Chronic Pain Support Group
Physicians and professionalsdefine pain as chronic if it lasts longer than three to six months and is persistent. It's distinct from acute pain that is a direct result of injury or trauma. This support group is dedicated to those suffering from chronic pain. Discuss treatments that have worked for you, find advice for your specific experience, and find support. You're not...
Actually I think I might have been a member several years ago.
I have had severe back pain for about 14 years now after having a horrible fall where I fratured my spine in 3 places.I been to several drs who told me tha tthere wasnt much that could be done for me.Then in March of this year my husband had a hip replacemnet and a nurse noticed that I was having problems with my back and told me about the dr I am seeing now.Later that day when I was wlking down the hall she was talking to the dr and called me over and introduced us.I had a copy of my last MRI disk with me and he asked if he could see it.I gave it to him and after looking at he came to my husbands room and told me that he could help me and for me to come see him the next day.I went but told him that I wanted to put off any surgery until my husband had time to heal and recuperate from his surgery.Now after several MRIs,CTs,and XRAYs I am scheduled to have surgery on January 18 at 6am.He will be fusing 4 vertabra,inserting 2 rods,4 screws and a bone growth stimulator.
I am alergic to most pain meds and alot of other meds so I have had to suffer with this pain so long that I dont remember what it feels like to not be in excraciating pain.I also have to stop smoking after having smoked for over 25 years before he will do the surgery.I am allergic to all the "stop smoking aids" so I have to do this all on my own.
Please keep me in your prayers.I am scared to death of having this surgery but I cant take the pain any more.
JANEY
I have had severe back pain for about 14 years now after having a horrible fall where I fratured my spine in 3 places.I been to several drs who told me tha tthere wasnt much that could be done for me.Then in March of this year my husband had a hip replacemnet and a nurse noticed that I was having problems with my back and told me about the dr I am seeing now.Later that day when I was wlking down the hall she was talking to the dr and called me over and introduced us.I had a copy of my last MRI disk with me and he asked if he could see it.I gave it to him and after looking at he came to my husbands room and told me that he could help me and for me to come see him the next day.I went but told him that I wanted to put off any surgery until my husband had time to heal and recuperate from his surgery.Now after several MRIs,CTs,and XRAYs I am scheduled to have surgery on January 18 at 6am.He will be fusing 4 vertabra,inserting 2 rods,4 screws and a bone growth stimulator.
I am alergic to most pain meds and alot of other meds so I have had to suffer with this pain so long that I dont remember what it feels like to not be in excraciating pain.I also have to stop smoking after having smoked for over 25 years before he will do the surgery.I am allergic to all the "stop smoking aids" so I have to do this all on my own.
Please keep me in your prayers.I am scared to death of having this surgery but I cant take the pain any more.
JANEY
Welcome and I hope people here can give you ideas to get pain relief. There are alot of great posts here. Search/look around/post.
Nice to meet you! Lynne
If you aren't allergic to the patch, try it! It puts a steady stream of nicotine into your system so the cravings are minimized. The nicotine dosage is reduced until it's the equivalent of about 1 cigarette a day. It's easy to quit a 1 cigarette a day addiction! :) You probably aren't allergic to the nicotine. I hope you aren't allergic to the other components of the patch. It was really a Godsend for me!
Don't give up on quitting. It is so awesome to be smoke-free!!
If you do try the patch, don't smoke while you're wearing it!!!!! That can cause you to have a heart attack!
Good luck! I hope you can stop smoking and I hope the surgery works!!
David.
I was the recipient of a 3 level spinal fusion in Nov. of 07 and I can tell you that the surgery is NOT an easy one. The surgery does not take care of the pain, it only repairs the structural issues on the spine. Have you seen other surgeon's and look for second opinions? That is something that I did not do, and now I regret. If I knew then all that I know now, I would NOT gone through the surgery.
If you work, there is no way that you can go back to work in 3 months like most surgeon's tell you, I for once couldn't go back to work and ended up in SSDI. It takes a full year or more to recover from such a big surgery, so I hope that you are ready for that.
I hate to sound so negative, but I have been there and done that and I can tell you what really goes on with a mult-level fusion. As a matter of fact only about 55% of the multi level fusions work, most of them leaves the patient in more pain than before the surgery, so I hope that this is not what will happen to you, I know that for me, it did not work.
Before you go to surgery make sure to get all of these things so you can be comfortable at home:
A Grabber/Reache (that will help you with picking stuff from the floor, since you can not BLT for a year after surgery BLT=bending, lifting, twisting)
A Hospital Style Commode - Again, since you can not bend too low, this device will help you to go to the bathroom without bending too much.
If your bed is too low, get an electric hospital bed. I had one and I had it place in the middle of the living room, so that way I would be close to the bathroom, kitchen, front door, etc.
