What now?

[ksgirl]

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but by the time I get home from work, I don't feel much like typing or thinking. I do read about everyday though.

Anyway, my dr released me to go back to work 20# frequent lifting 50# occasional (he only said that about the 50# after I messed up and said only 20# wouldn't work well at my job) and no constant repetitive bending lifting. My attorney said he's never heard of constant repetitive bending lifting. I have never felt that my back was fixed even after my laminectomy/discectomy on L4-L5. My back hurts worse than it did before surgery (surgery was on 6-11-07), my left leg and foot are still bothering me and since I have been back at work, my right leg and foot are bothering me and my behind REALLY hurts. My lawyer is trying to get wc to send me back to the surgeon I had and he wants me to ask my job if they will contact wc and ask them to send me back to the dr. Do any of you think that asking at work would help get me back to the dr?

I don't think this dr will help me anyway. I have been reading his reports and they are not very accurate. Each visit he states that I say I am feeling better and that my back and leg are getting better. He doesn't have in his reports at all that I have told him every visit that I am still hurting. During work conditioning when my right foot started bothering me, I told him about it and it's never mentioned in his reports even though I have never had a problem with my right leg or foot before the work conditioning.

My attorneys dr put my restrictions at 10# frequent 20# occasional, limited bending and lifting, and to alternate sitting and standing. I stand all day. My back hurts worse than before surgery, both sides of my bottom hurt, I have numbness and pain in both lower legs and feet, and after standing for a couple of hours, I feel like my feet are on fire. I am also having some muscle spasms and what I call deeper than muscle spasms.

Thanks everyone for listening to me. I think I just needed to rant and whine a little. I am also open to any ideas or suggestions on how to proceed or what you all think is going on in my back. To be honest, I am about ready to go to my regular dr and pay for everything myself!

[halftrak]

ks girl, Can you tell me what you do for a living, what type of work. just curious, thanks halftrak

[sparkey]

Sounds alot like sciatic nerve trouble if your are feeling pain in your buttocks and down to the feet. I do not think standing on your feet all them hours help, and also i think if you are going to be standing, you should have a good mat under your feet and a good pair of shoes. Believe it or not, that will make a world of difference.

Isn't there any shots they can give you in your back to ease the pain? My husband had that trouble with the pain going down the leg and buttocks and was put on muscle relaxers, vicodin and a week later he is fine. He use to go for injections, but never did this time.

[ksgirl]

halftrack, I work in a manufacturing plant, but it's not an assembly line type of thing. Is that enough of an answer? If not I can pm you.

sparkey, I can't get them to do anything right now. I had some pain pills left from after surgery, so I take one of them at lunch time and I have a couple of muscle relaxers left. I don't like the pills because they make me feel sick, but if that's what I have to do, I guess I'll do it. If I can get a drs appointment and can get him to prescribe something.

I know they won't buy any mats to stand on. My employers are pretty cheap and they would have to buy several because I stand in a lot of different places. They did raise some blocks that I have to bend over and pick up, so I guess that's about all I can ask for from them. I think I was pretty lucky to get that much.

When I first injured myself my dr wanted to send me for the epidural shots. I asked him if that would fix the problem and he said that it wouldn't fix it, but it could possibly help with pain until I have surgery. We discussed it and decided to just have the surgery. Now I guess I get to fight them just to go back to this dr. I wonder if I have reherniated my disc or herniated one of the ones that was bulging. I read the rest of the lawyers drs report and in the xray he took, it shows narrowing of L5-S1. None of my other reports show any narrowing of the disc space at L5-S1. Do you think it could be herniated now?

[halftrak]

yep I thought someone had told me what you did for a living but I wasn't sure, you see I too was a manufacturing technician, sounds very familiar.I once ran a machine and am only 5'2" so was having to lift 45 pound parts way above my head, when I asked for a higher platform they brought me this piece of crap crate which was wobbling all over.So after my 3rd shoulder surgery they actually raised the platform but was too late for me, Man I could tell you some stories, halftrak

[lfoster21]

Hello there and I am sorry to hear what you are dealing with. I have had numerous spine/nerve problems and Sciatica was the 1st thing that came to my mind. I take Neurontin for it and it makes a lot of difference. If you are ever asked to try it, the 1 mistake some drs. make is by starting the pt. off with a dosage that will work on the sciatica right away...but if you start with a larger dosage, you get side affects. Also, some Drs. start you on a small dosage, knowing that they will slowly increase it until it works, but don't tell the pt. what their expectations are. Then the pt. doesn't get relief right away and stop the meds. Start as a low dose and slowly work your way up to an amount that takes away the pain, that way you are less likely to suffer with side affects. For me, it has taken away at least 80% of that pain away.

