That is quite a system you have to post on
ehealth. We sure shouldn't have to go
through this pain like we do. I'm amazed
people put up with it.
By the way, how did you send an E-mail to
the admin? For some reason my mind isn't
clicking right tonight. So what's new?
LOL
RichT
|
mj57
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 22 Location: , USA
Re: Flight to Pain Freedom Posted: 09-25-07 19:41pm
RichT
wrote:
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
Hi there RichT.......Thank you. How have
you been doing? I'm glad you have not
experienced any of those symptoms
either........they are terrible.
I'm still searching for a flight......I
keep wondering if they may get cheaper???
....oooorrrrrrrrrrr..........maybe not!!!
It's always a roll of the dice....Huh??
Take care to.........mj
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 901
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Ice Hockey Great!!! Posted: 09-25-07 20:27pm
Hello Joe,
And you amaze me again!!! Bonati has
given you back your life. Do enjoy being
an ice hockey coach. But, do be careful.
Your body and mind are telling you you are
good as new, however, it does take the
body time to really heal.
ENJOY your life as I know you are. Thanks
for stopping by now and then and the
encouragement and help you are giving.
RichT
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 901
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Thanks For Sharing Posted: 09-25-07 20:42pm
Hello BlueDragonfly,
AHHHHHhhh, so nice to see your post.
Sorry to read about your bad back pains.
Glad you found a good chiro.
OUCH!!! That was terrible that you could
not sit on something that was comfortable
to you. I'll bet you were ready to slug
the judge. Hard benches are a NO NO for
me too. In fact even an uncomfortable
cushioned chair will take care of my back.
I recently bought a Temperpedic seat
cushion that I take to resturants and
wherever I go. REALLY helps me.
It is unbelievable what Chiu and his group
did. That should be on the front page of
the newspaper.
Please do stay in touch. I really
appreciate your sharing. It will help all
of us in our decisions.
Hope you get a good night's rest.
RichT
|
joebob
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 23 Location: Springfield, PA USA
Re: Condo Posted: 09-25-07 23:34pm
Marie B.
wrote:
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.
I sent you a message. My wife really liked
the place.Very clean and comfortable.I was
not concerned with saving a buck,I wanted
to be some
place nice for 3 weeks.We are thinking of
renting there again when we go back again
to see many of the sites we missed and
enjoy some time in
the sun with our kids.
Joe
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 207 Location: ,
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
Re: Posting Posted: 09-26-07 00:28am
RichT
wrote:
Back again Fran,
That is quite a system you have to post on
ehealth. We sure shouldn't have to go
through this pain like we do. I'm amazed
people put up with it.
By the way, how did you send an E-mail to
the admin? For some reason my mind isn't
clicking right tonight. So what's new?
LOL
RichT
Rich,
Hey, it's the life of us spineys, dealing
with pain, discomfort etc. all the time.
We shouldn't be surprised that we have
this pain in the you know what, in
posting.
Oh, by the way, isn't the pressure
gradient changes fun? Trust me, I can
give you a better weather forcast than any
weather person going. And it isn't fun.
discomfort is now pain for me, as this
horrible heat and humidity is moving in
for a one day final stand. Low to mid
90's and 65-70 degree dew point to join
it. Didn't anyone tell mother nature that
it's fall in New England now, not mid
August? the dog days of summer are
supposed to be over.
Course any time the weather changes one
part of my body or the other talks to me.
Just as long as I don't feel the old
appendectomy scar start to double me over
in pain. that ones is from 1969.
the one time it doubled me over instead of
just hurt was Feb 6-7, 1978. Yup the
blizzard of 1978. Gees, I was 7 months
pregnant with my son then too.
That one gets me with snowstorm coming,
just never as bad as that time.
OK so how did I get the e-mail through.
I went to the home page for ehealthforum
and went to the bottom of the page where
it says contact us. clicked there and the
page came up to contact them. I filled in
all the info, made sure the subject was
technical, then filled in the problem and
clicked send. It went right through.
Problem is the info got to them and they
read it, then it just seems to have
vanished cause they haven't done anything
about it.
The last long post I posted, I did they
way I posted about, but also tried to see
if it would go through, of course I was
timed out.
