New problems with my back

[Shawn]

I had an MRI done last week and they found that I have a fracture and swelling at T12 in my back.
I changed Doctors back in Feb and this new Dr has been great.She sent me to a pain Dr who has been through the back pain and surgery's so she is able to fully understand what her patients deal with.
I was doing physical therapy and they stopped it as soon as the results came back.
I go for an Xray tomorrow on my back,not something they are going to look at,just an insurance thing,but they want to do another MRI on my back and neck and a CT on the same so that they can see more of what is going on.
Last week I was unable to use my right arm.The joint i my shoulder swelled up and I have never felt pain like that before. I couldn't reach over and touch my other shoulder without extreme pain. It has let up mostly,but still sore. It's looking more like I have RA instead of osteoarthritis since i Have had swelling of other joints in my body.
I was finally given something for pain.As much as i hate being back on a narcotic,It was my last line of defense to get the pain under control.The dosage isn't high and I am only allowed 2 per day,which I take both at night so I can sleep.I just deal with it when I am awake. I did tell the nurse that the meds are not working that great,but my pain doctor is out until Monday.She said she usually won't change a prescription until it's time for a refill but given the new situation I am facing,she said she may go ahead and up my dose. Myself,I'd rather see marijuana become legal for medical use and then I could get away from pain meds. I told the Dr if I didn't get some relief soon,I was going to get a bag and stop going to doctors and I was serious about doing it.I was told by 2 of my Doctors that it would work better then pain meds.They said they aren't telling me to do it,but would not say anything about it if I did use it for that purpose. I am very scared about getting addicted again to the meds and going through all that,but I am doing what i can so I don't have to take them. If I am not in pain when I lay down,I will try to make it without them. I do get more sleep now that I have something for pain and I have been sleeping a lot the last few days.Catching up on 3 months of sleep.

So now I have to go see an orthopedic Dr about my shoulder and then see a different one for my back problem. My primary Dr is going to suggest they get a back brace for me to wear until they know the extent of the damage done. She moved to a new Dr so I had to change my insurance to stay with her.I really like this Dr and she has been very helpful in getting me fixed up. My last dr was a POS and I am glad he was on vacation when he was or I would never of found out I had the damage to my back and my blood pressure would still be out of control. My daughter also has the same Dr I do and switched her insurance to see her as well and I have to call and switch my son as well. It's hard to find a Dr who does what she does and cares about her patients enough to call them personally and explain things. Usually a nurse dose that,but she wanted to talk to me about it and see how I was doing.

[Shawn]

Done the xray today. Got the MRI report it was change to T2 and not T12. I got the disc of the xrays and can clearly see there are fractures at T2. Scared as hell,not sure what will happen next.

[Diabolique]

Ouch!!! That totally sucks, Shawn!
Hope you find relief to your pain soon. At least it sounds like you are in good hands with this new doctor. Keep the updates going. Hopefully they'll find a solution without the surgery.

[Shawn]

Went to the orthopedic Dr and we went over the scans together and he said the fracture is small and just take it easy and no surgery will be needed. I am going to the Dr soon who ordered all the test so we can make a plan for treatment that doesn't include any injections. The orthopedic Dr said my muscles are tight ans I have knots in places and that is causing me a lot of problems. He also said smoking isn't helping any and will make it worse.
So when I go see my pain Dr. I am going to have a plan wrote out on what treatments we should try before we do the invasive shots. I can do physical therapy now so that will be one thing. Start me on a stronger muscle relaxer and raise the dosage of pain meds. I want to stop pain meds in 3 months. I think going with 7.5mg 3x a day of Vicodin would benefit me during therapy and when i wake up in pain. I will also stop smoking within the 3 months. I'm going cold Turkey. I can't cut back and have success so just stopping at one time will be better. Hopefully she agrees to this plan and it will help me get back to work. That is my goal. I also want to get back to playing drums. The Dr said it would help me get into shape faster so i have to find a junk kit just to use and get me moving more. I'll keep updating while i go through this.

[soloist]

I'm sorry to learn that you've been going through so much
with your doctors and that you had to see so many of
them to find out the problem that you're current-
ly facing. It's a shame, but it seems as though
many of the doctors you've visited aren't i-
nterested in solving the actual issue be-
cause the pain med are supposed to
keep you well until they are able
to treat the real problem (in t-
his case the fracture and th-
e swelling, though trying
to find out how those
came to be would
be more intere-
sting to me).
I hope the-
se docto-
rs are
abl-
e to h-
elp you re-
solve the swel-
ling and fracture a-
t T12 in your back, Sha-
wn. Think of all the insuran-
ce money collected each time y-
ou've visited the doctors only to be pr-
escribed pain meds and how much money
went into purchasing those meds and it ultim-
ately equals up to thousands of dollars. It's a busi-
ness and people's health is being exploited. It's as tho-
ugh they don't want you well because there's no money in
a well individual... only the sickly and infirm. It sounds like th-
ese doctors are really trying to help..... so I hope they actually do.

(I hope this issue is resolved for you, Shawn)


In the meantime,
take whatever
you need to
feel well
enough
for sl-
eep,
ok
?




(you REALLY need that...)

[Shawn]

They changed up the fracture to T2. I was told it was an old fracture so I am thinking the car wreck in 2011 done it. That was the worst of them all.
Pain meds help some but right now with the weather change,nothing is helping. It's getting to me again being on the pain meds and I am ready to go back off them. Next appointment I am going to talk to my pain Dr about it. Just makes me more depressed being on them because of my past history with them. I am very scared of addiction and withdrawal.
I have some great doctors and they are doing all they can to get me better and able to live without pills again someday and I have not been this positive about my condition in a very long time. I kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel now and that there is a great chance I can get better. I am upfront with any new Dr I see,I tell them if they will not explain things and answer my questions,then I will find one that will. So far I have had very good luck with them and they have been very helpful. I am very happy at how well my family dr and pain dr have treated me and have been doing test to get to the bottom of the problems.