As far as re-herniating a disc, it is definatly possible to re-herniate a disc or herniate a disc above or lower than one you have had surgery on. For me, I 1st had a lami./fusion at L4-5 and then needed the L4-5 re-done as well as the L3-4 done.

Something that is very important to be aware of, is if you ever have numbing or odd sensations in you buttocks and/or in your genetil areas, or you feel you are having dificulty urinating and/or chronic constipation. Get to a Dr. quickly and discull the possiblility of having Cauda Equina Syndrome. I started with the numb buttock, but everyone said it was part of my Sciatica. Then there was the constipation and they said it was probably the meds. or my sedintary lifestyle. Then came the bladder hesitation and they said mayby it was Cauda Equina...but probably not, as they said I had not completly lost my bladder control. Then not being able to urinate for a couple of days...then the tests began and finally I was dx. with CES. This is VERY serious and you would absolutly want to see a Neurologist (not a Neurosurgeon). It can leave you with life long disabilities if not gotten under control early. This is why many Spine Drs. ask their pts. if they are having problems with their bladder or bowels, at every appnt. (And if they are not asking those questions, shame on them )

I wish the very best for you!

[Pooh]

ks

If you are still having problems then go to medical (if the plant has it) and ask there to fill out another form. Sounds like whatever they have you doing is aggravating your current condition. This way here you can get all symptoms you have down on paper directly and the doctor will have to answer it. Also ask that you be sent back to the doctor that you went to. Then when you go - make a list of symptoms on paper that will become part of your file - that he will have to address.

Most companies look at no repetitive as that you can't do it more than 7 or 8 times a minute.

[jayne]

KS girl do not ever go to the Doc without a written list of complaints and demand they be part of your file.......As far as the doc He is an (Jayne's lame attempt to bypass the Bad Word Filter) and you need another one....Either go thru your insurance or the E.R....If it is truly that bad lay down at work and insist they call an ambulance...you should not be working or driving on narcs....

[ksgirl]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I really do appreciate all of the help. I was going to talk to our HR lady today, but by the time I was able to, she was gone. I'll make sure and get to her tomorrow.

lfoster, I have some problems in my genital area and bottom, but the urinary (some lack of control) and constipation problems are pretty normal for me. I do appreciate you warning me about cauna equina syndrome though. I'm sure a lot of people have never heard of it. The dr I had just kept telling me that it can take up to a year for the nerve damage to heal. OK, I get that, but what about it just now starting in my right leg? He won't answer that. I'm thinking it's another disc.

Pooh, my job doesn't even have a nurses station. Shoot, most of the time there aren't even any band aids in the medicine box! I wasn't sure how many times were considered repetitive. Most of my bending is just a few times a minute, but there are two jobs that I do twice a day, probably two hours all together, that keep me in a slightly bent stature for almost the whole time I am doing them.

Jayne, I have missed you! I am not in screaming agony. I just really hurt. Even the times I have woke up screaming, I don't go to the ER, I go somewhere else in my mind till I can bare it again. I really upset my hubby sometimes. I agree about the dr being an (Jayne's lame attempt to bypass the Bad Word Filter). He is a WC dr through and through! I wish I had realized it before I let him do my surgery. When it comes to working on meds, most of the people I work with are druggies. The plant even quit drug testing new hires because they were losing so much money!

halftrak, I don't have to run a machine and what I am doing now is a lot less strenuous than what I was doing when I was injured. I should be able to do this job with ease. I guess that's why I am even more convinced that something is wrong. I kept trying to tell myself that I was just out of shape, but this doesn't feel like being out of shape.

Thanks again everyone! I really do appreciate all of you!

[Pooh]

ks

I found out about the repetitive part because believe it or not I was doing up to 40 repetitions a minute prior to me hurting my shoulder. Then when I claimed about my new job still causing pain and such they said it wasn't repetitive because it wasn't something that I did more than 8 times a minute. (Of course, they didn't take into account the new additions to the order that we had to do each and every day and production on our line had to increase double over what it was prior.)