Re: Back Hardware-Lyndi

[Guest guest]

Lyndi,

I have had a renowned surgeon tell me that hardware can be removed, it is

extensive operation but my gut feeling is that one of these damn screws is

sticking me in my Sacral Iliac area and I have said this all along.

X-rays cannot tell a " real fusion " the white shadow that was not seen before

what was done to you, could be other things as I was getting mixed messages from

different specialists. They said they would have to open you up and see.

My neurosurgeon whom I trust did the right thing at the time, Putting in one of

those " Chastie " (sp) artificial discs, I would have broke that right off the way

I am.

I do appreciate that the instrumentation was in there while I was lying down

bone but at the time, this tough cookie (me) was dealing with thyroid problems

etc and I had taken myself off hormone replacement therapy because the news.

Further studies now show the scare was not all it was cracked up to be and I

think I shocked my body into hypothyroidism by getting off estrogen and there

are many articles that state estrogen reduces pain in pain patients. Another of

the second sense things with me and I was taking Estratest which is small amount

with some " manly stuff in there "

Also, research states Vitamin D reduces pain (those real studies not the " by our

supplement " ones) and it is to be taken with Caltrate, Vitamin D3, Phosphurus,

Magnesium. Why am I not taking these that keep my body healthy ?

So why am I not taking care of myself ? Last Friday, I got Pissed (excuse me,

members) and I was mad as hell and not taking it anymore. I let my Doctor know

that I was not a drug addict and I did not want to be in pain and we are

borderline covering my pain and I am not Rambo, thus the 240/124 blood pressure

response to pain after sucking on a cotton mouth KOTEX to see if I took my meds

like " a good girl " .

She had never seen me cry or be like that and I said I do not want to sleep my

life away or have this level of pain and if you do not feel comfortable changing

my meds, I am not asking for increase, I will find another Doctor. That is when

she said she did not know how i did it and I had high pain threshold.

Wonder what she would say if she know that I have taken three meds at a time

instead of one (Okay, just know members do not do this and I take small, small

mg of break through, img times three so I did not take this maximum dosage). I

have told her this in the past and not been short as I stopped the cycle of pain

and did not have to take on another day.

I am glad you wrote this Lyndi as a nueroradiologist told me I was not fused

after three doctors told me I was and I respect this neuroradiologist ! He said

in one small section I was not and they can just go in there and roughen it up

and it stimulates bone to grow and they even have some " bone granules " (my

words) and it will fix me right up.

Well, this is what I want out, the screws and rods and I would wear a brace the

rest of my life so I am going to tell them " Lyndi made me ask it " lol

Any members that do not know Lyndi or me, know we have a playful relationship

that I try to get her goat (not Carolyn, who does raise goats), by writing

things especially a lot like a lot rather than the correct way of a lot : )

Love you Lyndi and what you say makes sense and last night I found some research

I had printed off that was talking about patients and the Sacral Iliac Syndrome

from car accidents (I think someone asked me for this and I could not find it)

and later today I am going to research the site again and share the link.

Again, Lyndi, there is a spine and scolosis center here that does good work and

I am going for second opinion and have decided to travel wherever I need to get

a third opinion. San is supposed to have a great spine center and Dalas

so might be third and fourth. Bennie

> Lyndi wrote:

> Isn't it weird how differently things work out for our backs?

[Guest guest]

Hi, all -

I had a four-level fusion with a machine shop full of hardware on July 20th of

2010, so it's been one year now! Wow! This February I had one screw removed

because it seemed to be pressing on a nerve and I got an infection which

necessitated emergency removal of all the rest of the hardware except the

spacers (which would have had to be dug out of the fused bone)on March 5th. Now,

finally, after taking myself off the antibiotics a month ago, I feel much, much

better. I continually surprise myself that I can bend down and pick things up

off the floor, I can walk much farther and lift more (though I'm not supposed to

- don't tell my surgeon!).

I have Ehlers-Danlos hypermobility syndrome which is what led to the spinal

degeneration, so what works for me might not work for all, we are all different,

but at least in my case the hardware removal had a good outcome. I still take

meds for pain, muscle spasm and inflammation and my brain is still doped nearly

to oblivion at times, but I can get so much more done on so much less sleep (it

had been up to 18 hours a day at one point).

Best of luck to Lyndi and Bennie and you all!

in New Mexico