Chiropractic Before and After Surgery

[steve55]

ADR seeker, stop sugar coating it. Tell us how you REALLY feel. Stop holding back. Well, in all seriousness, sorry to hear your story. Both parents killed by docs. Wow! Never heard such a bad luck story.

[dshobbies]

OK- so now we're getting to the crux of it. The truth is there are always going to be good and bad. Over the years, I've heard stories not to dissimiliar to yours. I too have been subjected to less than adaquate care at hospitals. True, some doctors have a take it or leave it attitude, that their way is the only way but there are some really good practitioners out there. We always advise someone to get other opinions and sometimes it can take several doctors to find a good fit.

Some excellent doctors also feel this way. For a surgeon, I'd rather have skill than personality but for a doctor I see more often, I do want someone who's willing to work with me. Still there are some doctors who will do what the patient wants, regardless of benefit, because they're afraid of a lawsuit.

So having said all that, you have to ask yourself, do you want only to medicate away the pain or do you want to risk surgery. For spinal surgery, there is no going back. Your spine will forever be altered. BUT - you might find yourself living with less pain and a fuller life when compared to medicating only. If your pain is relatively recent, you might be more willing to take a wait and see attitude while living in pain for a long time can take away too much from your life, which is all you want back. This is a tough decision which only you can do. You can listen to other stories, talk to various doctors, learn as much as you can which you seemingly have already done, and hope you're making the best decision for your circumstances.

As for your parents, I can only imagine the horror you experienced - and twice. I am very sorry. We all know this is not a first, nor will it be the last. Even with careful choosing, mistakes can happen. Medical care never comes with any guarantees. All we can do is pay attention and choose carefully.

Dale

[jsewell]

ADR seeker,
I am so sorry for the loss of your parents. I cannot imagine that at all. I understand much better where you are coming from now. Can't say i wouldn't be right there with you in the same circumstances.

judy

[ADR seeker]

Originally Posted by dshobbies

OK- so now we're getting to the crux of it. The truth is there are always going to be good and bad. Over the years, I've heard stories not to dissimiliar to yours. I too have been subjected to less than adaquate care at hospitals. True, some doctors have a take it or leave it attitude, that their way is the only way but there are some really good practitioners out there. We always advise someone to get other opinions and sometimes it can take several doctors to find a good fit.

Some excellent doctors also feel this way. For a surgeon, I'd rather have skill than personality but for a doctor I see more often, I do want someone who's willing to work with me. Still there are some doctors who will do what the patient wants, regardless of benefit, because they're afraid of a lawsuit.

So having said all that, you have to ask yourself, do you want only to medicate away the pain or do you want to risk surgery. For spinal surgery, there is no going back. Your spine will forever be altered. BUT - you might find yourself living with less pain and a fuller life when compared to medicating only. If your pain is relatively recent, you might be more willing to take a wait and see attitude while living in pain for a long time can take away too much from your life, which is all you want back. This is a tough decision which only you can do. You can listen to other stories, talk to various doctors, learn as much as you can which you seemingly have already done, and hope you're making the best decision for your circumstances.

As for your parents, I can only imagine the horror you experienced - and twice. I am very sorry. We all know this is not a first, nor will it be the last. Even with careful choosing, mistakes can happen. Medical care never comes with any guarantees. All we can do is pay attention and choose carefully.

Dale

Here are some facts.

American MD collectively pay 2 billion for malpractice insurance but they make an extra 400 billion from medical errors. The lie when they say they worry about getting sued. Mal-Practice lawsuits are very difficult to prove and very expensive for lawyers. Doctors lie through their teeth when they say they practice defensive medicine.

The M6 is junk but it's the best junk available next to the NeoDisk which is being touted as a miracle but the fact is the technology to created existed in 1930.

My dad went easily. He had a bleed but the doctor said he had anemia. My mother came home and found him lying on the kitchen floor.

My mother didn't have it as easy. The ativan put her in a coma and she struggled for 3 days for breath. If we could have sued we would have. Hospitals make 10 medication errors a day. The odds were against my mother and this medication error killed her. She fought hard to stay alive for us. I think she was terrified and on Dec 23rd she left us. We gave the gifts she gave us the the Salvation Army and we found a home for her dog who died a few months later of a broken heart.

My best friend went misdiagnosed for gall bladder disease and he endured 3 years of agonizing gall bladder attacks. The told him it was all in his head but anyone looking at him could tell he was sick and dying accept the doctors. They treated him like a crazy person and a drug seeker so his only relief was aspirin.

Finally I got him to the right doctor and the redid the gallbladder tests. He not only had gallstone but his gallbladder was now a dead organ in his body killing him. He made it through surgery and began a recover slightly but too much damage was done.

He started looking like a holocaust survivor. He was anorexic from the malnutrition. He had a massive stroke and died a few weeks later.

