OW!!! And Your Life Changes in a Moment

     This section was supposed to be a continuation of the last post, dealing with my first meeting with my then neurosurgeon. ***(From this point on, I'll abbreviate this type of doctor to the word, "neuro," and for an orthopedist, I'll use, "ortho.") 

   However, early this morning I received first a text and then a call from a good friend who just recently suffered, what has turned out to be a very serious back injury and one moment can change your life, forever.

     To be perfectly honest, I've never even met this friend of mine. I'll call him, "Fred." We met online as I was shopping for some lights for my SUV. This guy not only sold the type of lights I was looking for, he lives in Florida, and is a police officer. As we talked online and he learned that I was a former firefighter, we tended to swap stories, as we are wont to do. Then a couple of months after we connected, he was injured while taking a bad guy into custody.

     Fred thought he had pulled a muscle in his back. Just like 80% of Americans every year. When he told me about it, I recommended a few therapies that might help him feel better. He tried them for a couple of weeks, however the pain was increasing and beginning to interfere with both his quality of life and his ability to do his job. Thus, he decided to see a doctor. I didn't say that he decided to see his doctor, because, since he was injured on the job, he would have to see a doctor assigned by the department's Workers' Compensation (abbreviate to, "WC.")program.

     Now I am sure that some of you who are reading this either are, or have had to deal with an on the job injury through WC. You may have liked them or you may have hated them, nevertheless, you had to deal with and eventually accept the services of a WC-assigned doctor.  The same thing happened to Fred.

     This doctor, as many WC doctors, initially wanted to write this injury off, either as a very minor injury or as a "prior medical condition," which would automatically reduce WC's involvement (sic. expenses). However, Fred was persistent. He insisted that this injury was real, that it occurred while carrying out his duties as a sworn officer of the law, and was neither part of a prior medical condition, nor minor in its nature. The doctor finally caved and prescribed Fred a regimen of physical therapy at a PT center near his home.

     And so he went. Fred went three times a day for at least six weeks. At the same time, he was put on sick leave by the department. Oh, did I mention that Fred was a not just a police officer, but he was a K-9 officer and so, his "partner" was with him all the time while on duty. When Fred was not on-duty, his partner, we'll call, "Alex," was the family pet. And Fred was no just a K-9 officer, he was an award-winning K-9 officer. So you can imagine what it has been like for Fred to have this amazing dog as his partner, but not to be able to use him as his partner.

     To keep Fred somewhat "active" in his department, he was temporarily assigned to the Communications section. You might guess that the chairs in that room might not have been the best for someone with Fred's condition. But each day, hour-by-hour, Fred sat there and suffered. He finally was approved for his first MRI. While there was some anomalies on the films, it was not clear enough to make an exact determination.

     Life went on with Fred suffering each day, while his several caregivers argued with WC to elevate his care. After a few more weeks, another MRI was authorized, but with similar results. I recommended to him to request a myelogram. From personal experience, I knew that a good spine surgeon or neuro would be able to make an accurate diagnosis.

     Again, after a great deal of back and forth with WC, the myelogram was approved, however he had to drive to the state's Gulf Coast to have it administered. Fred called me on the way home, upset, in a quandary and almost not knowing where to turn next. For both of my myelograms, I was placed in MAC (Monitored Anesthesia Care) with a gentle sedative (Versed) and an amnesiac light sleep medication (Propofol). However, Fred was kept awake, give a local anesthetic on his back and the spinal puncture was made and the radio-opaque dye was injected. They kept trying to get the dye all the way up to his skull, with no success. So, they asked Fred to bend over for about 4-5 minutes, hoping that gravity would help the dye continue on its path. It never worked. Finally, they quit, bandaged Fred up and sent him home with his driver. Fred would have to wait for his next appointment with his spine doctor, which occurred this morning.

