Where Have All the Marchers Gone?

I had back issues before surgery and thought they would go away if I got rid of the weight.  I can't tell you how many doctors told me that my back would be fine if I just lost weight.  OK, I lost the weight and the back never got better.  In fact, it got worse as I lost weight and my center of gravity shifted.  Then the bone degeneration picked up and bone spurs started and it was downhill from there.  I remember being really angry when I realized that my back wasn't going to get better in spite of the weight loss. 

So the surgeon's office...  The long and short of it from the guy today is that I have severe degenerative arthritis of the spine.  No kidding she says sarcastically.  No surgery for me, not with him anyway.  According to him, it just won't help to work on the bulging and torn disks because it will cause the arthritis to flare up and cause even more pain.  He held out no real hope for me.  I went to my car and sobbed in the parking lot.  After my pity party, I came home and decided that I'm not going to quit.  I'm tired and need to step back from this back issue for a minute or two, but I'll tackle it again.  I know there are things I haven't tried like a facet block which is an injection in a different part of the spine than what I've had.  I can also have some of the nerves burned.  There's also neurostimulation therapy.  I'm tired, but I haven't given up yet.  In the meantime, I'll continue to take my 19 pain pills and 2 hours of physical therapy every day.

I know you well enough to know that you've done copious research to best inform your decision making process about all of this - so pardon the question: have you looked into homepathic medicine therapy, chiopracty, have you at least considered augmenting your therapies with this route? I just learned recently that I have degenerative arthritis in both knees - but knees can be replaced, as far as I know, spinal chords can't be.  But there must be something that can be done to relieve you of your pain. Take a breather, sob all you need to - then get back into the fight. I'm so sorry ... Maureen

DEar Connie
 I have back issues & pain as well, but, nothing compared to what you seem to have going on. I take lots of advil (I no we are not suppose to) but, it's the only thing other
than vicodin that works. I have been approved for physical theropy, but, still don't have
the approval for the MRI to find out what is causing that darn pain in the first place. So
Still waiting. Since I have been on the anti-d's again the pain seems to be a little less, so
maybe it was stress related & I was dreaming the contant pain. Yeah right!!
Connie It is always good to see you post no matter what you are going through!!Keep
Hangin on & hope they get this under control for you soon!!
Prayers & gentle hugs coming your way!!

Hi Connie...Im sorry for all you back problems....I dont know if youve tried this but my older brother has had tons of back troubles and repairs including fusions plus alot of other things....recently... they implanted like a electrode stimulator tinge circuit thing into his back to help calm his nerves down, he was getting severe nerve spams all the time runnng from back to legs, seems to be getting some relief from it...you may want to consider mentioning it to your doctor if you havent yet...might be helpful for you ( I Hope)...I know he is not on as many pain pills since hes had this done...still has pain but not nearly as bad as before. I hope you find some relief soon.

Thanks for thinking of me and making the suggestion.  I'm really glad to know that someone has been through this and doing better.  If your brother has the same thing I'm thinking of (neurostimulator), I'm glad he's getting some relief with it.  The pain doc showed it to me and said that it might be one of the things we try.  I'm a little hesitant about this, but will go for it if it helps.  I really sympathize with your bro and hope he gets some lasting relief.  Did your brother have an accident that damage his back?

Can you do a favor for me and ask your brother if he feels a constant vibration or hum and if it bothers him? 

Hi Connie...your welcome....( nuerostimulator) thats it, thats what he has....I will ask him more about it, I dont know awhole lot about it but I do know he is getting some relief from having it installed into him.  As for how all his back problems happened...he did have an accident, he used to be very big into lifting weights and messed it up then, as a result its been nothing but down hill from there...he also had a hidden birth defect that didnt show up till later , so between the two things he is just messed up. He has even lost his leg cause of his back problem causing his leg to totally give out just at the wrong time when he was hunting onside of a ravine....fell off it and got all busted up, but it all goes back to the back problems. Anyway things are looking up for him, I will talk to him and find out what I can then i'll let you know. Try and take care of yourself and hope you have a decent day!!!

Oh my gosh, your poor brother. What a trial he's been through.  I really, really hope he finds relief.  You may want to tell him about a medication called Opana.  He may already know about it, but it's pretty new.  It doesn't give a lot of the buzzed or high feelings that other pain meds do and it works better for me than anything else, even Vicodin, the Fentanyl patch and Oxycontin.  They say that is is less addicting and has less side effects.

Thanks again!

Goodmorning Connie....when it rains it pours...brother just told me they found cancer in his part of leg that was amputated ( think from all the medicine hes taken),...going to doc this morning Ill know more later....anyway....he told me that he is getting the stimulator removed...it did work for awhile but not anymore...he is getting severe shocks in his back, stomach, and leg from it . He said if you have arthritis is will not work for that and also on twisted nerves its no good too....he said the best thing that seems to help the arthritis is aqua therapy...he said it does supply some relief. He did mention on new injuries the stimulator seems to work ok but its basicaly a waste on an old injury. Im sorry I dont have better news, from the last time I talk to him I thought things were going well...but now seems like things have changed. I will be talking to him more this eve...Ill find out what I can, he was sorta in a rush this am to get to his Doc appt...but Ill talk more indept with him this eve and let you know whats up with the stimulator more. Oh and thank you I will mention that medicine to him. He seems to think those others are junk too..that I know. Be well and Ill talk to you later.

Oh Kim, I'm so sorry to hear of your brother's latest health issue. I will say very strong and powerful prayers for him, please let him know he's got the strength of the Marchers at his back! God bless, Maureen