Back Surgery...

[stephen4785]

I had my adr l5-s1 done by Dr Guyer with the Texas Back Institute in 2008. I go back once a year for a check up and he's been great so far. But I havent had any problems so I couldnt tell you how he would act now but nothing gives me the impression that they wouldnt take care of anything..

http://texasback.com/doctors-profiles/doctor-guyer/

[stephen4785]

Nope. That's a paramedic skill.

Can you tell me if taking 800mg ibuprofen's are worse than Vicodin? Iv seen 2 different Dr's over the last couple years and neither one of them would write me a prescription for 800mg ibuprofen but they would write me a prescription for Vicodin. I told both of them that I dont like Vicodin and both of them talk me into taking the prescription they want to write. I take about 30pills/year.

[Craizie]

I got good results from decompression on my first go round. Have you tried an inversion table? Not sure how active you are. Maybe a few weeks in Pgysical Therapy to help build an exercise routine to strengthen your core?

Working out has been the best improvement in back pain for me. I had to take myself off the drugs because I was becoming dependent on them. I started regularly working out about 11 weeks ago and feel about 30% better than I have in the last 6 years.

[black2002ls]

I had my adr l5-s1 done by Dr Guyer with the Texas Back Institute in 2008. I go back once a year for a check up and he's been great so far. But I havent had any problems so I couldnt tell you how he would act now but nothing gives me the impression that they wouldnt take care of anything..
http://texasback.com/doctors-profiles/doctor-guyer/

Thank you for the recommendation. What kind of procedure did you have?

Find a new Dr

I wasn't too concerned up to this point (the most recent round of treatment). As I fully expected to never be back to normal and have to deal with some recurring pain. However, when I showed up in their office 3 times in a 7 week span progressively worse each time, their lack of concern was my red flag. Up to this point, a round of steroids and maybe some PT and I was good to go. I hate to go searching for a second opinion 2 days before a procedure. I am going to get this injection on Wednesday, go to the follow up on the 30th, and if I don't like what I hear, or feel like I am getting the level of care I want/need, then I will explore my other options. It isn't Dr. Guyer, mentioned above, but there is a TX Back Institute location in Rockwall, or I may do my initial with Dr. Guyer and go from there.

Working out has been the best improvement in back pain for me. I had to take myself off the drugs because I was becoming dependent on them. I started regularly working out about 11 weeks ago and feel about 30% better than I have in the last 6 years.

I wish at this point it was as simple as working out. Right before this latest round of trouble, I was hitting the gym 2x a week and riding ~100 miles a week on my bike. I felt like I was in a pretty great place with my physical health.

I guess my next question should be, how many of you have had some kind of back surgery? What procedure did you have? What kind of post op complications/pain did you have and for how long?

I am just about every 6 months dealing with some kind of relapse. I am not out trying to relive my glory days from power lifting, or trying to do things that are outside of my level of physical fitness. If I have any concern about something I have to lift/move or do, I make sure that I have help taking care of it. No matter how pathetic it looks/sounds.

[Craizie]

Thank you for the recommendation. What kind of procedure did you have?



I wasn't too concerned up to this point (the most recent round of treatment). As I fully expected to never be back to normal and have to deal with some recurring pain. However, when I showed up in their office 3 times in a 7 week span progressively worse each time, their lack of concern was my red flag. Up to this point, a round of steroids and maybe some PT and I was good to go. I hate to go searching for a second opinion 2 days before a procedure. I am going to get this injection on Wednesday, go to the follow up on the 30th, and if I don't like what I hear, or feel like I am getting the level of care I want/need, then I will explore my other options. It isn't Dr. Guyer, mentioned above, but there is a TX Back Institute location in Rockwall, or I may do my initial with Dr. Guyer and go from there.



I wish at this point it was as simple as working out. Right before this latest round of trouble, I was hitting the gym 2x a week and riding ~100 miles a week on my bike. I felt like I was in a pretty great place with my physical health.

I guess my next question should be, how many of you have had some kind of back surgery? What procedure did you have? What kind of post op complications/pain did you have and for how long?

I am just about every 6 months dealing with some kind of relapse. I am not out trying to relive my glory days from power lifting, or trying to do things that are outside of my level of physical fitness. If I have any concern about something I have to lift/move or do, I make sure that I have help taking care of it. No matter how pathetic it looks/sounds.

