Your Wonderful "thanks of Appreciation" Posted: 09-22-07 15:21pm
Hello Everyone,
You all put a smile on my face and give me
a warm feeling inside with your very kind
words of appreciation for starting this
thread. It is SOOOooo GREAT to have this
spiney farmily back together again and
growing. Each one of you make it so.
THANKS!!!!!
RichT
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Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
Second Opinion Posted: 09-22-07 17:11pm
Rich T. Last September, I went to a
chiropractor. Why did I go? Because
chiropractors had been using warm moist
heat or ice, ultra sound, and subluxation
on me for at least 10 years. I would add
Advil to relieve the back pain. I have
had back spasms that occurred routinely
for most of early adulthood. I can read
the history of my married life in my
present MRI, from having babies, to
cleaning house and working like a big man
instead of the 5 ft. tall woman that I am.
I blame the height on genetics from
southern Europe. I would take 4 Advil and
take to my bed with ice packs right after
a chiro visit. I would simply be told
that the muscles in my back were in spasm
and that was the choice of treatment.
Ten years ago, I started to have serious
spasms that would last for days at a time.
By 2000, one MD put me on 50 mg. of Viox
for 5 days before the pain went away.
When I went to an Ortho MD, he said I was
treating it correctly and never once
suggested X-Ray or MRI.
Then because of retirement of my PP, I
went to a new PP. Last September after
the chiro could do no more, I went to my
PP and complained that I had had it up to
my eyeballs with this conservative
treatment. That's when he ordered me
Ultracet and sent me for an MRI.
Nothing here in this area of the
cornfields of Ohio can get you anywhere,
until 28 days have passed. You are not an
emergency with just pain. You have to
have had a heart attack or can't breath
before the emergency room starts to
function. And of course that has to be
documented before treatment is initiated.
So it was 28 days before the MRI
appointment was given.
Post MRI Report, I refused my MD's
referral to the Ortho surgeon and chose to
go north to the big city's Pain Management
Center. It took 28 days before I got the
the PM Clinic. That's when I met my PM and
spent 5 months with injections. Of
course, I could never reach my PM in
between my 28 day,monthly, visits for the
injection procedures. I don't know why.
Even the secretary of his office was off
more often then on duty. But when you
were in his presence he was wonderfully
informative.
It was after 5 injections that I had a
major pain episode. I thought my knees
were going to buckle from the pain; in
fact they did buckle. I just caught
myself before I fell to my knees. I
called my MD and said, "I can't reach my
PM, Can I go see the Ortho surgeon that
you
recommended?" Twenty eight days later I
was before the Ortho surgeon. He found
the spondy by X-ray. He's the one that
said Fusion with instrumentation, Partial
discectomy and a few other procedures that
would be a 6 hour surgery. He ordered me
neurontin to go for 60 days until I could
decide about the surgery. Three days
later my appointment with my Pain M. MD
took place. (this was two months post last
injection.) I showed him what the surgeon
ordered me. He immediately said, "Don't
use that. It is an "old use med." I
suggest you take Elyeria, (sp?) I
remembered reading that this was one of
the meds that Carol had taken and she said
it made her "fuzzy". If it made Carol
"fuzzy", I knew it would make me "fuzzy."
I hate being "fuzzy" headed. That's when
I said to him that in the past Celebrex
had been very helpful to me post surgery
for pain.
He then said "Try Celebrex, but don't go
over 400 mg. And he ordered me a supply.
When 400 mg. of Celebrex just cut the edge
of the pain in my low back, the buttocks
and upper thighs, I tried 600 mg. just to
see if it would work. I did.
My PM does not yet know that I tried 600
mg for a week just to see how it would
work.
Now about Celebrex. Celebrex was never
taken off the market as Viox was. A
warning came with Celebrex because there
was a concern that because of the way it
worked on the body, it "might" I repeat,
"might" cause similar problems as Viox had
caused. But it was never taken off of the
market. Not only that, my pill book said
that Celebrex could be given 400 mg. 2
times a day and then it listed all of the
possible side effects with Celebrex.
