Back pain can be so debilitating. I am glad to hear your husband is seeing a surgeon. Prepare any questions ahead of time. Most likely the doctor will order an MRI, a painless tests, but it can be very uncomfortable due to the hard surface one must lay on. I want to stress that be sure the surgeon is an orthopedist, make sure he or she comes highly recommended. If you have questions right them down before your appt. and take them with you. So many times when we get to the appt. we forget what we wanted to ask. Also I would also have your husband see a neurologist. He can do several tests to determine if your husband has radiculopathy, weakened damaged areas of your body the back injury has caused which can be permanent. I can't stess enough how important it is to make sure your specialists are experienced, and are highly qualified. If you do not feel totally comfortable with this doc do not hesitate to get a second opinion. I don't want to scare you but my mother had major back surgery on her lumbar spine, which was quite involved, she had to have to herniated discs repaired, spinal canal scraping and a fusion. Her surgeon was highly qualified, but very arrogant, bad bedside manner, and in my opinion neglegent in her case. My Mom stayed in the hospital for 3 days after surgery, then went to a rehabilitaion facility for a week to help with her care. The nursing home/rehabilitation center was seriously inadequate where the nursing staff was concerned. They never checked or cared for her incision. Unknowingly she started to develop an infection, turned out to be a serious staph infection, (blood poisening) which can be fatal. After arriving home my 77 year old mother could not make it up 3 steps to get to the main level at her home. Somehow with the help of my 79 year old father she made it into the kitchen where she collapsed. My sister, her husband, my daughter, her fiance rushed over to help. EMS was called and they were able to get her up an into bed. At that time they suggested my Mom go back to the hospital after checking her incision noticing it was infected. My Mom refused, she wanted to wait to call her surgeon on Monday, the next day. On Monday morning the doc was called, the situation was explained and I was appalled to find out he said I can fit you in on Wednesday. By Tuesday Morning the incision was oozing yellow puss and thankfully my Dad called a company who transports disabled individuals to the hospital. They could not afford an ambulance. Turns out she had a serious Staph Infection, she spent another week in the hospital, a private room, because her infection was highly contagious and 7 weeks of IV antibiotics done with home infusion. My mother is doing okay now but because of the negligence of her doctor and the incompetent staff at the nursing home her recovery was set back by 2 months. My mom is stubborn, from a different generation, believes doctors are her superiors and will not question their authority. Also instead of researching the nursing home she chose hers simply because another lady whom she shared a room with told her she really liked this home. Why, it was beautiful, clean, had nice rooms, etc. I just don't want anyone to suffer because of poor choices. I told my Mom to ask her ortho what type of infection she had, he told her a generalized staph infection and sadly she believed him. I had to explain to her if she ever heard of a generalized flu, and if their was such a thing why do they have different injections each year. I also told her if that were true why are their so many types of antibiotics, if strains of infection were the same than one antibiotic would suffice. She finally understood. Recently I went to see a gastroenterologist, not my regular one, he had moved to another state. This doc after reading over my history, and symptoms, sent me asap downstairs to a general surgeon. Before any tests were done, he told me I would need my sigmoid colon out, and then scheduled me for a barium enema. I did not feel comfortable with this situation, had the test done, in the meantime researched the doctor and found out his specialty was hernia repair. Scared and frustrated I called my interist, crying and he personally talked to me and sent me to another surgeon, a colo-rectal surgeon who is also skilled in robotic surgery. Turns out the barium enema was the least likely way to visualize my problem. He ordered the proper tests, I feel very comfortable with him and will see him on Tuesday and we will discuss my options. I know this post is long but I just want everyone to know the importance of selecting a doctor, use your intuition, and make sure you are comfortable, and confident with the doctor.
Cindy
Saving 