They need to get this fixed. it's crazy.
So glad that referral worked out for you.
Fran
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 230 Location: Ohio
Mj Flight Posted: 09-26-07 07:55am
MJ, Have a safe flight and May God Be
with You from your Departure, your Stay
and your Return.
Marie B
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 230 Location: Ohio
Books On Shelf Posted: 09-26-07 08:49am
Hi Everybody!
I've put all of my spiney books on the
bookshelf. Hey! Who needs books when we
got Fran to fill in the blanks. Fran,
don't go away and don't stop letting us
know how your spine surgery has or is
affecting the rest of your body. I've
come to believe that once the spine
sneezes; all bones, muscles and nerves
echo the sneeze and they makd sure we know
about it.
Joebob, thankyou, I got your message.
Then I read the post on the Forum and it
clarified which condo your wife liked.
Thanks.
Bless you Rich T. You responded to my
distress call and now I have a place to
share my pain, suffering and fears with
people who understand.
Blue Dragonfly, I read of all of your
sufferings from the California place on
the Old Forum and am glad to see you are
posting on this Forum. You are certainly
carrying a lot of crosses. Hope you are
given the opportunity to be relieved of
them soon.
Now for my spiney twin, Carol, who wears
the yellow rose of Texas, she must be
having some pain relief to continue with
her studies. Where are you Carol?
Now while everyone is having trouble with
getting their posts off, I keep looking at
the Emoticons and have no idea how to put
them on a post.
I've tried dragging. I've tried right
clicking and nothing.
I particularly liked all of the darling
smiley faces that you all used to use on
the old Forum; particularly the clicking
beer glasses. It certainly expressed the
feelings of all who used them. Maybe I
should go look under "help" on the tool
box.
Marie B.
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 207 Location: ,
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
Smileys Posted: 09-26-07 15:11pm
Marie,
I'm trying to see if this works for the
smileys. not sure if it will.
Fran
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 207 Location: ,
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
How to Use the Smileys On the Post a Reply Posted: 09-26-07 15:22pm
marie, I don't know about the fancy
smileys but do with the ones listed on
this forum.
To use those you do the following.
Go to the bottom of the page and click on
post a reply. don't use the quick
response.
Once on the post a reply you will see the
smileys and where it says "view more
emotions.
Where ever you want one of them to appear
in your message just click on one of the
smiley pics. It will show up in your
message as a bunch of numbers, letters,
punctution and/or a combo of any and all
of them. When you either preview the
message first or just click submit, the
smileys will show up in the message.
Now if someone can tell us how to get all
the real fancy ones, I'd love those too,
but there is a message under the help on
this forum that too many smileys in a post
are not allowed or something to that
affect and they delete them. If
you click preview, you can be sure that
you have the smileys in the right place,
used the ones you wanted or make changes.
Just scroll down the page a bit.
Marie said "Hi Everybody!
I've put all of my spiney books on the
bookshelf. Hey! Who needs books when we
got Fran to fill in the blanks. Fran,
don't go away and don't stop letting us
know how your spine surgery has or is
affecting the rest of your body. I've come
to believe that once the spine sneezes;
all bones, muscles and nerves echo the
sneeze and they makd sure we know about
it. "
Marie, don't put those books away, I
really don't know as much as you think I
do. Just had enough nursing school,
science classes and a daughter that just
about has her masters in Biology as well
as minor in anatomy and physiology and
genetics and microbiology.
When in doupt I pick her brain and make
her looke things up to.
One advantage I do have though, is a
thourogh understanding of the medical
terminology and that always helps to
understand a doc.
As for one thing connected to the other.
It makes perfect sense when you think
about it.
From head to toe, all our bones, muscles,
tendons, ligaments are all connected to
one another, with the nerves and joints
thrown in there too.
All it takes is to knock one thing out of
align and it starts to throw off
everything. Depending on what is knocked
off, the severity and for how long and
presto, we are causing a problem of some
kind somewhere else in the body.
A simple example is my 20 year old son.