Celebrex never, I repeat, never, had the
detrimental side effects that Viox had.
Many doctors used to recommend Celebrex
for Arthritis sufferers over Viox simply
because of the fewer side effects. In my
area, severe sufferers of Arthritis were
woeful when Viox was removed from their
meds because nothing gave them the relief
that Viox had. I never took Celebrex for
arthritis, because I was never diagnosed
with arthritis. It looks like just my L4,
L5 Facet joints might have been affected
with arthritis.
So when you asked me about the second
opinion doctor, I haven't gone to my 2nd
surgeon yet. And I don't see my PM until
November.
An anti-inflammatory works on my pain
better then a narcotic. But because of
the low dosage that is recommended in
today's world, I still have pain at about
a 4 or 5 level. Up the dosage 200 mg. to
600 mg.and I am down to a 2 level of pain.
Not only that, with Celebrex, I never
feel "fuzzy" I am alert and wide awake
and I don't sit in my recliner most of the
day. I love life again. I can't stand
being sedentary. I do plan on speaking to
my PM about what is effective and what is
not. I'm even going to discuss with him
the med you, Rich are on since it is an
anti-inflammatory.
I will have to answer Carol in another
Post.
Marie B
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Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
Carol, Me Too! Posted: 09-22-07 17:26pm
Carol, You are 100% right when you say, "
I can't get my mind wrapped around the
fact that I have back problems." Me Too!
It is funny when you say it that way, but
it is the Truth. Last night when I was
moaning and groaning to my husband about
not being able to go here or go there or
do this or do that, he got upset with me
and said, "You have to realize that you
have back problems and you probably will
for the rest of your life." Well, I don't
mind having back problems, but why does it
have to be the kind that limit my
activities. Silly of me, but there it is.
My mind just isn't ready to accept it.
I could walk into a surgeon's office and
be on the list for back surgery as soon as
I walked in....barring the 28 day time
period. So why don't I? Fear!!!!
And it is just as you said Carol, you
don't want to find yourself in a wheel
chair in the future. I don't care how
often "The Hover-round Chair" advertises
with that little old grey haired lady
singing, "You made me love you."; they
are not going to convince me that this is
a good thing adn I am not going to love
it.
Carol, Thankyou for your honesty. When I
see your posts, I know I am going to have
a good chuckle because there you are, my
twin.
Marie B.
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AbraCadabra
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 21 Location: St, Petersburg,FL
Waiting Could Be Bad Posted: 09-22-07 17:45pm
Carol, Rich, and others:
From what I have been learning, waiting
too long for surgery can be very harmful.
I have seen this written up several
places, but Chirogeek's website comes to
mind. I recall that he suggested trying
conservative treatments for 4 months and
then start looking toward surgery -- of
course, that is if your situation warrants
surgery. Waiting too long can cause nerve
damage. If you are taking epidurals on a
regular basis, and/or have symptoms such
as numbness, foot drop, loss of knee-jerk
type reactions, you may be having nerve
damage.
I was having some foot drop. I could not
walk on my heels without my left foot
dropping. I was having numbness in the
left leg, and my reactions to the little
rubber hammer were slight at best. Let's
not talk about the sciatic pain! Two
surgeons told me to skip the conservative
treatment and go directly to surgery
before I had more nerve damage.
Just something to give some serious
thought.
Guy
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Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
I Forgot to Add Posted: 09-22-07 17:57pm
Carol, about the steroid injections.
Here they call the injections, Lumbar
injections or Transforaminal Injections.
I don't know if Facet Injections are the
same. If they are, the term was never
used in my presence by the MDs.
My first injection I thought was a
miracle. It took 48 hours before it
started to work and then I had 10 whole
days of absolutely no pain and I flew to
California and back and I thought this is
great! I get two more of these.
Here they will only give 3 injections of
any one type.
Injection 2 kept my pain level down to a 3
or 4 but I still had to take 3 Advil and 1
Ultracet if I wanted to do anything or go
anyplace. I didn't want to scream in
public so I would swallow the pills.
