Discogram Appt.

[cavalier]

JC - forgive me but i am not clear which place did your disco - At TBI or out in Calif ? Do you have to wait for the other 1/2 of the disc to be completed at a different place than the 1st ? I feel stupid asking these questions but perhaps my own lack of sleep is making me foggy - if you dont feel up to it I get that too in answering. Just that I care is why i am asking. Some doc's get miffed if you dont do it their standard way - i refused to do a Steroid Injection in my neck as i have osteopenia & if i did get any relief at best it would be temporary he said for diagnostics but I said I would rather wait for that from a discogram than a general steroid that if I got relief maybe not as specific since I have more than one level going on. Point being that doc is now not the same congenial doc I was very nice in my saying why - but he has no longer been interested in helping not that a physical Med doc can do surgery but he could have helped with Referals etc - I can get them on my own but not what i wanted or expected to have happen. But if they honeslty believe in something some of them have a ego - funny as some of the best doc's in the world should & could have a ego but they dont need too as they are confident & know their abilities but are more open to discussion & welcomed patient involvement & input - I never boss a doc around & never would intend too - but I do want to be involved as I have to live with the outcome & so I want that decision to be at least made with full information so I can say i took the risk etc. At any rate, I am sorry things blew up. IT is VERY diffcult to be patient & hang in there when you are in pain & it is hard to be clear in communication at times for me when pain makes it hard.
There has to be another side - I am worried on your saying you will end this - I have given it some thought but I believe we dont have that right & if you have any belief in a higher power cling even harder as for me only Faith & God has gotten me this far & we perserve thru hard times there are other people who suffer with high pain with cancer & other things as well. I have to remind myself I am not the only one & what is suffering to one & another who suffers is still suffering - I dont compare or try too- no one can imagine our own skin and I cant explain the why's but cling to that at some point there will be light at the end of a very dark tunnel - the journey is hard and we do run out of gas and it is natural to be dissapointed but this is not the 1st setback & this is the challenge we face - get some rest if you can & then pick yourself up and shake it off the dust, to fight for a answer another day. Answers dont come as fast as we want them but they do come, just not in a time frame we can set or expect. I dunno if i have helped - Best Jill

[jchebert1979]

The discogram was performed in New Orleans. I made an appt. at TBI for the following Tuesday with the intention of bringing the results. Regardless of what my surgeon who performed my last surgery thinks, he will not be the one touching my thoracic spine. He does not have the expertise. At this point there is no question as to what is causing my pain and suffering. The only thing that needs to be addressed is which levels are causing problems and what we need to do about them.

I could keep my appt at TBI, but the doctor there will not have the information that he needs. The only way that I will let any doctor go forward with any surgery is with confirmation from a discogram. So the 7 hour drive to get there would be worthless.

I know that no one can share another's pain, but I am willing to bet that most people on this board do not experience the levels of pain that I do. My best days are terrible and most days I feel as if the pain itself is going to kill me. I am so sick of trying to convince other people of my suffering. I sound like a broken record over and over again. I can cry out and beg for help endlessly with nothing, yet if I said I was going to kill myself, everyone comes running to the rescue and it's shit.

Nothing about what is wrong with me is a mystery or exceptional. I have pain patterns that are indicative of herniations and I have imaging showing herniations. I have had to endure two years of this torture because this broken piece of shit medical system that is supposed to be the best in the world can't listen to patients. Because of it I have lost everything that I have with absolutely no treatment and nothing to show for it except a huge scar on my head from an unnecessary brain surgery. On top of it I get closer to losing the ability to care for myself every day.

You know when people are thankful, that it could be worse. They're right, you could be me, because at this point I cannot imagine anything worse than what I live through everyday. I can't think of anything that is worse than being in pain that is so severe that you beg for death. That is my morning, noon, evening, and night.

I am so sorry for venting like this and I am not directing it at you Cavalier, I'm just feeling really bad.

[fuzzy]

I believe some third world countries have better medical systems then the USA. More compassion and spendig time with the patient goes a long way. Here it is destroyed by the system. I am not sure that even the current Obama hype can fix that and I doubt they even know what the problem really is.