Back Pain Support Group

Honey,
You need to apply for the disability yourself, is easy to do and social security has a website were you can start the process online. Then SS will send all of his Doctor's forms to filled out, and they will send the two of you forms also and then you go from there. Once the process get's started, if he gets denied the first time (it happens most of the time), do not get discourage! You re-apply or get yourself a SS lawyer to help you out with your/his case.

Now, when it comes to his back.... you need to find another Doc that can give you and your husband a second opinion on what's going on with his back. It sounds to me that this other Doc dropped the ball and now wants nothing to do and send your hubby to pain management (which is a good thing, don't get me wrong). Get a second opinion. What if this Doc screwed up your hubbies back and now is trying to CYA??? Cover his arse.... you know??!!

Ok, when it comes to pain management. Call the PM Doc, make an appointment or tell them over the phone that the Norco is not touching his pain and that he is going to need something else. If they are good and caring PM Doc's, they will work with your husband and give him something stronger. I hope that this helps. You take care and start the process of SSD today, don't wait! The Doc's will never start this process for you. Is the patients responsibility to do that. Take care and keep us posted.

What disability are you trying to get, Social Security or Workers Comp through your husbands work? disability through the company he drives for is usually initiated by the company. For Social Security, check out the web site at: www.ssa.gov/pubs/10029.html and
www.ssa.gov/applyfordisability/

I doubt you can get workers comp due to arthritis. Social Security disability sounds like something he could get. I'm difinitely not an expert but if you have kids or even for yourself you may can get help from his S. Security.

Don't look ahead at how bad it will be based on the present. You have to deal with things one day at a time. Try to move your pain Dr. appt. up and be cordial with them as they are here to work with you on this. Tell them what is prescribed currently is not effective and ask them what to do. Asking for more medication could be taken wrongly by a Dr that is looking for dependency issues in their patients. You will need patience and faith as this is a life changing event. Trying to do to much too soon will wear you down, as will worry. Nothing matters but God. Trying to maintain a certain lifestyle, activities and friends, made my back and my situation worse so I advise Stop and Evaluate. Look into your finances, at help from family and from your church, as well as what you can do to rest. Worry makes everything worse, so getting information and gaining knowledge cuts down on the apprehension of being helpless or over your head in troubles. Amid shipwrecks, beatings, and poisonous snakes, St. Paul still found the Grace of God enough for him. I pray you receive the grace of the virtue of patience and of perseverance.

Dear Kim,
My heart goes out to you...my husband and I are both chronic pain patients and it's really tough when we are both down and out:( I have a bad back (multiple disc involvement,same as your husband's), torn rotators (both sides) and am going in for my first surgery in August, and all of this is complicated by an underlying medical condition of systemic lupus. I try to keep up with life (work,etc.) so that I can keep the benefits and help pay the bills but I often wonder how long I can do it, sometimes the stress causes flares that put me out of commission for weeks at a time. These upcoming surgeries are going to keep me out of work for 6-8 months as I am having both shoulders done but have to wait for the first one to heal enough to have some mobility before having the operation on the second- with lupus you don't heal as quickly.
My husband was originally told that he had arthritis in his lower back when in fact he had severe disc degeneration-he was literally bone on bone and the nerve pain in his legs was unbearable. He went in for the surgery for the disc(s) in Septmber of '05. I say dics because he too has multiple disc issues but it was the L-5 that was pinching off the nerves. The doctor hoped that by repairing the L-5 that the disc above and below would have a more level base and possibly get better (?) I will tell you that once the pins and rods were put in and blood supply was restored to the nerves, the pain in his legs was/is excrutiating-worse than before the surgery. The doctor put him on Lyrica and whilke this medication is very effective in treating the pain it does have incredible side effects. The cognitive side effects were so overwhelming that my husband went in for more surgery to have a spinal stimulator put in to help block the pain signals going to his legs. With this he was able to cut back 50% on the lyrica but he still has to take it daily and knows when he has missed a dose. Mind you, all of this has taken time....a matter of a couple of years and when you are in pain, every day seems twice as long:(
As far as the disability...I haven't looked into it yet for myself yet but I was told to look into medical retirement- is that an option for your husband? Someone else wrote that they don't grant disability for arthritis, this may be true....how about the fact that your husband has multiple disc involvement and that they do not offer surgical procedures for fixing more them here in United States? You may want to approach it from that angle. Does he have any nerve damage down his legs and feet that would impair his ability to drive (his livlihood?) Just some food for thought...my thoughts and prayers are with you, keep us posted,xoxoLyn

You've gotten lots of good advice. Here is an oddball but potentially helpful thought. Hypnotherapy. My friend is a hpnotherapist and I know other people who have used it for various things. I don't know what it can do for pain but maybe stress relief, calmness, anything that might help keep your lives a little saner. Just a thought. : )

go and see somebody at the social security office and fill out the forms for disability. get a new doctor who will back you up in disability.
I hear they do excellent work on pain management. The more things you try, the better it is for you to get SS.

meditating can solve ur nerves,,,do ur exercises, my brother got denied s soc. i think everyone does,, lawyer will fix that,,and they pay when u win or might do it pro bono..u need faith, religion, biofreeze helps, arnica helps too, good luck god bless. never never never give up. danafrog3