When I went for my 3rd Injection, I told
my PM doctor that this was not removing my
pain and he said that was his aim "to not
just reduce the pain but make me pain
free." He then made a quick decision to
go to what he termed a Transforaminal
Injection. All I could determing was that
the needle was going to be placed at a
different angle at the L4, L5 levels and
the Transforaminal would be two injections
given one right after the other. That
time I have about one week with no pain
but then it was back to usual.
By the 3rd Transforaminal, my pain level
never got lower then a 3 and I still had
to take the meds to be able to do anything
but complain and sit in my recliner.
My PM has never once suggested for me to
have more injections. I think there is a
questions about the amount of steroids
that can be injected over a long period of
time. But I have never researched that
out yet.
When you talk about not being able to
stand or walk any great distance for any
length of time, that was/is me. I need
pain relief because I run a farm and that
can't be done from a recliner.
I am now on my way to talking to another
younger man who I am told has had fusion
with instrumentation and I don't know what
else. This younger man still has severe
pain and he goes for a steroid injection
every month just to get minimum relief.
I worry that his work might not have been
done properly and if I can lean what his
original problem was prior to surgery, I
may get some idea as to why he is still
having pain. I have no problem telling
others...."Go get another opinion and for
heaven's sake, try someone outside the
cornfields of Ohio."
Marie B.
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Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
Waiting Posted: 09-22-07 18:05pm
Thanks Guy for the information.
At present, I have no numbness or tingling
or any of the symptoms that you have noted
in your post....not even muscle spasms of
the leg, foot and toes.
That's why my PM doctor does not want me
to jump into aggressive surgery at this
time. But he also is having me see
another surgeon from his hospital spine
clinic to back up what he is saying or
else expedite my action in the direction
of surgery. This is also why I am working
so hard to make a decision. To laser or
not to laser? To try minimally invasive
surgery or not.?
That's why for the present it is talk,
talk, talk.
Marie B
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Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
'tis a Puzzlement Posted: 09-22-07 18:32pm
Rich, Your comment about ankylosing
Spondy made me go search on Spine Universe
for a read.
Because of the arthritis inflammatory
action on the vertebrae and surrounding
tissues, it appears that the bones fuse
and that is not a good thing. And yet it
is O.K for surgeons to Fuse by what ever
means the spine to prevent further spondy.
Surgical fusing is a good thing??? I
admit, I have not read enough on the
subject. But what I have read, "tis a
puzzlement."
Marie B.
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RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Thoughts Posted: 09-22-07 19:35pm
Hello Carol, Marie, Guy and MJ,
Thanks for sharing and for your thoughts
and perspectives. Much food for thought.
I would like very much to be able to
respond to each of your posts, however at
this time permit me to "step back out of
the trees to try and see the forest".
We do have similar and yet different spine
issues. We are at similar and yet
dissimilar points as to what to do.
We are on this teeter-totter. In a way a
balancing act. We want to retain and do
all the things that we want to do. We
know that at least at times this is not
possible with our current situation. On
the other hand is to hopefully regain
through surgery some of the things we
cannot do today realizing that surgery in
itself will perhaps cause some
restrictions.
It seems we all realize that at some point
the "teeter-totter" will move from one
point being the "high ground" to the other
side being the "high ground. We are a
THINKING group of people. We don't just
blindly follow what someone says. We try
very hard to make the best decision
possible realizing that much of the "data"
is an unknown.
This is when to me at least that I do my
research WITH God's guiding hand. To be
able to relax and receive His "peace which
passes all understanding". To walk with
Him in the confidence AND understanding
that He will always be there, and that
even though things may not go OUR way
because of our human frailty , He will
always comfort us.
Take care.
RichT
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joebob
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 23 Location: Springfield, PA USA
Posted: 09-22-07 23:34pm
Hey gang
Just had a minute and wanted to say Hi. I
am doing great. I am back to
coaching hockey and on my skates twice a
week for about 1 1/2 each
time. NO back or leg pain at all, just
some mild stiffness in my mid
back but I am no spring chicken anymore
and it does not slow me down.
