I was in a car accident a year ago. Still
experencing severe pain. 4 months of
physical therapy, 3 epidural injections.
Mri showed bulging discs but dr said it
wasnt bad enough to do surgery. Right
now, i'm taking neurontin, ultram, duracet
and also prescription sleeping pills
because its so hard to sl
eep. When I get a new prescription for a
new pain pill, it will sometimes ease the
pain for a week or so but thats all. My
Dr. Has told me that i'll always be in
pain (physical med and rehab dr) and there
is nothing he can do--but somedays, its so
bad that it hurts to breathe and I can
only sit for maybe 15 min at a time. So
when do you just accept that the dr says
its not going away?
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Suzy
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Sep 2003 Posts: 530
Posted: 12-12-03 04:09am
You don't !!! You are a human being and
you deserve at least quality of life.
That is a very unprofessional comment that
your doctor made and you definately
shouldn't accept it. Make an appointment
to see another doctor and get a second
opinion. See if you can get an
appointment to see a specialist such as a
neurosurgeon or orthopedic. Have you
heard of a micro discectomy ? You sound
as if you may be a candidate for it. A
micro discectomy is a procedure where the
surgeon takes out a very small piece of
the bulging disc to relieve the pressure
on the nerve. It can sometimes provide
you with approx. 10 years of pain relief.
Forget epidural steroid injections and
nerve root blocks, they don't work!
Good luck
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hnichols
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 6 Location: va
Posted: 12-12-03 17:54pm
Thanks suzy. I think so many drs don't
really seem to understand the amount of
pain and it's nice when someone does. I
went to an orthopedic dr, who refered me
to my physical med & rehab Dr. My dr
has told me that comment every time I have
went to see him for the last 3 months,
including that I should get a good lawyer
because it was a car accident that caused
the problem to start with. I've never
heard of a micro disectomy. I'll do some
research on that. Thanks a lot for your
message!!
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alize
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 18 Nov 2003 Posts: 4
When to Accept Dr Tells You Pain Forever Posted: 12-30-03 01:25am
I agree, you never accept that kind of an
opinion or unprofessional comment from a
doctor. They are suppose to help you
feel and get better, not make you feel
worse. This is long but follow it
through, it will provide you with good
information, I just had a discetomy done
with spinal fusion. Did you have an mri
done?
Back in september of this year, I
injured my back l5-s1 lifting something
heavy at work into a vehicle.
An mri was done, but not until 4
weeks after my injury. The findings
were: right paracentral protrusion at the
l5-s1 with impingement of the nerve on the
right side. I was already in therapy, so
the doctor ordered traction sessions to be
done as part of it. I also had a series
of epidural blocks done, and I agree they
are pretty much useless.
All seemed to be going well in
therapy, until one traction session, the
table came back together and I knew
something was very wrong. I had to be
sent to the hospital, where a new mri was
done. The disc had herniated, impinging
the nerve to the point that I could barely
stand up at all. The doctor informed me
that surgery had to be done to relieve the
pressure on my nerve before further damage
was done.
I had a discetomy done on 12/06/03
with fusion to help support the disc.
The pain after surgery is quite
incredible, be prepared for it. You will
most likely have great difficulty moving
yourself at all for a day or two. They
provide you with medications to help
control your pain. I was in the hospital
for 5 days recovering. If you experience
constipation, it is totally normal. The
medications will do that to you.
The day after surgery, a therapist
will most likely come by to see you, and
yes he or she will make you get up out of
bed. The faster you are able to the
quicker the recovery process will begin.
By the third day, I was fairly mobile but
slow to move around. She required me to
use a walker to keep my balance. By the
5th day, I was ready to head home. The
therapists requirements for me was that I
was able to walk at least 1800 feet, with
no walker and go up and down 10 steps.
Here it is 3 weeks later, I just
started back to therapy today. My
ability to move around has gotten much
better. I negotiate my stairs at home a
few times a day, one step at a time.
Getting in and out of bed and finding a
comfortable sleeping spot is about the
most difficult thing, followed by putting
on socks and shoes. Bending is limited.
Sitting is much easier, though I try to
limit it to 1.5 hours or it becomes
uncomfortable.
The incision area is totally closed
up and healing well. The doctor will not
allow you to shower for about 2 weeks
after the surgery since that area can not
get wet while healing. These are some of
the things I am experiencing, but you may
or many not have trouble with them at all.
Whatever you do, do not give up hope
and do not accept that doctors answer, get
another opinion. If I can be of any
additional help to you, please feel free
to e-mail me at alize@cfl.R
r.Com , I wish you the best in a
speedy recovery =-). Sorry I am very
long with my post, but I hope it helps
you.