I didn't have surgery, but was told I needed it. The doctor strongly advised against it, and that I wait until I just couldn't take it any more. I had a rather small injury( dislocated a rib head in my spine ) and tried to man up on it. By the time I went to the doc I had arthritis set in the joints of my spine. I'm pretty much is constant pain, and ribs will just pop out of place for no reason from time to time. Since I've started working out it occurs less and less.

[stephen4785]

Thank you for the recommendation. What kind of procedure did you have?



I wasn't too concerned up to this point (the most recent round of treatment). As I fully expected to never be back to normal and have to deal with some recurring pain. However, when I showed up in their office 3 times in a 7 week span progressively worse each time, their lack of concern was my red flag. Up to this point, a round of steroids and maybe some PT and I was good to go. I hate to go searching for a second opinion 2 days before a procedure. I am going to get this injection on Wednesday, go to the follow up on the 30th, and if I don't like what I hear, or feel like I am getting the level of care I want/need, then I will explore my other options. It isn't Dr. Guyer, mentioned above, but there is a TX Back Institute location in Rockwall, or I may do my initial with Dr. Guyer and go from there.



I wish at this point it was as simple as working out. Right before this latest round of trouble, I was hitting the gym 2x a week and riding ~100 miles a week on my bike. I felt like I was in a pretty great place with my physical health.

I guess my next question should be, how many of you have had some kind of back surgery? What procedure did you have? What kind of post op complications/pain did you have and for how long?

I am just about every 6 months dealing with some kind of relapse. I am not out trying to relive my glory days from power lifting, or trying to do things that are outside of my level of physical fitness. If I have any concern about something I have to lift/move or do, I make sure that I have help taking care of it. No matter how pathetic it looks/sounds.

I had an artificial disc replacement L5-S1. The only pain I have now is because I don't stretch daily like I'm supposed to. My legs have been really tight since high school and they pull my back out of alignment from what iv been told. That and not working out.
This is what was put in my back.

http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/DeviceApprovalsandClearances/Recently-ApprovedDevices/ucm077620.htm

[black2002ls]

I had an artificial disc replacement L5-S1. The only pain I have now is because I don't stretch daily like I'm supposed to. My legs have been really tight since high school and they pull my back out of alignment from what iv been told. That and not working out.
This is what was put in my back.

http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Pr.../ucm077620.htm

What was your recovery time after that procedure?

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[stephen4785]

This is what I posted at the first of this thread.

I went to 5 different dr's to get opinions about what I should do for a 11mm herniated L5S1. I settled with Dr. Guyer @ Texas back insititue and having an artificial disc replacement surgery. I was walking around the day of the surgery and I was fully recovered in 8 weeks, no restrictions. 4 dr's wanted to do a fusion and I didnt read very many stories about people getting a fusion and not having any other problems. I decided on the adr surgery becasue it can be removed later down the line if needed. Once you have a fusion your done and most of the time it sets off a chain reaction in your spine. The artificial disc retains all flexibility but no cushion like the actual disc. I think later down the road they will have invented a replacement that has cushion and flexibility so if I have problems I can go to that. I was on light duty at work and only had a few hours of work a day to do so I spent a lot fo time on the web reading medical studies, watching youtube vids and emailing people that had both. I have no regrets about my surgery and it was done on Oct 6 2007.

I can add that after I hurt my back I was taking about 30-40 Vicodin a week for 8-9 months. I had terrible mood swings when I was coming down off of them. I have no clue why my wife didnt leave me(we didnt have kids at the time). I was prescribed 100 10mg Vicodin's when I left the hospital. I took 3 of them that night and the next day then stopped taking them all together. I had that bottle in my cabinet for 2-3 years. I was off of pain killer 3 days after the surgery and I was cleared back to full duty 8 weeks after my surgery. I was also given a 0 impairment rating which I felt like was an awesome deal.

[black2002ls]

This is what I posted at the first of this thread.

I can add that after I hurt my back I was taking about 30-40 Vicodin a week for 8-9 months. I had terrible mood swings when I was coming down off of them. I have no clue why my wife didnt leave me(we didnt have kids at the time). I was prescribed 100 10mg Vicodin's when I left the hospital. I took 3 of them that night and the next day then stopped taking them all together. I had that bottle in my cabinet for 2-3 years. I was off of pain killer 3 days after the surgery and I was cleared back to full duty 8 weeks after my surgery. I was also given a 0 impairment rating which I felt like was an awesome deal.

Thank you. Apparently, my Dr. Office waited 3 days to submit to my insurance, and as of 5 PM no one could give me any solid indication as to whether they were going to approve the request in time for my injection. They will be getting my full wrath in the morning to sort this out.