I am still getting at least 1 massage a
week and that makes it all better.
Activity of any kind is my new addiction,I
can not site still. My highest
recomendation goes to Bonati. They did not
cure my bad back.
They repaired what was causing my pain.
When the other 2 discs that
are moderatly bulging and have
degenerative disc disease cause me
any problems I know where to go to relieve
the pain. I know that 1 of
these are going to cause me trouble at
some point in my life,but I am
not going to site around and wait for it
to happen.I do know where to
go when it does happen.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.
Joe
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mj57
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 22 Location: , USA
Re: Thoughts Posted: 09-23-07 07:29am
RichT
wrote:
Hello Carol, Marie, Guy and
MJ,
Thanks for sharing and for your thoughts
and perspectives. Much food for thought.
I would like very much to be able to
respond to each of your posts, however at
this time permit me to "step back out of
the trees to try and see the forest".
We do have similar and yet different spine
issues. We are at similar and yet
dissimilar points as to what to do.
We are on this teeter-totter. In a way a
balancing act. We want to retain and do
all the things that we want to do. We
know that at least at times this is not
possible with our current situation. On
the other hand is to hopefully regain
through surgery some of the things we
cannot do today realizing that surgery in
itself will perhaps cause some
restrictions.
It seems we all realize that at some point
the "teeter-totter" will move from one
point being the "high ground" to the other
side being the "high ground. We are a
THINKING group of people. We don't just
blindly follow what someone says. We try
very hard to make the best decision
possible realizing that much of the "data"
is an unknown.
This is when to me at least that I do my
research WITH God's guiding hand. To be
able to relax and receive His "peace which
passes all understanding". To walk with
Him in the confidence AND understanding
that He will always be there, and that
even though things may not go OUR way
because of our human frailty , He will
always comfort us.
Take care.
RichT
And with that said.........I say AMEN!!!
mj........
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Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
Joe's Eperienc At Bonati Posted: 09-23-07 17:22pm
Joe, I wanted to let you know that you
are very influential in regard to
recommending Bonati, at least for me. It
is your experience that has kept me from
scratching off the idea of Bonati. I keep
hoping that is exactly what Bonati would
do for me. Find the Cause of the pain and
eliminate it. They don't have to fix
anyting that is not bothering me. I think
that is what Carol was saying when she
talked about getting a surgeon to go in
and take away the pain. Anything else that
happens for the good is a bonus.
I am glad to know that your leg pain is
totally gone. This should give Carrianne
a lot of hope with the latent post op leg
pain. Nerves do heal.
Ice Hockey!!!....hmmm that's as rough a
sport as soccer.
Marie B
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BlueDragonfly
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 30 Aug 2007 Posts: 3 Location: Edmonds WA
Posted: 09-24-07 04:20am
Hi All,
BlueDragonfly formerly Dragonfly44 on
Carol's old thread has been MIA. So time
to show up again.
Oh my Gosh! Carianne has gone through
quite the ordeal. I truly do hope things
calm down with time. Keep bugging them if
you don't in a few weeks.
I was out of commision for weeks with a
triple whammy - usual bad neck plus
thorasic/rib and low back all kicked in
with major spasms added for "fun". Low
back with Chiropractic _ I found a new
fantastic one - settled down fairly quick
- but not the rest of spine.
This all brought on by a combo of sitting
on a hard bench for my Sister's divorce
hearings - no they wouldn't let me sit on
anything else - I tried. And compiling 6
years of medical payments from my
insurance company v.s. what Kamson and
Chiu claimed on spreadsheets for my
Lawyer. (Hardest thing now is doing
computer work) Wow, what an eyeopener that
was! They had double billed and even
triple billed and didn't give me the
credit for all my payments and much of the
insurance payments Plus, the 3rd surgery
only one year after the 2nd and identical
was $20K more - No wonder my Insurance Co.
cut me off for the 3rd surgery. ( To
update: I had 3 endoscopic
microdiscemtomies with Laser on C4/5 and
C6/7 at the Spine Center in Thousand Oaks,
CA by Dr. Chui. He had the same model as
Bonati but from what I've heard on the
forum - not nearly any follow up - just
keeps telling you it will get better with
time if you have problems. Any way, 4
years post 3rd surgery doing badly - as in
having some pain and difficulties to
constant chronic pain and disabled - plus
he had a Lien to collect on all the small
settlement I got from the car accident
thet started it all and more ! since that
wasn;t enough. )
Good news is that after a 7 month flare-up
the thorasic has finally settled down -
yeah!!!!
