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Old 04-25-2017, 01:59 AM
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nasakido nasakido is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2016
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Default @donmas2000

Yes this is new pain, not my pre-surgery pain. I do not have any pain in my back per se, it is a combination of things for me. For one I was down in bed for over 2 years... the last year of that time I was only up for maybe two hours max per day. This led to my downfall, and I ended up with severe muscle atrophy.

I say a combination of things because it is not just atrophy. Part of it is ghost pain that I can actually fight against in my mind and it goes away. It is just my body remembering the former pain because of how severe it was before surgery, and how long it lasted.

Second to this, having bad atrophy can cause all sorts of imbalance in the body, and I am slowly learning this one, hence me trying to change my eating habits. However, some habits die hard, and I struggle in this area. I do not eat much in a day, actually very little to what I should be eating, but at least I do not eat unhealthy foods. The worst right now is I like tortillas. I would just grab them out of a bag and eat them. Do you know what is actually in that stuff? Yuck. Well, my daughter has been a blessing, and she is making homemade tortillas now so at least I know that it is all organic now with no preservatives, and the flour does not come from a field where round-up was used at any time before, during, or after harvest.

My leg muscles hurt from about my upper thigh in the front down to my toes. Not all the time, but enough to where I definitely notice it and it takes a lot of energy to remain focused. That is why I am going through so much effort to try different foods, herbs, and supplements.

One of my fears is that my Metal-LTT test pre-surgery showed I was highly allergic to Nickel. I pretty much already knew this in part because I cannot wear anything or have anything against my skin that is nickel. I immediately break out in a red ringed rash that burns. This left me with implants that were titanium based.

Here is the kicker. You cannot really test titanium properly with a Metal-LTT test because they are only testing shavings. This is not a sufficient test. It helps, but it only tells you so much. I state this because my Metal-LTT test showed I was allergic to Titanium too, but only barely. It was not even that significant. Nickel was off the charts for me. So, there is a small probability I am slightly allergic, and that could also be part of this pain.

This is where I stop. I do not want to dwell too much on the what if(s). There is always an unknown variable. People and testing are not perfect. With that being said, the drawbacks that could occur from ADR are far less than the drawbacks of fusion. Every one of my family members that have gotten fusion, and others I have talked with all regret getting their discs fused. But, they did not have a choice in some cases either. Insurance is only as good as what they will in the end cover. And for most that is what they go with so they do not have to pay much out of pocket.

I hope this answers your question. I am much, much better in terms of my back, probably 95% or better from where I was at. I still have some swelling, but this is in part due to atrophy. The other part I am unsure as of yet. I am stuck with Medi-Cal now, since my Settlement went towards my surgery, so I do not get to pick from a very good doctor pool. And my local doctor's office is really bad. I am calling Partnership Health Plan tomorrow to get that changed. I will have to drive an hour now to see a doctor. I just want someone to coach me a little or give me some advice other than the vast information I already know. When my doctor sits with his elbow on the counter, and hand on his chin leaning to the side, starts using profanity and says "What are you here for" I want to kick the chair out from under him. But, that is not very Christian like so I will just leave and find a new doctor. I do not expect much from this liberal state of California though. My family is trying to move, and if I get a job soon (have been applying back with the phone company) I will just bite my tongue, deal with the pain, and move on.

Can I do it? Yes.

Will it be hard? Yes, for now at least or until I can get through this next hurdle.

I just do not know what else I can try. I quit my Gabapentin months ago, and do not take Ibuprofen since I bleed real bad when taking it; and recently had to stop taking Aleve because I am bleeding again. So, medication is pretty much out for me. I am now down to only 50mg of Tramadol per day, and will have to stop that too because of bleeding. I tried last week to stop for one night, and I did not sleep at all the burning was so bad. But, now Tramadol is considered a narcotic so Medi-Cal will only approve 60 days worth and no more. Oh well, I am going to consider this a blessing since I want to stop taking it anyway. Again, this is why I am trying so many different things to help with the new pain.

My next step, I think, is to see a Medical Examiner and see where I can go from here. Maybe I might get approved for more aqua-therapy. That really helped for the 3 months I was doing it. The CoreStix I use now, and walking are strengthening me, but the pain is increasing with it, especially in my stomach. Now this I understand because my muscles tore a little more than usual during my recovery, and I am still bruised in some places.

Please do not let all this scare you though. I would not change a thing if I had to do it all over again. I know ADR has helped tremendously. I just need to figure out how I can push through this new pain since I was so overjoyed that I felt so good for 4 1/2 months, and then wham!


Time.

Healthy Diet.

Rest.

Exercise the body

Exercise the mind (prayer)

I am not sure if a doctor is going to be able to tell me much more than this. If you remember these things at least three times a day, you know you are doing just fine. J.K. I just had to find a way to make sense of the Acrostic above, and it looks like I failed miserably.

Don't worry so much about the time span. In the time the LP-ESP would wear down (40+ years) you would have more problems with a fusion especially at that level... most likely compounding further disc issues above the L5/S1 level and/or facet joint syndrome. It is possible for none of those things to occur, but not likely. At least this is the case with everyone I know. The Charite disc only lasted around 12-15 years, and that was a common disc people had put in them. My sister had this done as well as her fusions, and she has to get the Charite disc replaced already, and it has only been 12 years. Just look at how far we are now, 40+. I will be over 80 by the time the LP-ESP even gets close to its EOL. I do not think I will be worrying about that being an issue at that age.

As far as my mobility? I can walk, jog around a little, get on the floor and play with my kids, hold my youngest son, put on my own socks and shoes once again, and I can drive...some. Driving is more difficult because of the concentration it takes, and my new pain is really distracting. I drove an hour the other day down to get some building supplies for our kitchen, and I almost could not make it back. Mentally it was really straining. Thank goodness we live in a rural area, just over 3,000 people. I can only imagine what I may have caused had it been the city.

I walk every day or go on mini hikes with my family. I can sit, and stand with no change in my condition. I can sleep on my sides, yeah!

So, I am doing everything I was before I got injured, and actually more so because I was so busy with work that I did not get to see my family very much.

What can I not do?

Like I said, driving is still pretty difficult. But, that is about it.

I have new pain, and it may keep me lacking in being able to be fully aware mentally in some situations. But, my overall health has improved, and that is really important to me.

It is not the quantity or amount of pain that matters with new pain that may come and go at whim. It is the quality of life that improves once you take that next step to your road to recovery. My road went to the right, and now I am heading towards a known unknown, yet not unknown at the same time; and my family is right there beside me. I would not trade this moment for anything.

Keep the faith.

"Coram Deo"
__________________
Injury 31-7-14
MRI w/o con. 30-8-14
RT L5-S1 Discectomy w/ RT S1 Foraminotomy 21-11-14
PT (50) 20-8-14 to 04-24-15
MRI w/ con 13-4-15
XR Pelvis 08-6-15
COR INJ 02-7-15
MRI 14-11-15
Discography w/ CT-Scan 19-1-16
QME 16-2-16
XR LL 29-4-16
Bone Density (DEXA) Scan 01-8-16
XR LL 01-8-16
Metal-LTT 12-8-16
MRI 17-8-16
EKG 21-10-16
2-LVL L4-S1 ADR LP-ESP 08-11-16
XR LL 24-11-16
A-THX (24) 12-12-16 to 24-02-17
XR LL 31-01-17
XR LL 08-5-17
CT-Scan 07-6-17
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