had another doctor's appointment

[jeanettr]

I went for my third appointment today. My appointment was at 10:30 am as soon as I checked in they told me the doctor was in surgery and would not return till 12:30. I thought this couldn't be happening again. I told them I would return at that time. Doctor didn't get there till 1:00. I didn't see him till 3:00. He said that the bluging disk was not that bad and that I had arthritis in my lower back. He told my to go to PT and gave me a rx for Lodine XL. He also told me to lose weight. I am not sure what to think or do next. Has anyone taken Lodine XL?

[mamakitkat]

Hi,
Welcome to the boards. A bulging disc can repair itself if not bothered with. My sister in law had one that actually caused her to lean to one side from hip, well she did very gentle therapy for about 2 months, then had the series of 3 steroid injections, then her doc was able to manipulate her spine slightley. She is now almost completly srtaight with no surgery. now it did take about 4-6 months for all of this to go on. That is a very small time frame if you campare it to fusion recovery. Loosing weight can always help your spine, it's not having to support as much. I am overwieght also and I know how hard that is to do when your in pain how do you exercise. It will only help you to loose as much as you can, it may even help the disc to heal faster.

I would get a second opinion, make sure it's with a spine specialist with a fellowship and only does spines. then go from there. I would shy away from any dr. that doesn't seem to have time for me and also stay away from ones that suggests surgery as the only treatment that will work.

Your dr. does seem to be on the mark starting with PT but if he doesn't have time for you now, will he have tme for you if you get very bad or if you do need surgery will he be there if there are complications post op.

I have had 4 fusions in the last 3 yrs. It is not a fun thing to go thru and if these suggestions might help it is certainly worth a try.

Good Luck

God Bless


Carol

[charliecat31]

Jean
I don't know why doctor's do this with their appointments If you have surgery scheduled, give yourself enough time to finish it before your next appointment is scheduled in your office! I'm sure by the time you got there the second time he was really backed up and that was why it took until 3m for you to get to see him. Why do they do this???? They over book themselves and don't have any regard for patients sitting in the waiting room in pain.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now - I had a doctor do this same thing to me once and everytime I think about it I get all riled up.

Mama gave you some great info so I won't bother repeating what she's already told you. I hope things work out well for you soon. Sorry, I don't know anything about the meds he gave you either.

[Rushtonbear]

I been to my surgeon who did my first back operation,the first group I had told me I needed a fusion,this one said a decompression,then few days later get a consent form with details pertaining to risks and complcations of a fusion,I cried,cried so much I'm in a deprssive state of mind with anxiety to boot.

[Justoneofus]

Jeannett, Hi. I personally dont have an issue with the doctor being late for coming in from surgery. If it was for another reason yes, but to me.. that is a legit reason for being late. If I were the one that he/she was doing they surgery on.. and something needed more time, I would be appreciative he didnt rush it and botch something.

But all the same, I do not like waiting either. I can certainly appreciate your frustrations on that. My surgeon had the same thing happen to us one day. At least his staff came out and informed us of how much he was behind, and some of us went for coffee and came back.

I have beent to appointments like the one you described, leaving there feeling no better off then when you went in. And you went there for some answers. Very frustrating again. I had several of those with one surgeon I was seeing. I dumped her after me wising up and taking charge of my health instread of just waiting for her to do something. I fired her and starting getting other opinions. It took me 4 tries to find the right surgeon.

But my current surgeon is sympathetic, listens (most of time & that is a real biggie with me), and he takes action. This is my preference of a doctor. If you are not happy with your current doctor.. don't waste anymore of your precious time, search for a new one.

We all probably are overweight with back issues, since most of us have been unable to exercise for some time.. but it's not pleasant to hear the doctor tell us to drop some weight. But it does indeed help to do so.

Lodine is just an anti-inflammatory. If you take the Lodine for a few weeks and notice no significant help from it, I would call that doc and let them know it's not helping and to try you on something else or increase the dosage for more effectiveness. Did they give you anything for the pain? If you are in pain, it might help you to have some form of pain management program to help you ease it some. Again, take charge of your health. You know you better than anyone, and if something isn't working, get someone to change it.

I really hard to learn to be assertive to get someone to help me find what was causing my pain and to treat it.

All the best to you. Take care. Tammy