Pain meds - it was soooo hard not to up
them and I lost over a week since I
couldn't do anything - but all along when
I have a flare-up I just endure until
things settle down. WA state is passing
some very restrictive rules concerning
pain meds - American Pain Foundation is
addressing. I had to sign a Contract my
last visit with my prescribing Doctor.
This was so depressing after all the pain
I endured the last month not to increase
my dosage ( I'm on Percacet 3xs a day - no
side effects) and I haven't increased in 4
years. I still had to sign this contract
like I was an street addict.
Good to be back and see how everyone was
doing.
And if JoeBob is still checking in - ever
hear from the Chiro who had neck surgery
at the same time you were there????
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Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
More Info From Joebob Requested Posted: 09-24-07 18:55pm
Joebob, I believe you said you rented a
private beach resort condo when you went
to Bonati. They are not listed on the
Bonati website. Did you have prior
information on that condo adn its
location. Were they one or two bedroom
condos available.
Did you know how long you planned to be
there before you made reservations? Since
they were not listed on the Bonati website
you must be a superior investigator.
Did you check on any of the other condo's
listed for example the Gulf Coast Condos?
MarieB
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joebob
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 23 Location: Springfield, PA USA
Re: More Info From Joebob Requested Posted: 09-24-07 23:35pm
Marie B.
wrote:
Joebob, I believe you said
you rented a private beach resort condo
when you went to Bonati. They are not
listed on the Bonati website. Did you
have prior information on that condo adn
its location. Were they one or two
bedroom condos available.
Did you know how long you planned to be
there before you made reservations? Since
they were not listed on the Bonati website
you must be a superior investigator.
Did you check on any of the other condo's
listed for example the Gulf Coast Condos?
MarieB
I think they are the same place.They have
1 and 2 bedroom units.
At under $500 a week they are the only
place to stay in my opinion.
I was originaly scheduled for 3
proceedures so I reserved for 3 weeks.
Someone I know is going next week, october
1st.They found a unit
that rents for $1500 a month. I will let
you know how they make out.
My chiro friend is going back for 1 more
surgery on his neck.They wanted
him to recover from the previouse surgerys
as he had so much cord
compression.I think he had C/5 and C/6
operated on and is going back for
C/7 soon.I will talk to him later this
week and let you all know how he is.
Joe
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littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 340 Location: ,
Thanks: 15
Thanked:0
Glad to Help When I Can Posted: 09-25-07 01:02am
MJ, glad to help out and explain something
if I can.
In answer to this question.
"Could this also be the cause
of...........when walking you realize that
your foot just drug the ground
........when you thought you are just
doing a normal function of walking? (make
sense)......but you know something was'nt
quite right?? "
Yes, it is the cause. If you can't feel
the leg, foot, thigh etc. or only have
partial feeling in the area, then you
think you are walking correctly, and you
aren't.
It was happening to me before I had my
surgery and I didn't realize it at first.
At first I was limping and didn't know it.
When my daughter asked me why I was now
limping, I thought she was nuts. Then I
took a look as I "tried to walk" and I was
limping. Before I knew it the limp went
more to a drag of the leg. By the time I
went in for the surgery, I was dragging my
leg, not able to bend my knee, and had to
be very aware that my leg and foot where
actually on the ground. I had barely any
feeling in the entire leg.
12 hours after entering the hospital, I
walked out the door and got into the car,
walking like a normal person with full
feeling in my entire leg and foot.
As for meds and their side affects, well
all meds have them and some can be worse
than others.