When he was 15, he shattered his ankle in
a basketball game; badly enough that it
needed to be totally reconstructed. He
was on crutches for 10 weeks before the
cast came off and he started intensive PT
that lasted for 5 months before he could
fully walk again.
By the time the cast came off, the poor
kid was sore in every muscle in his body,
arms, hands, wrists, shoulder, neck, back,
and his left leg from thigh to toes was
twice the size as the other one.
Part of that was from the atrophy of the
right leg not being used for so long and
the left leg muscles enlarged from extra
use.
All that soreness was from using muscles
that you normally wouldn't use the way he
was using them, but had no choice.
He never thought the aches and pains would
go away, but as soon as he had had enough
PT to begin to put some weight on his
right leg, the soreness in the other
muscles started to go away. Took about 2
months for them all to go.
So if we have a spinal problem of some
kind we end up using muscles abnormally to
compensate for what we can't do with the
spine. Many times it happens and we are
unaware of the underlying problem until we
are finally doubled over in pain.
In my case in particular, my spinal doc
told me that the first indication of a
spinal problem was the plantar facsaitits
I had in 2001-2002, even though there was
no evidence of my not standing correctly
or anything else.
I got that healed and started using sports
orthotics and good shoes.
That corrected the way I was standing but
it through my spine off more and I began
to stand a bit off, but not enough for
anyone to notice. That slight bit off was
enough to create a problem when I shoveled
snow and caused tennis elbow in my right
arm, the right because I am right handed
and put more strength in the right arm
than the left.
The arm was not treated correctly or
diagnosed correctly. I had surgery on it
that made things worse with the arm,
unable to use it for a long time. My
physical activity declined to almost
nothing because I couldn't go anywhere,
drive, and had difficulty walking because
I couldn't swing my arms and it hurt
horribly to walk much.
The lack of movement and walking set in
motion a slow spiral of symptoms of spinal
stenosis and loss of core muscle strength.
Without that muscle strength to help
support the spine, all the symptoms of the
stenosis finally just hit me all at once.
Ironically the second opinion ortho for my
arms, that is part of the practice with my
spine doc, wondered if a spine problem was
going on, right from the beginning, but
wanted to get the arms under control
before we moved in that direction, since I
had no real spinal symptoms.
By the time I was going to schedule the
MRI to be safe, I couldn't get out of bed
because of the pain from the stenosis. It
literally hit me out of no where. Went to
bed one night fine and couldn't get up the
next morning.
I am also a perfect example of the reverse
happening as well. Fix the spine problem
and it leads to another one. the feet
where very happy the way they where before
the surgery, not so afterwards. Had to
take care of that problem as well.
OK time to make some dinner.
Fran
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 230 Location: Ohio
Okey Dokey Posted: 09-26-07 15:48pm
Before your instructions, when I would
click on a smiley, I would see all of the
numbers and think I was doing something
wrong.
I will give it a try. Odd that they would
put the emoticons and then expect you to
not use them.
Marie B.
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 901
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Re: Waiting to Long Posted: 09-27-07 18:26pm
AbraCadabra
wrote:
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
Helloi Guy,
Guy, you provided excellent thoughts and
wisdom in your post. Much appreciate.
Good food for thought.
You are correct, waiting too long can be
harmfull. That is why my spine surgeon
does not want me to wait more than six
months for my surgery. His concern is that
I may risk the use of my legs because of
nerve damage.
"of course, that is if your situation
warrants surgery." Very true, and that is
the million dollar question. My PM doc,
my surgeon's own PA, Dr. Wiesel and
another spine surgeon have all said to
'WAIT", that surgery is not warranted at
this time.
Before the epidural I had pain in my right
butt, and upper right leg. I had a
tingling sensation in my lower right leg.
No foot drop as you had. Oh yes, very
litttle response to that "little rubber
hammer" on my right knee.
Since the epidural in April no pain in the
butt (just what others cause me LOL),
tingling sensation is gone as is the pain
in my right leg. AND what makes me feel
better is that the response of my leg to
that rubber hammer is better.
Yep, still have some of the lower back
pain, can't stand in one place, and can't
sit in uncomfortable chairs. Even my
spine surgeon told me that I may still
have some pain even with successful
surgery.
