runner's surgery blog, L4/5, 2008

[Maria]

BCBS is weird in that when hub had BCBS of Ma they wouldn't pay for the Forteo for my osteoporosis but BCBS of TX had no prob with it and paid all of it but $40 I think.

BCBS of Mass was really snotty re answers to questions and acted too bored, steered me to BFE re answers that should have been easy enough to come up with I thought and BCBS of Texas is like speaking to people from another planet as they are so nice and helpful! I couldn't believe the diff!

Now I have to work on getting Tricor and Zetia approved for my cholesterol..

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

Originally Posted by Maria

Now I have to work on getting Tricor and Zetia approved for my cholesterol..

I am on that same cocktail and it works fabulous. I was on Statins previously which damn near killed me from the side effects. The Zetia and Tricor keep my cholesterol and triglycerides nicely under control. Good-luck on getting these approved as, I believe, they are great for people that have spinal issues.

Terry Newton

[runner]

Terry,

Thanks. It is weird having an increase of back pain. I went to church today and spent the rest of the day recovering from sitting. I didn't feel like doing much of anything and eventually went to my bedroom to sleep and slept for five hours, I think.
It is easy to sleep, being on Gabapentin and Darvocet. Plus I stayed up late on Saturday night, might have something to do with being tired.

I don't really know why my back pain is increasing. I am wondering if I further herniated a disc or this is just degenerative disc disease. It is different pain then what I felt before my operation. The sciatica is a lot worse and really hasn't changed since my three ESIs. I don't think it is L4/5 because my symptoms are all L5/S1. So I will wait to see what the docs say this coming week.

I am watching Oprah (of course) and Michael J. Fox who has Parkinsons disease and Dr. Oz and i feel lucky just to have back pain. There are worse things but I feel kind of like that wrestling with this back and leg pain. They were talking on the show about stem cells and fighting disease and hopefully, stem cells may one day help DDD.

I found out some interesting things at the seminar i attended last week. One of the lectures was about spine and peripheral nerve injury and there is a material that has been developed to span nerves. It is complicated, sort of, but this material allows axons to reconnect. The lecturer said that they can use the material in a lumbar laminectomy. She said doctors are using it to wrap irritated nerves and the nerves like to be wrapped as this material helps nerves heal. I may have this a little mixed up because the notes are not very complete. But I think this material was originally developed to help burned skin heal.

Boy, i thought if people are having posterior fusions, I wonder if the doctors are using this to wrap those nerves and help them heal. If you can use it in laminectomies, why not fusions?

Hopefully, there are more therapies in the future for DDD that don't involve surgery.

Maria, I have given up trying to figure out insurances. They are a powerful company that doesn't seem to mind sticking me and others with outrageous bills. If my current doctors and surgical centers didn't accept the provided amount and adjust for it, we would probably be broke. We have to be easily paying more than 500 dollars a month for stuff. My husband said my medications are about 400 dollars alone. I think it varies. I could save some dollars but I don't take the generic for my Zestril, blood pressure medicine, as the brand works and I don't want to fool around with it. I was trying to explain to my husband today how generics can vary.
I just keep getting medical bills and evidence of benefits statements from insurance.

I know one thing, back pain has totally changed my life and I don't think it is for the better but eventually maybe i will.

[ans]

Runner, I've been trying to catch-up on your long story. I'm sorry that you're not as well as you "should" be. It's rough when you have to be philosophical in dealing with pain/limitations re:

" know one thing, back pain has totally changed my life and I don't think it is for the better but eventually maybe i will."

I certainly hope there'll be a resolution to your pain. Look at the new developments e.g. Mark's forthcoming/almost now surgery device, etc.

Best Regards, Allan

[Justin]

K, I truly hope you can get this sorted out soon. It sounds like you've been through the ringer as well. The uncertainty of what's really causing your pain must be frustrating. What's the next step? Good luck, keep your head up and keep us posted.

[runner]

Hello Allan and Justin,

Went for a walk today and had to watch the runners pass me by.

It will be a big week for me as far as doctor appointments. Tomorrow, I get to have the conversation with the pain doc that I hoped to have last week. I met with the P.A. last week while I hoped to speak to the pain doc but apparently he was awal. Now, I can ask him what we are going to do now that the ESIs have not worked all that much. I love speaking in the third sense.

What are we going to do doc?
Or What's up Doc? Isn't that Donald Duck?

In all seriousness, I hope he has more to say than the P.A. Who told me that I should go to my neurosurgeon appt and see what he has to say. I saw my podiatrist today and i told him what she (the P.A.) said about refreshing her memory whether I had an MRI and he said, doesn't she look at the chart before she sees you?

Apparently not. Luckily, the pain doc seems to be more on the ball. So soon is the pain doc, who actually seems very good and then the neuro on Thursday. Hey, my right foot (heel) has been hurting since a long time and the podiatrist believes it's caused by the nerve root pain and now today my left one is hurting (a lot). Have you guys experienced something familiar?

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!!! (Justin you may be too young to know where that comes from).

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

Runner;

My feet ached after my surgery. Right afterward, I would stay awake at night with my feet burning all night long. I had to wake up my poor sleeping wife and ask her to rub my feet. I slept with compression socks for awhile and that helped some. I had horrible cramps in my calves that would shoot me out of bed like a rocket. I was lucky I never killed myself flying out of bed the way I would. It felt like my leg muscles were going to pop through my legs. Horrible. The feet thing got resolved with massive doses of Lyrica. I was up to 400mg per day but have been off of that for well over one year. So feet and leg issues seem to be fairly common after these types of surgeries. I used to have planters fasciitis and had orthotics made for my shoes. Since my ADR surgery I have switched to wearing MBT shoes and have never had to use orthotics again. The Lyrica was a miracle drug for me and made all the difference in the world to my comfort level.

Terry Newton