I have not stood fully upright and without pain since the night I got married, 11/14. Apparently walking into the doctor and not being able to stand upright isn't a cause for concern for them. Once I see how all of this is going to shake out, I will be making an appointment with the Tx Back Institute to get their opinion on my situation.

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[stephen4785]

Thank you. Apparently, my Dr. Office waited 3 days to submit to my insurance, and as of 5 PM no one could give me any solid indication as to whether they were going to approve the request in time for my injection. They will be getting my full wrath in the morning to sort this out.

I have not stood fully upright and without pain since the night I got married, 11/14. Apparently walking into the doctor and not being able to stand upright isn't a cause for concern for them. Once I see how all of this is going to shake out, I will be making an appointment with the Tx Back Institute to get their opinion on my situation.

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My injury happened at work and the dr that was my primary care was a complete joke. His office wouldn't refill my prescriptions so Id run out and just lay on the couch for days. That went on for a couple months. He would only write a prescription for one week at a time and Id have to call 3-4 times a day for days to get them to renew it. Then I guess he got tired of me calling so much so he wrote me the prescription for a month with the same number of pills. 30 pills per week went to 30 pills per month. After I saw Dr Guyer I had my primary care Dr changed to a Dr at Guyers office and all of my prescription issue were resolved.

[davbrucas]

Can you tell me if taking 800mg ibuprofen's are worse than Vicodin? Iv seen 2 different Dr's over the last couple years and neither one of them would write me a prescription for 800mg ibuprofen but they would write me a prescription for Vicodin. I told both of them that I dont like Vicodin and both of them talk me into taking the prescription they want to write. I take about 30pills/year.

Aside from COX inhibition of prostaglandin production (causing gastric irritation), NSAIDs are pretty safe drugs.

[Rreemo]

I hadn't read this thread in while, and just went through some of the pain management posts a few pages back. I had an incident that I can now relate to from what Doc Dave pointed out....

Around the time I was in my later 20's, I woke up one night with extreme abdominal pains...like nothing I had ever experienced before. Up until that time I had always been one to avoid hospitals at all costs, and had never been in a situation where I thought I needed to go immediately to the closest ER....until that night. I knew something was wrong, way beyond just a stomach ache or what not. Had my wife drive me to the ER, and when we arrived there was no one else in the waiting room. I described that I had abdominal pains, but at the time just hurt all over, they kept asking if it was localized somewhere, but I really couldn't tell (by that time it had been going on well over a couple hours, and seemed to be getting worse by the minute). They treated me in a very nonchalant way, asked us to just have a seat and wait. They left me sitting there for quite a while, about 30-40 minutes, and eventually sent a nurse out who started drilling me on drug use, and asking what at the time seemed to be a string of pointless questions. I finally cracked on her and got pretty loud and hostile...keep in-mind I was in the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life, and I just wanted it to stop.

They let me sit out there and suffer a bit longer, and it wasn't until my wife finally told them that we were going to leave and go to another hospital, that they took me back. The nurse drew blood and a short time later came back and asked me for a urine sample....which I had a hard time coming up with, and much to my dismay, once I managed a stream...it was burning fire blood piss!

Needless to say, as soon as I handed her the cup full of bloody urine there was a doctor and several other folks in my room on the double. They finally gave me some morphine, which damned near erased the pain instantly. I don't remember a whole lot but they fairly quickly determined that it was a kidney stone.

Funny thing - I do remember the doctor and a couple of the nurses apologizing to me multiple times. The bitch nurse from the waiting room changed her tune entirely...told my wife how sorry she was, and explained to her that they regularly got a lot of drug fiends coming into that ER, usually in the middle of the night, and expressing almost identical symptoms that I was...the way that I was sweating so profusely and writhing around in pain, made them think I was having withdrawals.

So yes - fiends have screwed it up for the rest of us when there is a real problem.

[black2002ls]

I hadn't read this thread in while, and just went through some of the pain management posts a few pages back. I had an incident that I can now relate to from what Doc Dave pointed out....

