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.
No comments:
Post a Comment