Every one of you knows a victim of a serious medical error? How many people do you know with AIDS?

[jsewell]

ADR seeker,
You sure have had some horror stories . I have a few of my own . I still have found some wonderful caring doctors though. It takes a lot of research at times.

What about you ? Are you actively seeking medical treatment for your problem? In this country or other?
Obviously you want an ADR or a few.

I still feel so badly for all your losses. We just lost a friend do to medical incompetence as well.
judy

[ADR seeker]

Originally Posted by jsewell

ADR seeker,
You sure have had some horror stories . I have a few of my own . I still have found some wonderful caring doctors though. It takes a lot of research at times.

What about you ? Are you actively seeking medical treatment for your problem? In this country or other?
Obviously you want an ADR or a few.

I still feel so badly for all your losses. We just lost a friend do to medical incompetence as well.
judy

I have gotten very conflicting opinions from surgeons. The last one told me that an old style ADR like the ones available in the US would not be a good thing for me because they over rotate. I asked him how I would be if C 5-6 was not herniated and he said I'd be much better. He offered a fusion but I know to many people who had them who ended up far worse.

I think if I had the Neo Disk I'd be better and if that failed they could do a fusion.

I asked my chiro what he thought and he thinks that 5-6 is the main culprit.

I also got conflicting info on dealing with the osteophytes.

U.S. doctors tell you that they will grow back worse if they are removed and others say that is your spine is functioning properly they won't grow back.

I really feel like we are in the medical dark ages especially in the US.

I guess whatever I do it will be a roll of the dice.

[cherylstewart67]

if i had gone by the symptoms rather than what they looked at the mri and said was my cause i'd be better off. they did fusion on the levels that were not the problem. i know those areas needed something, but my problem has always been c6/7. i told them i was having problems with my forarms and hand and which fingers and it pointed to 6/7 t1 but they did fusion on 4/5/6 because of what they saw in the mri. now i am still not better. they nere even did a discogram or however it spelled to see what levels were causing my pain. they did not tell me all of my options for adr vs fusion and at that time i did not have a home computor to research it for myself. clearly adr would have been better for me, the fusion has lead to more ddd from the stress and additional surgeries.

[Maria]

Roll of the dice theory.. could come out better, could come out worse .. stay the same.. not likely tho I guess it happens.

If you know what the limitations are here in the US and are pursuing surgery and you know that there are zero guarantees w/outcome of spine surgery so you go into it hoping for better outcome basically.

A surgeon can do the surgery for which he or she is trained and perform that surgery perfectly and we can still have rotten results .. here there or anywhere with anything.

Maybe less so with one technique or type of surgery over another however I've read plenty of posts from persons that had very bad outcomes even when they used their own $ and went abroad or elsewhere. So failure re spine surgery is not only exclusive to this country and/or the limitations imposed on the medical/surgical practicing surgeons either.

I agree that our medical system absolutely is atrocious as it shouldn't really be called "healthcare" any longer rather wealthcare as you gotta have $ to pursue really good care and insurance companies and big biz is what's making the money really not the average surgeon/doctor.

Having worked in healthcare my entire career I saw many mistakes made on many levels some of which were minor, some much greater, some fatal. It pays to have a really tight system of checks and balances to catch errors rapidly enough to reverse them although some are not reversible and some are fatal.

While I agree with Judy that there are many good/excellent physicians I also think our healthcare system in the US needs a major overall and yesterday.

[ADR seeker]

Originally Posted by cherylstewart67

if i had gone by the symptoms rather than what they looked at the mri and said was my cause i'd be better off. they did fusion on the levels that were not the problem. i know those areas needed something, but my problem has always been c6/7. i told them i was having problems with my forarms and hand and which fingers and it pointed to 6/7 t1 but they did fusion on 4/5/6 because of what they saw in the mri. now i am still not better. they nere even did a discogram or however it spelled to see what levels were causing my pain. they did not tell me all of my options for adr vs fusion and at that time i did not have a home computor to research it for myself. clearly adr would have been better for me, the fusion has lead to more ddd from the stress and additional surgeries.

Cheryl, I don't trust most doctors to have the patient's best interest at heart or always tell the truth. I report on abuse by members of the medical industry. Orthopedics has its share of charlatans.

The docs that push fusions are the ones who do fusions.

Fusions almost always lead to more DDD and osteo arthritis. That means more surgeries and more money. ADRs were being implanted in 1955. I really suspect that the design for the neo disk has been around for decades.

[ADR seeker]

Originally Posted by steve55

ADR seeker, stop sugar coating it. Tell us how you REALLY feel. Stop holding back. Well, in all seriousness, sorry to hear your story. Both parents killed by docs. Wow! Never heard such a bad luck story.

There are a lot of stories like mine. We have a medical system that kills more people than all other diseases combined.