Someone, can't remember who, mentioned the
limitied number of steroid spinal
injections and something about maybe
problems with having too many.
From what I've read on line and my PM doc
told me, there is a problem with too many
at any one given time. The usual is one
epidural steroid injection about every 6
weeks and usually no more than 3 in about
a year.
The reason is the side affects that can
occur with them and many of them can be
serious ones.
For starters, the steroid can damage
muscle, nerves and tendons. as well as
the following
increase blood pressure or prevent your BP
meds from controlling your high blood
pressure.
increase your blood sugar, including
enough to make it look like you are
diabetic and cause problems for
diabetics.
cause cataracts are worsen cataracts that
you already do have, or are developing.
cause serious dry eye
increase appetite
loss of bladder control for a period of
time
increase the risk of osteoporosis or
worsen it if you already have it.
cause the pre condition to osteoporosis
dural tear
nerve damage
decrease immunity for a period of a couple
of months
sleeplessness
infection
headaches
weight gain
fluid retention
These side affects come with spinal
epidural injections, as well as with oral
or inhaled steroids except for the dura
tears.
They risks also increase with each
epidural that we have.
I'm not saying don't have them, as I have
had 3. they didn't help, but I did suffer
side affects of them and they weren't the
most pleasant to have.
I also had steroid injection into my hip a
few months ago after being diagnosed with
bursitis in my right hip. Yup the same
leg that was affected with the stenosis.
I don't know if I would have wanted to
continue having the spinal injections
though, even if they helped. I didn't
like the idea of spinal surgery, but at
the same time, the injections only relieve
the pain and do not repair the problem.
Eventually the problem is going to get
worse and the injections won't work any
more. At that point, the original problem
may be far worse than it was originally
and may have caused more damage that can't
be repaired.
It's a tough decision to make, but in my
opinion, when nerves are involved and
being compressed, that can result in
irreversible nerve damage. Not a good
thing to happen.
From personal experience, waiting to long
can be a very risky thing to do.
Had I not had surgery when I did, as an
emergency, then I would now be permenently
incontinent. Not something I would want.
Hope this info helps. will post more in
another post.
Fran
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littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 340 Location: ,
Thanks: 15
Thanked:0
How I Post a Long Response Posted: 09-25-07 01:09am
Carol and everyone,
This is how I post a long response and it
really is a royal pain in the you no what
First thing I do is bring up the forum,
but don't log in. then I open a new
window and have the same page. I log into
the forum to post, which will have the
other window with the page logged in as
well.
Then I write my post as long as I want for
how ever long I want. When I'm done, I
click to copy the entire post. Then go to
the other window and log out. As soon as
I'm logged out on that page, I log right
back in again and click to post a reply.
Paste the reply into the message body, put
in a subject and click submit.
I sent the powers that be an e-mail about
the problem a while ago and the response
was "they will look into it". Until I
hear it is "problem solved" I will
continue to post in the method I am doing,
cause it's a real pain to be timed out all
the time.
Fran
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Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
Condo Posted: 09-25-07 07:38am
Joebob, just to make sure I am on the same
page as you, was the condo you rented in a
high rise?
I see on their website that they do give
Bonati clients special rates.
I believe you said your wife went with
you. Was she happy with the place?
I ask that because men can be oblivious of
their surroundings but more attune to the
cost of a place.
Do please let me know of the other condo
that is rented out @$1500 per month, and
who is the contact person for renting by
sending a private message if such
information is not allowed to be posted on
this site.
Thanks Joebob.
Marie B.
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mj57
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 22 Location: , USA
Re: Glad to Help When I Can Posted: 09-25-07 17:39pm
littleonefb
wrote:
MJ, glad to help out and
explain something if I can.
In answer to this question.
"Could this also be the cause
of...........when walking you realize that
your foot just drug the ground
........when you thought you are just
doing a normal function of walking? (make
sense)......but you know something was'nt
quite right?? "
Yes, it is the cause. If you can't feel
the leg, foot, thigh etc. or only have
partial feeling in the area, then you
think you are walking correctly, and you
aren't.