I'm looking forward to having dinner with
my PM doc. A way to thank him for what he
has done for me, and a time to discuss
"me" and the future "off the record".
You know I'm a gardener. That means
lifting a bit of weight now and then.
When Joe said that his doctor recommended
he not lift more than 35 lbs at one time
after his surgery, and someone else said
they should only lift 10 lbs max after
surgery, I went OUCH!!!!! For me, 100 lbs
is pushing it a bit now, but 75 is not
unusual.
Time will tell the path to take. AND
everyone's experiences and thoughts will
help me to make the right decision at the
right time. Your posts are INVALUABLE to
me.
Again Guy, thanks for your caution about
waiting too long. Spines are a roll of the
dice.
RichT
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 901
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Posting Difficulties Posted: 09-27-07 18:37pm
Hello Fran,
Yep, I did as you did in trying to send a
message to the admin. No response. This
morning I sent an E-mail to the CEO, Mr.
Lurie and told him about the posting
difficulty we are having and asked for his
assistance. WOW was I pleasantly
surprised when I received a very timely
and positive E-mail from him. Overcoming
software problems can take time, so we
need to be patient.
Take care.
RichT
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 230 Location: Ohio
Second Opinion Here Posted: 09-27-07 20:42pm
Well, it was a long day everyone. I met a
new spinal surgeon. Left the house at 8AM
after rising at 6AM. Hubby and I had over
an hour and a half to head to north east
Ohio big city. This hospital is too big.
Ever aspect of the body, Eye, Ear, Cancer,
Spine, Ortho, Cardiac, what ever could
possibly be wrong with the body, there is
a huge building for each place with each
its own parking lots. They even have
shuttles to run people from building to
building to building.
It's so big the computer paper work is an
immense drag on communications and the
left hand frequently doesn't know what the
right hand is doing.
The doctors are absolutely fabulous in
their capabilities, but Heavens, someone
has got to change their Financial and
appointment departments. The people
behind the counters are terribly nice. I
had a 10 AM appointment. I was placed
before a touch screen computer and I spent
at least 20 minutes answering all of the
questions on the computer. Then I was
given a 5 page booklet with questions on
both sides that I had to fill out. I
should have gotten there at 9AM just to
fill out all that was asked about me, my
histoy, my problem and my life. My
appointment with the doctor was for 10:30
AM. I was put in a room at 11:15AM. A
nurse with a very lovely personality who
identified herself as my doctor's nurse
got behind another computer and asked me
the very same questions I had just
completed in the Great Hall of the Body of
Wounded. Then a young, handsome doctor
walked into the room. He was Romanian, he
said, but has always lived in the US. He
was there on Fellowship. Wonderfully
pleasant kind, courteous and questioning
during an examination. Then he took out a
paper and began asking the very same
questions that I had just answered for the
lovely nurse and in the Great Hall of the
Body of Wounded. Then it was 12 Noon and
finally the Dr. who I had been waiting to
see entered my room.
For two hours we talked, I questioned, and
he demonstrated every aspect of surgery he
would do. Then he went out the door to
bring in more models of the spine and gave
me even a better concept of what he
thought was best to do. He was wonderful,
concerned and caring and he didn't want me
to choose that hospital for the surgery
but another one that he functioned in
because he didn't want me to get lost in
the great crowd of humans who had spine
surgery by many doctors...300 surgeries
per day at the center in which I was
sitting.
The recommendations were Minimally
Invasive surgery with Lamenectomy at the
L4,L5 Level and because of the very little
amount of slippage, he also suggested that
he could go without fusion but he would
feel more secure if he could do Fusion
Insitu. Surgical Incision would be a
little over an inch. Under anesthesia for
about one and one half hour.
If I would prefer a spinal anesthesia that
could be arranged to avoid anesthesia.
And no, it would not interfere with the
surgical area.
A Lamenectomy....do you know what they do
with a lamenectomy to get to the
stenoses?...my stenosis is rather wide
based. They take off the bone that you
can feel at your back and they don't put
it back on!!!! He called it "taking off
the roof" of the vertebrae. But they do
that to get to the stenosis, the buckling
ligamentum and the osteophytes on the
degenerated facet joints.
