Hey guys,
I’m excited and just wanted to share my joy and struggle.
Some of you who know me from RWI may be aware of the struggle I’ve been having with chronic neck and upper back pain, as well as limitations with the use of my upper extremities over the last four years.
Below is an email I sent six months ago which provides the Coles Notes of my experiences.
“I've been having chronic neck and back pain for the last 48 months. It took me two years to finally meet with Dr blank Orthopedic surgeon at blank, he said "i can't say surgery will help and I can't say it won't, you might be in pain forever". i told him I acknowledge that and accept the risks and would like to talk about moving forward with surgery. He said in that case we need a second
opinion and he will refer me to Dr blank. I told him I've already been waiting two years to meet blank. He replied that he will expedite my referral. I waited two weeks and then called Blank office to find out that I'm on a two year wait list.
On the advice of a doctor friend I asked my sports doctor, Dr Blank, for a referral to a Dr blank in another city and that it might be faster. Lucky for me I got an appointment within 7 months. So i'm meeting him in March of 2018.
My MRI shows severe right side protrusion at c5-c6, touching c6 nerve route. Mild degeneration at c4-c5 and c6-c7. I have numbness in both hands but no shooting pains. My pain experience is in the traps, rhomboids, infraspinatus, ect ect. They say I have myofascial pain syndrome, there are knots all over my upper back and neck. I
have constant stiffness and dull aching pain, except when it flairs up of course it becomes unbearably worse.
I've been doing phyio, massage, and just started chiro as well this year. In three years none of these modalities have made an improvement, only managing flare ups. I've been on max dose NSAIDS for three years, I've tried Gabapentin, and nabilone which both make me sick. So now I'm use 1000 mg a day of Naproxen and CBD oil, which maybe helps, maybe doesn't, but it does not make me sick.
I'm in year two of psych nursing school and we have a clinical in hospital in November. Unfortunately one of the course leaders has
told the accessibility services (disability) coordinator that she does not want to accomodate my condition for the clinical and that I should provide a doctors note declaring me fit for nursing duty. If i can't do the clinical I will have to leave the program. I've invested 2.5 years into my education now and $30,000. If I have to
stop the program i will have to start making repayments on my students loans without a source of income.
My Physio is mr blank at blank Physio. he actually works directly with the spine clinic at the hospital. He is really good at what he does but he as almost given up hope that we can make it better without surgery.
Dr blank is my sports doctor at blank, been seeing him for over ten years. you probably know of him, he is amazing. He is also adamant that I need the operation.
The spine clinic physio who assessed me in November of 2016 said 100% that my pain syndrome is unrelated to the disc problem and that I do not need surgery.
The pain doctor at blank says the same.
They both were proven wrong when Dr Johnson admitted he could not make that claim in March of 2017.
I am praying that when i meet Dr blank in March of 2018 he will agree to operate that summer so i can get back to school pain free.
I was just wondering if you have any advice having been through a similar situation. You obviously found the canadian system not
satisfactory since you had the operation in Germany.
thanks”
I’m relieved to have been told by the surgeon after we compared a new X-ray to my fifteen month old MRI that there has been further collapse of the discs and the next step is to operate.
My pain has been so bad and so chronic the past few years that it got to the point where I decided that the only way I could escape it was by death.
He’s going to do an artificial disc replacement at c5-c6 and a fusion at c6-c7.
I’m done school this year on May 4th and I’m on a cancellation list, so as of May 5th I’ll be waiting by the phone for a call to be there the following day.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’m excited and just wanted to share my joy and struggle.
Some of you who know me from RWI may be aware of the struggle I’ve been having with chronic neck and upper back pain, as well as limitations with the use of my upper extremities over the last four years.
Below is an email I sent six months ago which provides the Coles Notes of my experiences.
“I've been having chronic neck and back pain for the last 48 months. It took me two years to finally meet with Dr blank Orthopedic surgeon at blank, he said "i can't say surgery will help and I can't say it won't, you might be in pain forever". i told him I acknowledge that and accept the risks and would like to talk about moving forward with surgery. He said in that case we need a second
opinion and he will refer me to Dr blank. I told him I've already been waiting two years to meet blank. He replied that he will expedite my referral. I waited two weeks and then called Blank office to find out that I'm on a two year wait list.
On the advice of a doctor friend I asked my sports doctor, Dr Blank, for a referral to a Dr blank in another city and that it might be faster. Lucky for me I got an appointment within 7 months. So i'm meeting him in March of 2018.
My MRI shows severe right side protrusion at c5-c6, touching c6 nerve route. Mild degeneration at c4-c5 and c6-c7. I have numbness in both hands but no shooting pains. My pain experience is in the traps, rhomboids, infraspinatus, ect ect. They say I have myofascial pain syndrome, there are knots all over my upper back and neck. I
have constant stiffness and dull aching pain, except when it flairs up of course it becomes unbearably worse.
I've been doing phyio, massage, and just started chiro as well this year. In three years none of these modalities have made an improvement, only managing flare ups. I've been on max dose NSAIDS for three years, I've tried Gabapentin, and nabilone which both make me sick. So now I'm use 1000 mg a day of Naproxen and CBD oil, which maybe helps, maybe doesn't, but it does not make me sick.
I'm in year two of psych nursing school and we have a clinical in hospital in November. Unfortunately one of the course leaders has
told the accessibility services (disability) coordinator that she does not want to accomodate my condition for the clinical and that I should provide a doctors note declaring me fit for nursing duty. If i can't do the clinical I will have to leave the program. I've invested 2.5 years into my education now and $30,000. If I have to
stop the program i will have to start making repayments on my students loans without a source of income.
My Physio is mr blank at blank Physio. he actually works directly with the spine clinic at the hospital. He is really good at what he does but he as almost given up hope that we can make it better without surgery.
Dr blank is my sports doctor at blank, been seeing him for over ten years. you probably know of him, he is amazing. He is also adamant that I need the operation.
The spine clinic physio who assessed me in November of 2016 said 100% that my pain syndrome is unrelated to the disc problem and that I do not need surgery.
The pain doctor at blank says the same.
They both were proven wrong when Dr Johnson admitted he could not make that claim in March of 2017.
I am praying that when i meet Dr blank in March of 2018 he will agree to operate that summer so i can get back to school pain free.
I was just wondering if you have any advice having been through a similar situation. You obviously found the canadian system not
satisfactory since you had the operation in Germany.
thanks”
I’m relieved to have been told by the surgeon after we compared a new X-ray to my fifteen month old MRI that there has been further collapse of the discs and the next step is to operate.
My pain has been so bad and so chronic the past few years that it got to the point where I decided that the only way I could escape it was by death.
He’s going to do an artificial disc replacement at c5-c6 and a fusion at c6-c7.
I’m done school this year on May 4th and I’m on a cancellation list, so as of May 5th I’ll be waiting by the phone for a call to be there the following day.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