It was happening to me before I had my
surgery and I didn't realize it at first.
At first I was limping and didn't know it.
When my daughter asked me why I was now
limping, I thought she was nuts. Then I
took a look as I "tried to walk" and I was
limping. Before I knew it the limp went
more to a drag of the leg. By the time I
went in for the surgery, I was dragging my
leg, not able to bend my knee, and had to
be very aware that my leg and foot where
actually on the ground. I had barely any
feeling in the entire leg.
12 hours after entering the hospital, I
walked out the door and got into the car,
walking like a normal person with full
feeling in my entire leg and foot.
As for meds and their side affects, well
all meds have them and some can be worse
than others.
Someone, can't remember who, mentioned the
limitied number of steroid spinal
injections and something about maybe
problems with having too many.
From what I've read on line and my PM doc
told me, there is a problem with too many
at any one given time. The usual is one
epidural steroid injection about every 6
weeks and usually no more than 3 in about
a year.
The reason is the side affects that can
occur with them and many of them can be
serious ones.
For starters, the steroid can damage
muscle, nerves and tendons. as well as
the following
increase blood pressure or prevent your BP
meds from controlling your high blood
pressure.
increase your blood sugar, including
enough to make it look like you are
diabetic and cause problems for
diabetics.
cause cataracts are worsen cataracts that
you already do have, or are developing.
cause serious dry eye
increase appetite
loss of bladder control for a period of
time
increase the risk of osteoporosis or
worsen it if you already have it.
cause the pre condition to osteoporosis
dural tear
nerve damage
decrease immunity for a period of a couple
of months
sleeplessness
infection
headaches
weight gain
fluid retention
These side affects come with spinal
epidural injections, as well as with oral
or inhaled steroids except for the dura
tears.
They risks also increase with each
epidural that we have.
I'm not saying don't have them, as I have
had 3. they didn't help, but I did suffer
side affects of them and they weren't the
most pleasant to have.
I also had steroid injection into my hip a
few months ago after being diagnosed with
bursitis in my right hip. Yup the same
leg that was affected with the stenosis.
I don't know if I would have wanted to
continue having the spinal injections
though, even if they helped. I didn't
like the idea of spinal surgery, but at
the same time, the injections only relieve
the pain and do not repair the problem.
Eventually the problem is going to get
worse and the injections won't work any
more. At that point, the original problem
may be far worse than it was originally
and may have caused more damage that can't
be repaired.
It's a tough decision to make, but in my
opinion, when nerves are involved and
being compressed, that can result in
irreversible nerve damage. Not a good
thing to happen.
From personal experience, waiting to long
can be a very risky thing to do.
Had I not had surgery when I did, as an
emergency, then I would now be permenently
incontinent. Not something I would want.
Hope this info helps. will post more in
another post.
Fran
Fran.....once again many thanks for your
knowledge on this subject.
You have answered them all well. I have
had my experience with steroid injections
and it is on my charts.......that is one
that I do NOT want.......they make me
crazy......really crazy.
I've got to look for flight tickets
now.......so you all take
care......later...mj
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RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Flight to Pain Freedom Posted: 09-25-07 19:19pm
Hello MJ,
Hope you have found a good non-stop
flight. I wish you success in the days to
come.
Yes, Fran really has a store of info. We
are very fortunate to have her as part of
our family here.
Thank goodness I've not had any of the bad
side effects Fran mentions.
Take care.
RichT
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Posting Posted: 09-25-07 19:28pm
Hello Fran,
First, THANKS for the great info regarding
epidurals and their potential side
effects. Thank goodness I didn't have any
negative side effects from my first back
in April.
I had three WONDERFUL almost pain free
days until this evening. Checked the
weather and noticed the barometer started
to go down at 1 pm and is continuing to
decline. I think I need to be in a
pressure stabilized environment. HA
that's not going to happen. LOL
Okay, about posting. I tried to send our
admin a PM about our problems in posting.
Would you believe it is "stuck" in
"Outbox".