He did not choose a laminotomy because
they do that just for discs. You can't
have the other stuff present...just a disc
that has either bulged or herniated into
the spinal canal. That's when they do a
laminotomy.
He said they would do a bone fusion with
insitu...that's making the bone of the
vertebrae like a very tiny washboard that
aides in preventing further slippage. And
they are very careful not to touch the
membranes of the nerves of the spine. He
expected the results to be very successful
and was sure that I would have no back
pain, no buttock pain and no upper thigh
pain post op. He did not promise "no
future problems in the back" because, he
said we all are going down that road of
aging and some are luckier then others
that they remain pain free even though
they too may have stenosis, even some
slippage but it is without pain and the
person is oblivious to the spine problem
because of the lack of pain.
I'm still trying to figure out how a
person can go with a hole in their back
after they take that roof off.
I also want to make sure that you know, I
am explaining this as a completely
ignorant,inexperienced spine problems
person.
When I got home I went to the laser sites
and that basically was what I read in
regard to stenosis treatment except they
must use laser on the lamina to take the
roof off. They don't give much more
description. And since they do a
laminectomy for spondy, I guess the
laminectomy might handle all of my
problems at the laser institute. I'm just
speculating here. I still have to forward
them may material for them to determine
the details of my MRI.
What I liked about the doctor today. He
choose to scan through the MRI Report and
studied all of my CD films of my MRI and
X-Ray of spine.
He very much chose to make his own
determination of my problem. My husband,
coming from a metallurgical background,
saw this action and thought with high
regard of the doctor. Hubby said, anyone
who would proceed with any special project
that required certain specifications would
never depend on another person's read of
microscopic examinations. The real hands
on surgeon should know as much if not more
then the radiologist about what is wrong
and what he is going to do to improve the
patient's problematic situation.
We drove back home another hour and a
half, had dinner out. Got home at 4:30
PM. It was a long and exhausting day with
having taken no celebrex so the doctor
could judge my pain level. I curled up in
my recliner with my blankie and slept from
exhaustion for 2 hours.
Hope this is a good description for anyone
facing stenosis surgery
Marie B.
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 901
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Almost There Posted: 09-27-07 21:17pm
Hello Marie,
As I read through your wonderful post in
which you shared your day, I felt I was
almost there myself. You have a wonderful
way of "painting" your day with words.
Thnaks!!!
SOOOoooo very glad you had a fine surgeon
who took the time to really communicate
with you. TWO HOURS - that's amazing. No
way have I had any doctor spend two hours
talking with me and explaining things.
You are most fortunate. Very good that
your husband, a metallurgist, had a good
feeling about the surgeon from his point
of view.
Sleep well tonight.
RichT
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 230 Location: Ohio
Yes But Posted: 09-27-07 21:38pm
Rich I'm still trying to figure out
between what I was told by the surgeon,
and compare with the language that is used
at Jobob's laser center in regard to
stenosis. Hudson speaks of Laminectomy
too. And yet at the other Tampa place we
all look at, there they continue to say
they use Laminotomy or Percutaneous
decompression of the disc. I'm still not
sure, if a laminotomy which is the partial
removal of the lamina is enough for a wide
based buldging disc canbe taken care of
with minimal access to the disc. I hate
the thought of a Laminectomy. It's as bad
as fusions and screws.
What language is used by your surgeons for
stenosis?
And I really am afraid of fusion no matter
how it is presented with or without
instrumentation. Do you think the same
way in your own regard?
I can also tell you that my PM keeps
saying that he works to relieve my pain,
but he always takes this position by
saying "I'm not the surgeon. The surgeon
can advise you about your need for surgery
better then I." Symptoms do not have to
be severe for the surgeon to see that
there really is a need to remove the
stenosis.
I understand that, but when I read the
laser websites, they really are not too
descriptive about their procedures,
especially Hudson. So I am still studying
the problem. And I don't think I should
wait too much longer to get that stenosis
removed.
I will sleep well tonight. Thankyou.
Take care of yourself and quit picking up
those 75 pound bushes and or bags.
Marie B.