Around the time I was in my later 20's, I woke up one night with extreme abdominal pains...like nothing I had ever experienced before. Up until that time I had always been one to avoid hospitals at all costs, and had never been in a situation where I thought I needed to go immediately to the closest ER....until that night. I knew something was wrong, way beyond just a stomach ache or what not. Had my wife drive me to the ER, and when we arrived there was no one else in the waiting room. I described that I had abdominal pains, but at the time just hurt all over, they kept asking if it was localized somewhere, but I really couldn't tell (by that time it had been going on well over a couple hours, and seemed to be getting worse by the minute). They treated me in a very nonchalant way, asked us to just have a seat and wait. They left me sitting there for quite a while, about 30-40 minutes, and eventually sent a nurse out who started drilling me on drug use, and asking what at the time seemed to be a string of pointless questions. I finally cracked on her and got pretty loud and hostile...keep in-mind I was in the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life, and I just wanted it to stop.

They let me sit out there and suffer a bit longer, and it wasn't until my wife finally told them that we were going to leave and go to another hospital, that they took me back. The nurse drew blood and a short time later came back and asked me for a urine sample....which I had a hard time coming up with, and much to my dismay, once I managed a stream...it was burning fire blood piss!

Needless to say, as soon as I handed her the cup full of bloody urine there was a doctor and several other folks in my room on the double. They finally gave me some morphine, which damned near erased the pain instantly. I don't remember a whole lot but they fairly quickly determined that it was a kidney stone.

Funny thing - I do remember the doctor and a couple of the nurses apologizing to me multiple times. The bitch nurse from the waiting room changed her tune entirely...told my wife how sorry she was, and explained to her that they regularly got a lot of drug fiends coming into that ER, usually in the middle of the night, and expressing almost identical symptoms that I was...the way that I was sweating so profusely and writhing around in pain, made them think I was having withdrawals.

So yes - fiends have screwed it up for the rest of us when there is a real problem.

Yep, I have ZERO history of abusing my medication. Hell this round with Tylenol 3 has been the only time that it would appear that I am abusing it. My prescriptions for pain meds would generally last me nearly 12 months, if not longer, on what was a 3 month prescription. After my surgery, and up until the past 6 weeks, I had no pain that couldn't be knocked out by a high dose of ibuprofen or a tramadol. When I was in intense pain, the only thing that seemed to take the edge of or get rid of the pain was Norco. It seems like that is the absolute will not prescribe under and circumstances pill these days. Hell Until January, I was working on a tramadol prescription that was about 2 years old, I took it so infrequently.

Now, to top this all off, I am fighting with the insurance and the Dr. Office. It took the Dr. 3 days to get my information submitted to my insurance company, another 2 days for them to make their request for documents from the Dr. So here I am, 12:30 on Tuesday, my appointment is scheduled for 9:30 in the morning, and no one can tell me whether I am going to have an injection tomorrow. Well, I guess I can get it either way, the difference is whether it is a $3500 out of pocket procedure or a $650 out of pocket. I have taken 2 days off of work, my wife took 1/2 day, and here we are wondering WTF is going on and not a single person can give me a straight answer as to whether the request is going to be approved and I am only going to be out of pocket the $650.

Add into that the fact that I purchased an Inversion table, went to put it together last night and it was missing the effing handles. The store I bought it from basically said tough luck, call the MFG for parts. So now it is a 7-10 day wait on parts to put this damn thing together so that I can use it.

[Rreemo]

My wife was having some problems a year or so ago and we decided to buy a Teeter - that thing actually works great! I even use it now myself....I usually get on that thing after the treadmill, and it definitely helps me keep from tensing up.

[Leah]

And herein lies the problem. The people who are in chronic pain are also "gaming for some dope" to put it down straight. Because they want to stop hurting. They will use many of the same phrases. They may even mention a drug specifically, that they've had good luck with in the past, which is about the worst thing you can do. "Oh my god, he knows the name of a common pain killer! His last name must be Escobar!"

I mean how absurd is it that we have the capabilities to take care of people but then hold it over their head, or even worse, deny them altogether? It's awful. It takes away their humanity. It's humiliating as hell going into a doctors office with chronic pain, because you know all the shit they're thinking, and all you want to be able to do is live your life. Every time I leave my doctors office, I feel like I'm being let out of an interrogation cell. And for the most part, I don't even have trouble with these people! I can only imagine what horror stories are going on out there that aren't in the general publics purview.

Amen, brother. So imagine my problem going for chronic daily migraines, lupus, fibromyalgia and now seizures. None of which they can do anything about except treat the pain, then I'm looked at like a dope fiend instead of a mother/wife/grad student/working/middle class/tax paying citizen. I just want to be able to do what I need to do and not cry in pain or wish I was dead every second of every day. I get help so I can still be somewhat productive, have a life and still do things with my kids.