My pain management/back doctor appointment was more eventful than I thought it would be. Two years ago, I had a surgical consult for back surgery. I hurt it about 5 years ago. I herniated the 2 discs at the bottom of my spine & when it happened, I was paralysed for 20 minutes. It one of the scariest things that has happened to me. The Mr was at work (no way he could leave), my family & close friends were out of town & my phone was downstairs. I finally got off of the floor & onto the bed while debating on whether or not to call for an ambulance. I decided not to. Why? I felt gross & sweating from cleaning & I was still in my jammies. Since I had gotten to the bed and wasn't really paralysed, I decided it wasn't really that much of an emergency. I was in a lot of pain, but I could sort of walk. Brilliant, I know.
It took a YEAR for my general practitioner to refer me to a back specialist that told me there was nothing wrong with me. Yeah, that's why I can barely walk. Their answer was to send me to another back specialist. I counted it as them admitting they knew nothing. After several cortisone shots, 2 discograms, several different pain medications, a surgical consult & a drug study, I'm still barely functioning. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of back surgery. It's expensive, takes months to fully recover & involves a 3-5 day hospital stay. My insurance company & the surgeon recommended fusion. The surgeon said he'd do the surgery if I really wanted, but he thought I was too cute to have a nasty scar (that no one would see). I've already had several surgeries & lots of visible scars. I really want to get a copy of the write up so I can frame, showing that my medical file actually says I'm "cute."
I was hoping the surgeon would have a better option for me, so my regular back doctor & I put the surgery option on the back burner until today. I can't have any more cortisone shots. I've had too many already which can cause tendons to rupture in a normal person, but for someone with a connective tissue disorder, it's even more likely. Because I'm young, they don't want to keep me on pain medication. Thanks to the Ehlers Danlos, I'm already guaranteed to be on pain meds for life. Doctors don't like it because you build an immunity & the doses have to increase. It's also a huge ordeal to get refills for certain medications.
He's tried everything my insurance will allow & put me in a study for something else and now surgery is back on the table. My other option is a spinal cord stimulator. I have plenty of time to decide what I want to do. Both are expensive & I'm in a catch 22 situation. I have time to recover from surgery, but no money. If I have a job, I'll have money, but taking time off can be a problem, depending on the job.
And tomorrow, thyroid testing!
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