     Suddenly, I received a large text message from Fred. He was still at the doctor's office but told me that the spinal surgeon finally had a diagnosis and the reason why the dye in the myelogram was unable to progress: He has a complete blockage of his spinal spaces at T-11, T-12, L-1, L-2, and L-3. Five herniations/spinal joint anomalies in a straight line, all caused by the original incident. Now, they had a plan. This spinal doctor insisted on bringing in a well-experienced neurosurgeon to be present for, and possibly participate, in the surgery. Fred hear this doctor arguing with WC and even raising his voice, to explain that Fred's case was no longer a matter of elective pain-relief surgery. Rather, the extent of Fred's injury is so serious that he must be monitored until his surgery date in a couple of weeks.

    However, it was not all good news. First, his doctor has to fight to bring in a neuro that he feels is experienced enough for this surgery. Then there are the risks; paralysis, loss of certain body functions, etc. He'll have a long recovery and rehab time. He will suffer from forms of back pain for the rest of his life. He might be able to return to police duty and even, to be a K-9 officer again. But there are no guaranties.

     In just one moment, while doing what he's been doing for years, Fred's life was turned upside down. This is how your life changes in a moment.

Next, the continuation of my story. Do you have a story. Leave a comment here and I just may contact you for your story.

    

My Story

     Thanks for coming back to this new blog. As I promised in the opening page, I'm going to tell you how my story began and evolved. However, let's look at some basic facts. Here's a table from the American Academy of Pain Medicine:

Condition	Number of Sufferers	Source
Chronic Pain	100 million Americans	Institute of Medicine of The National Academies (2)
Diabetes	25.8 million Americans (diagnosed and estimated undiagnosed)	American Diabetes Association (3)
Coronary Heart Disease (heart attack and chest pain) Stroke	16.3 million Americans 7.0 million Americans	American Heart Association (4)
Cancer	11.9 million Americans	American Cancer Society (5)

(c) 2013 American Academy of Pain Web Site

As you can see, the number of people who complain of severe, chronic pain is greater than those who suffer from diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease (Heart Attack/Chest Pain), and cancer, combined! Additionally, a recent market research report indicates that more than 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain and that approximately 3- 4.5% of the global population suffers from neuropathic pain, with incidence rate increasing in complementary to age. (Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Report, January 10, 2011. http://www.prweb.com/pdfdownload/8052240.pdf. ) From these numbers, we know that we're not alone, even if, at times, we feel as though we are.

According to another report, approximately eighty-percent (80%) suffer from some form of neck or back pain every year. Of that number, approximately another eighty-percent (80%) suffer from a simple, yet painful, muscle strain or pull. However, it is the remaining twenty-percent (20%) of us who suffer from a more severe injury, that is skeletal in origin, where at least one of the discs that cushion the bones of the spine, from just below the skull to the tailbone, has been damaged and impinges on a nerve.

This pain is often caused by a traumatic accident, i.e. a fall, an auto collision, sports injury, etc. But, not always! And this is where my story begins:

It was Tuesday morning, September 12, 1992. I have been working for two years as the operations manager of a national promotional travel company. My duties consisted of about ninety-five percent (95%) desk duties and the rest was moving telephones and computers. Let me state that unequivocally, I did nothing the day before, that could be at fault for what I was about to experience.

The morning alarm went off and as I turned to get out of bed, I felt a sudden twinge in my lower back on the left side. Thinking that I probably slept in a queer position, I got up to get ready for work. But as I walked from the bed to the bathroom, that twinge was still there. It wasn't severe, but it was enough to keep my attention. After a shower and shave, I dressed and headed off to the office. However, when I went to sit down in my car (a Chevrolet Celebrity) that twinge became a true pain. On the so-undependable "pain scale" of 1-10, my twinge graduated from, perhaps a "2," to a "7" or "8."

When I arrived at the office, I gingerly got out of my car and headed inside. After getting through the basic morning tasks,  I called my chiropractor's office and set up an appointment near the end of the day. Dr. "L" was my second chiropractor in Florida and had worked closely with my first one. He had always done very well for me with the aches and pains I came in with, so there was no reason why I should not have had faith that he could mitigate this twinge.

Dr. "L" took me through a full exam to see if he could determine the cause of the pain. Then, I went through the regular modalities of electric stimulation, moist heat packs, ultrasound, and finally, his hands-on treatment. He was very gentle in the area of the pain so as not to aggravate whatever it was. I headed home thinking I was feeling a little bit better.

