New to the board and so fed-up with the pain!!!

[Nascarkitty]

Hi there I am a 41 year old mom of 2 wonderful kids, I have had back issues since about 1996 when I was helping someone out of a bathtub that was injured and just did the "RICE" thing and dealt with it for years it would hurt on and off but nothing bad enough to see a doctor, then in 1998 I fell on a wet floor and tried to stop myself from landing on my butt and ended up pulling muscles. Thru out the years my back has bothered me off and on but I was an active mother and had more important things to worry about so I just dealt with it.

Just last year I had to have 6 surgeries for "female issues" which resulted in a full hysterectomy and was laid up on full bed rest for a long time!!!!!!! I was on pain meds for all the other issues so I didn't notice that the pain was back again and 10 times worse from being so immobile, I went to see a sports med/orthopedic doctor who ran the full gammit of range of motion tests, took X-rays, etc. and found nothing out of the ordinary besides the fact that I have 1 extra vertebrae, so we tried physical therapy, that lasted 1 week before I was in tears and in the E.R. due to severe pain, she then ordered an M.R.I. and we found L4,L5,L6 were bulging and on the verge of herniation and have hardly any fluid left in between the spaces, plus severe degenerative disc disease.

She then tried a course of cortisone shots in the office the first 2 helped for a month or two but the 3rd one did nothing, she then sent me to see a pain specialist at a pain clinic and he has done a series of 5 injections under a scope and t.v. screen which hurt like h*ll and the next 3 days after I'm laid up in bed on my best friend my ice pack!!!!!!! Well now I am at the end of the amount of injections I can have and have had no relief whatsoever and deal with severe pain, have a limited life due to the pain and limited mobility, plus my pain doc will only put me on percs which I've been on for 2 years straight so they are like candy to me now! I am only 41 and feel and live like a 80 year old woman, I have no idea what my next step should be??????

[mamakitkat]

Hi Nascarkitty,
I'm sorry to hear of your pain, I'm 45 this month, I know how hard it is to try to be your age and have a much older body. I have had 4 fusions in the past almost 4 yrs, and still am not "fixed". An extra vertibra, WOW. Is that a plus for you or is that whats creating the problems?

I would say if I were you I would find a second opinion, perhaps even a third. There are so many treatments out there that help herinated discs. Don't have surgery unless you know you have exhausted ALL other treatments.

I have a brother in law who drove home from work one day and could not get out of the car, he was paralyzed, not even able to pee. He had all of the lower lumbar discs herniated, after being in the hospital for a lil over a month and NO surgery of any kind, he is fine, working like normal and all. I'm not sure all the details of what they did for him, traction was a big big part of it tho.

So I urge you to seek other insight, and do all the treatments you can find, reasonable ones that is. As long as no vertibra are out of place, you really have a good chance of not needing any surgery. Everyone is different and not all treatments work the same on everyone but it's worth a try.

I do hope you find the right treatment for you, and your pain is relieved soon. You will be in my prayers.

God Bless

Carol

[Nascarkitty]

Originally Posted by mamakitkat

Hi Nascarkitty,
I'm sorry to hear of your pain, I'm 45 this month, I know how hard it is to try to be your age and have a much older body. I have had 4 fusions in the past almost 4 yrs, and still am not "fixed". An extra vertibra, WOW. Is that a plus for you or is that whats creating the problems?

I would say if I were you I would find a second opinion, perhaps even a third. There are so many treatments out there that help herinated discs. Don't have surgery unless you know you have exhausted ALL other treatments.

I have a brother in law who drove home from work one day and could not get out of the car, he was paralyzed, not even able to pee. He had all of the lower lumbar discs herniated, after being in the hospital for a lil over a month and NO surgery of any kind, he is fine, working like normal and all. I'm not sure all the details of what they did for him, traction was a big big part of it tho.

So I urge you to seek other insight, and do all the treatments you can find, reasonable ones that is. As long as no vertibra are out of place, you really have a good chance of not needing any surgery. Everyone is different and not all treatments work the same on everyone but it's worth a try.

I do hope you find the right treatment for you, and your pain is relieved soon. You will be in my prayers.

God Bless

Carol

Thanx for responding, I really appreciate the insight, I see my doctor again in 3 weeks and will dicuss what all my options are, and yes they do feel that extra vertebrea (sp?) is a big part of the pain.

[TINCAN]

HELLO NASCARKITTY
I know what you are going thru. Believe mamakitkat when she says make surgery your last option. I have had 3 surgeries on L5-S1. The last one was a fusion with hardware. I knew going in that if I was lucky the fusion would relieve 50% of my pain. I think they hit about 20%. The main reason I had to have it was my spine was so instable. Whatever you do make sure you get a SURGEON WHO IS A SPINE SPECIALIST WHETHER IT IS AN ORTHO OR A NEURO. Make sure his or her practice is solely devoted to spinal surgery. Please hang in there. I know there are days when the pain is unbearable. I have days like those now. BUT YOU WILL GET THRU IT! Take your pain meds like you are suppose to. If you wait too long then the meds have a hard time to catch up to the pain. I now have cervical problems now. I go to my neuro spine surgeon tomorrow to see what's up with my latest mri. I do hope you feel better. I also hope you have a blessed day!! TINCAN
LAMINECTOMY L5-S1
DISCTECTOMY L5-S1
FUSION L5-S1 WITH HARDWARE
FBSS
BONE SPURS
MEGA SCAR TISSUE
DDD UP TO THORASIC AREA AND CERVICAL AREA
STENOSIS
SPONDYLIOSIS
DISK BULGE L4

[Coast Guard Dad]

My 2 cents, I agree, a second or third opinion is an option that needs to be done. A good Dr. is worth the drive, and yes, find a spine only specialist that repairs spines only, day in and day out. You can find them on line, and I am sure that you have a hospital in the larger populations of your State, stay away from the little country hospitals where spine surgery is done once a month. Get to a hospital where they do them everyday is the best advice I can give you. Doing nothing about it will not solve your pain. Get the ball rolling as soon as you can.