Degenerative Disc Disease - Numbness in Face
downsouth
20 years ago
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downsouth
20 years agolast modified: 9 years agoPhoenixRain
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Comments (58)Interesting how many of us have Fibro! Lucky us! Kat4kittens, what's going on with your neck? My oldest daughter and I have both had cervical fusions...several years ago now...due to degenerative disc disease. We both did well with the surgery. DD had her right after having a baby, is a cop on the streets and doing well. She also had 2 low-back surgeries when she was younger. I'm due for more neck surgery now. It keeps getting stuck! OUCH! Oh oh...got off the beaten track here! I have four DDs, whom I raised by myself for close to 10 years after their father walked out when they were very young. (All four girls were born within 2 yrs. and 3 months.) I finally married DH #2 who was raising his two DSs. At one point, we had 6 kids in the same high school! Oldest DS 4 months older than oldest DD. Younger son 2 days older than twin DDs.) Somehow, we survived their teenage years...and let them live!! Let me tell you...it was tough and go there for awhile! We now have a bundle and a half of grandkids...eleven actually...so far! The two youngest DDs are identical twins...who have lived directly across the street from one another for 11 years...and delivered baby girls 2 days apart 10 yrs. ago. How's that for planning! Middle DD had a baby boy a couple of weeks before that, and oldest DS's wife had a baby boy a couple of weeks after the girls were born. Four new grandkids in 11 weeks...made the newspaper...and have kept us all on our toes ever since! Oldest DD, not to be outdone, had her first baby on her own birthday a couple of years later. In spite of pain from degenerative disc disease, arthritis from head-to-toe, Fibro and some other nusence things, I manage to keep going...out of sheer determination! (Someone has to keep everyone else in line!) Because of an ulcer, I can't take painkillers and try to keep going by using "mind over matter"...which sometimes works better than others. But...like I said, I'm determined! We have half an acre that was pretty much naked when we moved in 7 yrs. ago, but presently is covered with leaves! (I wish I had thought to take a picture of all the leaves out there when it was daylight!) There were lovely gardens a couple of weeks ago where the leave are now! Hmmmmmm...I wonder where all the flowers went! And...how the heck did those 5 Eastern White Pines grow so fast??!! Definite animal lover here! Had four kitties, 3 of which I inherited when my brother died. Sadly, we lost 2 of them this past year...one just a couple of weeks ago. Good heavens...did I neglect to mention...I'm a frustrated writer? Sorry...I got carried away! ~Sandy~...See MoreJust venting........... I just found this post and............
Comments (13)Barb, my advice to you is to go to a few Dr's, get a few opinions, have them make note of everything. Be sure to detail to them what you wrote here and type yourself up a health database in Word that lists Dr appts, main Dr's, Dr's consulted, medications, past medications (even if you've tried them & couldn't tolerate) any tests, as well as a detailed pain history - what brings it on, reaction to meds, side effects, and if you can, include pictures. You say arthritis in your hands- see if you can find some medical pics and edit them with a detailed legand like my & . Notice on the pics the marks are different colors, each color represents a different pain sensation (throbbing, stabbing, numbness). I have found that the Dr's I go to appreciate my pics & my detailed pain history chart. I just had my 2nd court hearing Nov 3rd. Yesterday I posted on another post in the health forum (link below). I hope that my fight will be over. One thing I had going for me was a few years back I had my neuro type a letter about how long I can sit or drive in a car. My Ex & I were arguing over where half-way was for a drop off point for my son. Even after mapping it, he still thought that since he couldn't take a direct route to get there that his time factored in. Anyway, at my last hearing, that letter along with a few others about my limitations may have gotten me disability since that vocational expert "found" jobs for me, like a bank teller,(ruled out due to medications) but since I couldn't walk fast, sit long, bend, those jobs were ruled out. He'd then suggest another list, which then got cut down from letter 2. Each letter's limitations were read, until we got to the last one. It was suggested I could be an "information clerk" (whatever that is) or an "order clerk". Information clerk was ruled out due to my divorce attorney asking where the jobs were located (he really rocked!), since they were out of my driving range, that went. The order clerk went after my attorney asked specifically what kind of store. He then ruled that out due to medications, & limitations. I'll say one thing, my disability attorney going on maternity leave might have been the best thing to happen to me. It just happened that my divorce attorney took on her work load for letters A through K. Since I know he can argue cases (haven't lost a case against the Ex) I wasn't worried going in there this time. I thanked him on the way out & told him how much better he was than her, he said she's a good attorney altho I haven't seen that. Punky, (((HUGS))) man, I could have written that post! I know all too well about emailing people, even people who also suffer from pain- they don't want to hear it either. I got an email from one "friend" who also suffers from pain. We used to vent to each other, I enjoyed chatting & emailing with her. One day, I made a post at another place about new problems (colon / stomach related) I was having. No one replied- I was shocked. They supposedly were my "friends" it was a rough time, I was at that place where you wonder why you stick around. We chatted & I mentioned no one replying, she then hit me with a wake up call, pretty much what you said. I don't remember if she even mentioned my new problems in that email, but I made a vow not to update everyone about my health. If someone emails asking, I'll say there is no change, or something to that effect but won;t get into it. I don't think anyone could prepare us for what this does to a marriage. This has to be the worst year for us, the 6 years we've been togather. He used to be patient & loving, now he's moody & loses his temper & throws things. Recently a "paver" came flying 2 ft to my right. It has been the worst year for my "dark cloud", I can't wait until 2005. Every time I turn around something else happens. I'm dealing with failed back surgery (fused Nov 2003), a daughter with problems in school due to ODD (funny, she's fine home), an Ex that