new here.

[And Why]

Hello Everybody!

My name is Andy, I am 34 and i'm from Canada.

I've only been having back issues for about three years now, but it;s been such a roller coaster ride that i'm starting to feel like a guinea pig one day or a mute the other. Because it seems that when i talk my Drs either don;t care to hear what i say, or as i have experienced a couple times previously, they will not hear what i have to say and i will be left having to find another Dr.

So here's the low down. I usually worked fairly active jobs, but then i got a job doing electronics which kept me fairly busy, but immobile. At fisrt my job was as the gopher eventually i became the supervisor of the division, and the entailed being responsible for administrative details (paperwork) as well as the more advanced technical problem solving. Both of which meant that i had less time to be moving about, and more time to be planted at my desks. I had one for each set of duties.

Anyway, as i became more sedentary at work i started noticing a stiffness in my left leg. I saw a Dr about it, they suggested stretching and using less weight when i worked out for the next little while. After a couple of weeks it wasn't getting any better, in fact the stretching was making it worse. The Dr didn't have any ideas, so i went in to a massage therapist, their idea was to stretch deeply and for long periods of time, but specifically in the hip flexors and glutes.

All this took place from Feb - Mar. I woke up April 2nd and i couldnt feel my entire left leg from the hip all the way down. The thing that scard me the most was the amount of pain the went along with it, and the fact that i couldn't feel my genitals. So, i got a friend to drive me to the hospital, and the drs there were all a fluster uncertain if it was sciatica or something else. They booked me an appointment for a neurologist and a ct scan, pumped me up with morphine and sent me home. A week later a i was back cause the T3's werent cutting it, and the pain was worsening, so i got a ct scan that day, and i had to wait till the 27th to see the Neurologist.

The Neurologist then decided he needed an MRI, and i had to wait 2-3 weeks for that. and then the specialist after that was a 3 month wait. The whole time i was on and off t3's, and plenty of OTC Tylenol.

By the time i saw a specialist, he decided to do a discectomy. The surgery went ok. It reduced the numbness and pain a fair bit. approx a week after surgery i started getting pain on the right side, i never had pain on the right side pre-surgery. I got back in to see my surgeon and he had an emergency MRI done. What he told me then is that there wasn't anything he could see, but if I wanted he could perform another procedure.

Now because i hadnt worked in a year by this point i lost my condo, my fiancée left me during the start of the illness/injury etc, i was forced to move into my mothers basement in alberta from BC.

I went to a pain clinic here in aAlberta, and the collected all my images and reports etc, and then i got new images taken. MRI, contrast MRI, CT scan, 3D Bone Scan. And i found out that the Dr in BC had lied to me about my last MRI in BC. Here the run down:

i have DDD, and a moderate amount of stenosis in the lumbar at L3-L4. The Facets were suspected to be the pain generators from the degeneration, but when they gave me an injection of steroids (lidocaine?) in the facet joints, i was out of action for 90 days it hurt so much.

I guess what i am looking for is some information, and i am wondering in i should bother researching if i am an eligible candidate for a lumbar ADR, i'm not very well off, what with being on disability and all.

Thanks

[JJames]

Hello Andy,
Let me at least be the first to welcome you to the boards! I hope you find some useful information here, and I can guarantee you'll find some sympathy, understanding, and compassion. You can check my "Signature" to see where I am with my issues.

I realize that you are looking for information though. I am far from an expert, even in regards to my own condition! I do think that researching all options is important, and there is a lot to be learned here on these forums. Also, I strongly believe in finding the right doctor or surgeon, depending upon which road you choose. Perhaps there are others here who could at least make recommendations to you regarding physicians in your area? I've seen many doctors and surgeons regarding my troubles. I am sticking with the one I'm currently with, but would still get another opinion if someone recommended another.

The more informed you can get, the better decisions you can make for yourself. Good luck. I hope you can find at least some of what you are searching for here.

Jeff