Make sure to bring everything that is low in your cup boards and bathroom cabinet up to waist high, again because of the NO bending rule.
If you can, make a lot of meals and freeze them for you and your family, you won't be able to cook for at least 4 weeks, sometimes more....
If I can thing of other things I will post them later, Take care and try to get a second opinion before jumping into surgery.
Tipper
I have never had this surgery so I cannot advise on it, except to say I'd listen to the ones that have had it. My boyfriend has had it before I knew him and he's told me that he was very rough. He could not work any more after it. He still isn't able to bend and his was years ago.
Like Tipper said get a second opinion.
We have a great group of supportive and friendly people on here so be sure to hang around. Toni
I am allergic to alot of the pain pills but can take the shots/iv form like with Morphine the pill makes me very sick at my stomach and 1 will knock me out for days at a time but the shot dont.So while I am in hospital I will be ok.Thr dr is aware of my allegies and we have a plan to find a med that I can take with the help of some strong stomach meds to stop the nausea.Right now I am on hydrocodone 5 mg every 3-4 hours and I am doing ok with taking phenegran [sp?] with it.Of course I will need something stronger after surgery.
With the quiting smoking I am allergic to the patches,they leave big blister on my skin that looks like I've been burned and the nicotene gum makes me sick so I cant use either of them.Right now I am using hard candy and tictacs.My sister in law is bringing me one of the electronic ciggarets and hopefully that will help.
David,Thank you for the well wishes with my kids,and they are mine I brought them both home from the hospital and the oldest has only seen his mother[my daughter] 3 times and the baby has never even met her but both know about her.I am adopting them.Thye are my reason for living and the biggest reason for doing all of this,so maybe I can do more things with them and not be in as much pain all the time.
Tipper,the hospital where I will have the surgery supplies teh reacher/grabbies along with several other small devices to help.We already have the comode and shower seat from my husbands surgery and my bed is pretty high but I will probably sleep in a recliner most of the time anyway.Thats where I slept when I had my gall bladder removed 2 years ago.
I do realize that this surgery is not going to take all of the pain away and could even make it worse but at this point I have to try something.I am in so much pain that it is driving me crazy.As I also have Fibromyalgia and neropathy I will always be in some pain and taht is just something I have to live with.
I am very lucky in that I have my 21 year old daughter still at home and she helps me with so much of taking care of the children and running of the house.She already does take care of all the things that I cant because of all my health problems.
If only I'd gotten more opinions, I'd of known better and would have known to demand that they use prevention techniques for the adhesions not to come back so easily as they have! Im now diagnosed with Adhesive Disease!
As for the smoking, Im a smoker too and know I need to quit! The toxins in the cigs prevent proper healing and can also make any scar tissue sticky which allows it to grow and cling to other organs!!! The dr that did my surgery didn't even mention for me to quit prior!!!
I must say tho that I am impressed that the dr offered his services to you and saw you so quickly! That in itself is rare! Often drs do NOT want to take on a pain patient so I do commend him for caring enough to take notice and offer care!
Best wishes for your husbands recovery and yours if you do go forward with the Jan. 18th date! Surgery isn't always a cure all, far from it is my experience after 6 abdominal surgeries wrecked havoc on my internal organs!!!!
Keep us posted, this is an awesome supportive group!
Riss
I hope your surgery does what you hope it will. It is so hard when we lose hope and feel like pain is just the forever.
I refused surgery because it was not going to fix the actual problem, only potentially help with the pain. I used to beg for surgery when I was much younger...researching new surgical procedures and bringing them to my doc...now, I am so glad that I did not find one that said he would do it. My thought process is that if they all say no and one says yes...avoid the one that said yes.
You are doing great on your smoking, it was very hard but I am so glad that I did it and I know it will be an addiction for the rest of my life, but I am glad to say that I am SMOBER each day. Today is day 98!!
I am cheering you on for your quit and praying for your pain. I hope and pray that you will recover quickly and with as little pain as possible.
I too have been a smoker for way too long now. This may be just the thing to kick the habit. I've tried to quit before now also and it never took but I have learned (but failed to put to use) the knowledge that smoking cigs can worsen our pain. I've also learned that in pain it makes it harder to quit but I know you can do this.
I'm sorry you are so allergic to most pain meds and any quit smoking aids. Try to wean down by keeping your cigs in another room making it extra hard for us in pain to go and get one.That will help you get rid of the part of it that is habit alone first.
I don't do NY resolutions but am planning on quitting this coming year; hopefully by summer at the latest. I will do so by the advice I gave to you and when I get down to 5 a day, I won't have SO much nicotine to withdrawal from. I can take things to quit smoking but don't believe in them for me personally.
I pray your surgery goes well and you are in my thoughts and prayers,
Rhonda, IN