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 207 Location: ,
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
Marie, You're Second Opinion Doc Posted: 09-28-07 00:16am
Marie,
Sounds like you found yourself a really
wonderful and caring spinal doc. He
actually sounds a lot like my spine doc
and that's a good thing.
You did a great job explaining everything
that he said, almost felt like I was in
the room with you.
Big Hospitals, big mess, one hand doesnt
know what the other is doing, and one of
my favorite parts is how they lose your
ins. info going from one dept. to the
other. Even is this day and age of
computers, that good old number on the
ins. card gets logged in in one location
and vanishes when you get to the next one.
Like I said, one hand doesn't know what
the other is doing.
So, based on the info that you posted, I
want to respond to some of what you said
and some of your questions.
First of all, all the questions you filled
out and answered several times is routine
in a good practice and/or large facility.
The first one you filled out goes into
your medical record. The same questions
asked by the nurse are written down by her
and also put in your chart, as are the
ones that your doctor asked you. You may
or may not have noticed that they had the
answers to the questions from the prior
set you answered.
I asked my spine doc why I had to go
through the same questions, first filled
out by me and then asked by his PA and
then by him. I told him, it seemed to be
a waste of time.
The answer just blew me away. "The more
times you answer the same questions, the
more detail a patient usually adds of
remembers more info and he showed my the
answers to a couple of questions that I
had written the answers and then was asked
twice. Each one of them had more info
than the prior ones.
My thought was, very thorough docs.
The fact that the doc spent 2 hours with
you is really a blessing. Looking at
your MRI and all films with his own eyes
and not just the readings is really
important. From experience, if the doc
can't read the MRI, CT or xrays, run away
from that doc as fast as you can. If the
doc relys on mostly the radiology
readings, likewise, run away as fast as
you can.
I'm impressed at the various models etc.
to explain things to you. I had only one
doc do that with me out of all the ones I
saw for second opinions. That was my
spinal surgeon and he, too, took all the
time needed to explain everything to me.
Like the minimally invasive, 1 inch
incision as well. That's what I had for
stenosis in the same area as you,
L4,L5,S1.
As for his wanting to do a laminectomy and
prefers to do fusion vs laminotomy or
percutaneous decompression. I can only
answer from what my best friend asked my
doc and she's a nurse.
Simpley put, he said that a laminotomy can
be done or a partial laminotomy if there
is severe stenosis only in one small
section of the vertebrae and it doesn't
involve lots of other things in other
areas of the spine or the stenosis
inovlves the majority of the canal.
If more than just a disc or a small
narowing of the canal from the lateral
articulate is present, then a laminotomy
is necessary and the proper relief can't
be done with just a small area of the
vertebrae is removed..
My doc also said that if he has to do a
laminectomy he also wants to do a fusion
because the spine is left unstable and can
create big time problems down the road.
I'm impressed with his idea of in situ.
If I remember correctly, that gives you
far more flexibility afterwards as well,
though I could be wrong.
He sounds like he's very confident in the
surgery that he talked to you about and
believes that it will be good for you.
The fact that he cares enough to have you
go to a smaller hospital for surgery, so
that you don't get lost in the system is
really great.
My doc does the same thing. He only uses
a big time Boston Hospital if he needs
special equipment for the spinals surgery
he has to do, which has happened about
twice in the past 7 years.
He prefers the smaller hospital as he
knows the staff well, nurses on the floor
post op, PT people, OR staff and they know
him well.
My friend, who is a nurse, was with me the
day I had my surgery. She works in a
major teaching hospital in a very high
pressure, step down unit from ICU, so she
is quite familiar with the inside of a
hospital and nursing care.
Over a year later, she is still talking
about the small hospital, the wonderful,
personal care that I got and she saw the
other patients get in the short period of
time I was there, and the relationship
that the staff had with my doc and each
other. Real team work, and real caring.
Since it isn't as busy a place, they have
the time to spend with a patient and do
the little things.
I smiled when I read your comments about
your husband's thoughts. Sounds like
mine. My hubby is an elecrical engineer,
very precise, very methodical, takes his
time doing things, and has to see things
to make his own determinations. He walked
out of every doc's office that I saw,
except my spinal surgeon, and said, "how
can he make a determination with only a
glance at the MRIs? Did he really look at
them? He spent more time reading the
written report than going over the MRI's.