blames me for her problems, a son who's father I fought & won for him to go to a really good art college, dropping out due to depression, my son then moving to CA to get away from it & having to move back for our next court battle against his "father" to enforce an order that he finish paying the loan he was ordered to pay. Unfortunatly he beat us to filing, & now my son is faced with the realization that his "father" cares more about $5,000 then him. Add to this my back problems got worse after surgery; all the 2nd opinions I went to said the fusion is fine, and my most recent colon / bowel / stomach problems. How much can a person take? I know there are people in much worse shape than me, but even knowing that doesn't help when hit with other things popping up that I don't need. I just want to be able to do things again, to go to work & have money to spend. I want to be able to go on an airplane & go on vacation. I want to take my daughter to the beach & swim in the ocean without worrying about the tide, or someone knocking into me. I want to take her to Great Adventure & ride a roller-coaster again. Heck, I'd be happy to walk the park! lol Who has $40 to rent a scooter? I'd love to bake & sew again & ride the Harley we bought right before I stopped working. Thankfully, there is gardening. The one place I can go & take my frustrations out on the dirt or prune the perennials down, or even rip them out when they get invasive. I save jobs like this for those bad mood days. I now pot up any invasive plants I pull out & will start selling them in the spring. I purchased a shelf / greenhouse from BJ's wholesale club & have it set up inside. I started trying to grow clematis from seed, it's actually coming up (let's hope it's not weeds). I also started a few rose cuttings, knock on wood, but so far they aren't dying- woohoo! I've been trying to root roses for years with no luck. I just harvested rose hips last weekend & will try to grow from seed. Hopefully, this will give me something to do in the winter months. This is the greenhouse I have if anyone is interested. I'm sure it can be found cheaper, I paid $25 for it. Best price I could find was $50, oh well, not allowed to mention the site here. On preview of post, it said this vendor not allowed. If anyone wants the link, email me. It is $49.99 with $2.95 shipping. I found a few on Ebay, but shipping kills you. You know, I'd really like to see a venting forum. Here is a link that might be useful: My responce on another post....See MoreI finally have a disability hearing date!
Comments (8)I'd probably answer "less than an hour." My DH went thru this & the state had a "rehab specialist" who suggested he could work as a cashier at a service station! The judge told him he'd never seen one offering a cot so DH could lie down after an hour. (He had already had 3 back surgeries & quad. bypass.) Our attorney had another court appearance that day so couldn't go with us...first thing Judge said was "let the record show they appeared w/out benefit of an attorney" & it was very first sentence in our award letter...however the fee was with held anyway & it took over a year to recover that amount! Also failed to receive check for minor child; DH went to SS office with son's birth certificate. Not enough...they wanted more!! My DH asked "Do you want me to bring the kid in so you can SEE him in person?" No, records from his pediatrician, day care & on & on! Another six months before those checks came. It was a nightmare! One pc. of advice...take copies of all of your records & give S. S. ONLY the copies. They tried to keep some of ours. Sure hope your luck is better than ours! Suzi...See MoreReceived Denial Letter from SS
Comments (15)Did you get your MRI? It sounds like things are progressing nicely for you. I just had my 2nd hearing on Nov. 3rd & I think it went well. Looking at my denial letter from the April hearing, things that were focused on were 1) I do laundry 2) I food shop 3) I drive my daughter to school. When I went back this time I brought with me a page I made in Word, explaining my laundry area showing I have a "dirty clothes" basket on a chair, so that I do not have to bend. I also highlighted the dryer which is set up on a base so that I do not have to bend. On top of the dryer is the clean clothes basket- clothes get folded & go straight into it. To the right of the dryer are hangers, any shirts coming out of the dryer get hung. If you food shop, be sure to note if your food shopping consists of picking up 2 or 3 bags worth of groceries to get you by till someone can go with you. Also note that if you do food shop, how often you go (me- every 10 to 14 days). If you food shop & get employees to load soda or heavy items in your cart, or if they unload your cart into your car for you. At this hearing I also made sure they knew that it was incorrectly noted that I drive my daughter to school & that I drive her to the bus stop which is around the corner. Your symptoms mimic mine. I've got a computer desk, my monitor is to the left, a wireless keyboard & mouse. If you can picture this, I have 2 chairs in front of the desk, 1 my high back computer chair, the other a fold up chair I keep my feet on. A heating pad is on the computer chair. I get up, turn on the heat, then sit down & put my feet up. My keyboard is on my lap. I'll sit here for close to 2 hours before I'm able to get up & do anything. The heating pad has been a life-saver. Where are your spasms? What are you doing for them? I've found that the heat plus trigger points helped with those. I used to be really bad, so much so that my legs would shake like jello. I keep crutches just in case. We found out by accident after I had a discography (5 needles) that showed no results (Dr did it wrong) I was in worse shape due to him hitting a nerve. My neuro prescribed methylprednisolen dose pak, let me tell you, that was the thing that stopped the bad spasms. It was like this magic pill, after that, going back for trigger points every 4 months or so instead of every month. I'm also taking Zanaflex at night with Skelaxin as needed during the day. If you want to email me from my member page, let me know where your pain is. If it is lower back, down to the toes like me I've got some great photos I found on the web that I put into a word file detailing my treatment, medications (current & tried) as well as a description of my pain along with the photographs which I edited to show exactly where my pain is. I just uploaded 2 of my edited pics- & . I've also got some muscle views, side spine views. If you notice, each pic has different color pain lines- they each mean something different like stabbing, shooting pain, numbness, etc. Took me about a week to find the various pics, it was not easy. Good luck...See MoreCherryfizz
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