My assumption was incorrect. Not only did I still have the pain on Wednesday, but it was worse. Now I didn't have to wait to enter the car for the pain to be sharp and piercing; it was that way as I walked around. Thus, I saw my chiropractor again after work on Wednesday and again on Thursday. By this time, the pain was so bad that I did not go into work that day, so Dr. "L" was able to spend some more time with me. Unfortunately, it was all for naught.

"Stevie," he began, sitting across from me in the exam room. "We've gone as far as we can with chiropractic care and you're not showing any improvement and you always have, before this. We need to get you into regular medical care." That was one of the reasons why I liked Dr. "L" so much. He wasn't the type of chiropractor who made wild claims that chiropractic care could cure diseases, etc. He knew there were boundaries. I gave him the phone number of my primary care physician (PCP). He called him and explained his findings to him. By this time, I was bent over like a question mark and could hardly walk or even move.

When I arrived home, there was a message from my doctor for me to call him when I returned home. I did and he was kind enough to come over to my home after office hours and brought me a prescription of muscle relaxants. He also told me that he wanted me to have an MRI as soon as possible and would have his receptionist set it up for me. My doctor also helped me to get to my bed and told me to lay with my knees over a couple of pillows. This helps to open the spinal spaces and might help to alleviate some of the pain.

The next morning, (Friday) the receptionist called me and told me she was able to arrange the MRI for the following Monday. So, for the next three days, I was basically bedridden; I could only get up to use the lavatory or to eat. Other than that, I was in bed, flat on my back, with my legs over several pillows.

As it turned out, my attorney, who, along with his family, were close friends, came to my house on Monday to drive me the MRI. He had undergone back surgery just six months before the onset of my pain, so he knew exactly what I was going through, if my diagnosis with the MRI, matched his. At this point, I had only undergone one MRI prior to this and it wasn't the best medical experience I had.

Be that as it may, I had the test and as I exited the magnet room, the doctors were shaking their heads. My friend came over to tell me that there was no doubt that I was suffering from a herniated disc at level L4-L5. He said that he would arrange for me to see his neurosurgeon who had performed his surgery with great success. With that, he drove me home and set myself up to await my appointment with a neurosurgeon.

And I never was able to return to my work at the travel company, ever again.

Coming next: Meeting the man with the scalpel

Severe Neck & Neck Pain - What's Up?

     Most of us who suffer from severe back or neck pain can accurately pinpoint the date when "it" happened; the first day that the we lifted a heavy box, we were hit from behind in a traffic collision, we bent over the wrong way, etc. From that moment on, the pain has invaded not only our bodies, but every aspect of our lives.

     Hello and welcome. My name is Steve Greene and I have been enduring severe back pain since 1992. Over the last couple of months, I have met or spoken with the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time, all suffering from prolonged and intractable back pain. And from numerous news reports, there are thousands, if not, tens-of-thousands of us across this country, let alone the world! So, after several days of consideration, I decided to create this blog where anyone who is in the same "boat" can discuss his/her own situations and share the successes and the failures of the therapies, injections and procedures that they have been through.

     I am also researching the necessary tools and accessories it will take to begin a podcast to accompany and underscore this blog. I already have several volunteers who are willing to be interviewed for a podcast. Of course, both processes will be done with your privacy, first and foremost.

     I am sure that many of you are asking yourself, "What's in this for me?" What I hope to offer is a place where we can share our stories and see that we are not alone. When the news reports or newspaper articles decry that opioid medicines should be restricted only to patients with severe, cancer-related pain, we will discuss the matter here. When your Workmen's Compensation doctor tell you there is nothing else he/she can do for you, you can come here to here what other patients have done when the exact same thing happened to them.

     I have no doubt that we will laugh together and we will very likely cry together. However, the operative word is, "together." So please, give it a try, maybe even submit your own story. I will be adding my early experiences tomorrow. Till then, take a deep breath, curl your lips upward and

Smile...