I don't like that, he's having someone
else make his decisions for him."
I felt the same way as did my friend.
Marie, this doc sounds like a gem and if
it where me, I would trust him.
Like that he's not that far away. I know,
not around the corner, but if you need
him, he's fairly local. He left you to
leave and make a decision about what you
want to do or not do.
Going to the laser places, involves a lot
of money, long distance to get there, far
away from home. You meet with them when
you are there and have to have a place to
stay, another expense and have a decision
to make, more on the spot. Go ahead with
their recomendations or go home.
If you go home and then decide to go back,
more expense.
You have to be the one to make the
decisons and they aren't easy. I will
admit again, I'm just not sold on the
laser places. You know the questions I
still have about them.
I'm older, 57, and can be very old
fashioned in some ways with medical care.
One of those things is having my doctor
close by so that if I need him/her, he is
available to go and see and not a couple
thousand miles away. To me that is a big
draw back to Florida.
I could be wrong, and I'll be the first to
say it; but it sounds like to me you have
found a gem of a doc. They are hard to
find.
Fran
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 230 Location: Ohio
Laminectomy Vs. Laminotomy Posted: 09-28-07 07:57am
Yes, Fran, your friend's explanation of
what the doctor said is just the reasons
my spinal doctor gave me. He wants to
provide the best of pain relief in doing
the laminectomy.
Now in regard to taking that bone
projection off, the roof, as they call it,
I know the membranes are around the
nerve, but what I am unsure about is how
the heck months post op when the brace is
gone is that spot protected from the
outside world with no bone coverage? What
is then protecting the nerve area in the
future especially at the L4 & L5 area.
For us women who are more curvey then men
in the back location, that is exactly
where our little lycra panty girdle hits
or any kind of slacks/pants meet the
waist. Do not outside forces then put
pressure on that nerve when it has no bone
protection? ( Hope this question doesn't
come out too racey for this Forum)
Maybe I missed something in the doctor's
explanation, but I don't think there is
way to just lift the roof up while they do
the work,and then lower the roof back in
place.
So does one go the rest of her life with a
"hole" in her back? If that is the case,
I have to lose weight to the point where I
am at my 18 year old weight level just so
I can keep some sort of wide elastic band
around me and still be able to wear my
clothes. Talk about impossibilities.
Marie B.
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 901
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Admin Posting Response Posted: 09-28-07 22:41pm
Hello Everyone,
Today I received a response (PM and
E-mail) from the Admin regarding our
posting "difficulties".
Lee apologized for the difficulties we
have had.
Regarding the cause of the difficulty, I
hope the Admin won't mind my quoting from
the communication I received - "When
you're logged into EHEALTH, the system
notes the length of your session by
minutes. Then, for security reasons, the
system automatically logs you out after 15
minutes (I believe) if the screen has not
changed. This is to prevent someone in
your home, office, or the public library
from accessing your account should you
walk away from the computer. But the auto
time out also means that when you're
composing a long message that might take
20-30 minutes, you find yourself out of
luck b/c you've lost the content."
Regarding resolving the problem, I quote
from the communication - "Well... there
are 2 resolutions for this problem.
1. We're going to increase the time out
session requirements for all text boxes so
that you don't experience a "time out". In
practical terms, you should be able to
spend a good amount of time writing a
reply or creating a new post without worry
about the auto log-out. How long do you
typically need to write a new post?
2. You can manually go "back" to your post
if you find that you're logged out. Then,
right click to the ehealthforum home page,
open this page in a new window, and log in
again. Your message should be preserved
and you should be able to send it as soon
as you're logged in."
Can you help them by telling me how long
it generally takes you to write a long
post? Thanks
To make the changes may take several days,
so try to be patient.
I am most pleased with the prompt response
the Admin is giving to our concerns. It
takes very special people to want to
respond to our concern. I thank them as I
know you all do.
If
you click preview, you can be sure that
you have the smileys in the right place,
used the ones you wanted or make changes.
Just scroll down the page a bit.
