are saying. I've already been seen by all types of drs from both sides and the suit is coming to a close. I do have an MRI coming up next mth though, at my request as things seem as though they're getting worse!
I also hate the fact that it's my ins that's suppose to pay for alot of things I need!! It wasn't theirs or my fault this accident happened or that I got injured! This no fault ins is for the birds!!!
Thanks so much for all your help and support though! I hope things are going well for you, take care!!

------------------
your friend, out2lunch

[This message has been edited by out2lunch (edited 07-14-2003).]