Cervie Newbie looking for advice

[annapurna]

Originally posted by tmont:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">"It may take a few years, but most people get better in a few years without surgery."

Bull-caca. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Herniations can be re-absorbed over time with the risk of future DDD. Jessica, however, is talking about narrowing, which isn't going to go away if it's due to bone growth.

[tmont]

Thanks for elaborating, Jim/Laura

I've heard that line before: 'most people' + 'get better' without even specifying the pathology = financial brush-off + relative cluelessness of spine disorders.

[Mariaa]

HMOs like to quote those several year standards. Maybe in several years you will have another insurance plan as well~ surely if you're employed with that pathology/symptoms and off work in bed for that amount of time, you'll not be employed and likely on Cobra insurance if you can keep it at all...

HMO babble/cost containment...

Wonder what doctor needing to work for a living would want to follow that advice of the "several year standard" with clinical findings and symptoms that keep one resting in bed all day for relief...

[annapurna]

A nastier twist to the insurance game is a question of how they generate their statistics. If "most people get better in a year or two" and most people in severe pain have to go out on disability from their work, after a year or two do most people get put on long-term disability and are now covered under a different insurance system? If you look at the numbers without thinking, it looks like most people no longer need insurance coverage for back/neck pain after a couple of years. I wonder if it is really a numbers game.

[Jessica]

Trace, Annapurna, Mariaa -
Thank you for sharing my frustration with the HMO's. I really don't need them on board to get the surgery, but it would be nice to have support so that when I come back I would have after care. I feel like making them approve a fusion, and then NOT actually have it, just to cause them some grief in return.
I feel lucky that my injury will be covered by auto insurance and that I will probably be reimbursed at some point for the surgery. Those of you who have to/had to get approval before hand must be even more frustrated than I.

[hucky]

Perhaps what these professionals are referring to is the population as a whole.

Every spine site I have read, has said that MOST people DO get better within a couple of years with therapy.

Then, there is the rest of us, who despite various non surgical treatments DON'T get better.

My own NS (who is highly respected here in Oz) said to hold off for as long as possible having an ADR or fusion. He said there was a remote chance that I would heal on my own. He also said to wait, until I couldn't put up with the pain any more as either op is very intrusive.

Believe it or not, not all surgeons are gung ho to operate.

Unless you are experiencing serious neurological symptoms that are getting worse, it is wise to wait and see.

Remember, these operations CAN and DO create problems of their own. There are lots and lots of people on this board to attest to this. There are also lots of people on this board to attest to the success of their surgery.

I think when it comes to any type of surgery, unless it is an emergency, CAUTION is the way to go.

For me personally, I will probably have an ADR after August. My condition hasn't deteriorated, and my pain levels are definately related to what I do, which isn't much. I'm just sick of not being able to do normal stuff.

Just my two cents worth.

Hucky

[annapurna]

Originally posted by hucky:
Unless you are experiencing serious neurological symptoms that are getting worse, it is wise to wait and see.
Hucky

I have to voice one modifier. I've said before that this is a rather cold statement but pain is a quality of life issue. In addition to deciding if your pain and/or neurological symptoms warrant immediate actions, you also need to understand the trend of your ongoing damage. Most people according to website I've seen go through period of lessing pain, almost a remission, as their damage increases. It's almost as if the spine goes through regions of increasing and decreasing stability as the damage increases. If you simply react to pain and other symptoms, your damage level may increase to the point where there is little that can be done once the pain returns.

DON'T rush off and get surgery. DO understand what is going on with your body and react to both what you are feeling today and what you will be feeling tomorrow. For more specific advice general to everyone, find a surgeon you like. Establish a relationship with him/her. Agree on tests necessary to monitor your condition. Live your life and occasionally do the tests you've agreed upon. At some point, your pain, symptoms, or condition will pass a point where you decide that it is time to act. Don't rush into it but don't close your eyes to your total condition.

I don't mean to contradict Hucky, but American surgeons are used to thinking of fusion, where holding off until the last minute is advisable. ADR means that you can intervene before damage to other structures gets too bad, which occasionally means intervening before the person's pain become intolerable but it is clear that the disk is quickly losing height.

[hucky]

I think that is very good advice Annapurna.

I agree, monitoring your condition is vital. As you say, more damage can be going on when you THINK your in remission.

Hucky