Back surgery?

[phesina]

oh dearest Pat i am so so sorry to hear you are in so much pain, thats awful, sorry i dont get to stop by much these days, but i am still here, i am thinking of you and i am glad there is something that can be done to help ease your pain, i wish you all the best for a very positive outcome, i can imagine how scarey this must be for you, i really do, you know when i was nurse aiding when i was 16 i was lucky enough to be allowed in theatre to watch a back operation a laminectomy, i have never forgotten the experience, it was amazing to see and i looked after the patient afterwards, i certainly had a lot of empathy for him.

That was a very long time ago and i am sure they have really up to date methods especially in the US and you will be just fine,take care and let us know how you go with your decision, HUGS.

Hi Carole, thanks for your message and your loving good wishes. That is really interesting that you got to watch a laminectomy. Since you looked after the patient afterward, did it seem like the surgery helped him? That was what the surgeon I saw was proposing for me when I was there, but in his follow-up letter he changed his recommendation to more extensive surgery. I'm only beginning to learn about what all is involved in this kind of thing and what are the possibilities.

Thanks again, and I'll keep you all posted..

[Vette]

I wish you the best of luck. my dad broke his lower back when i was a kid an i remember them hours in the hospital still an the long recovery processes afterward. whatever meds he was turned his normal laid back self into a big grump. we were all so glad when he got off the meds LOL

[carole]

Pat I'm sorry.i Can't remember how successful the op was,but he walked out of there ,I think back ops can be tricky,have you made any further decisions re your surgery .

[phesina]

I think I am going to explore non-surgical alternatives thoroughly before deciding on surgery, Carole, thanks.

Pat

[phesina]

I wish you the best of luck. my dad broke his lower back when i was a kid an i remember them hours in the hospital still an the long recovery processes afterward. whatever meds he was turned his normal laid back self into a big grump. we were all so glad when he got off the meds LOL

Thank you, Vette. That must have been a terrible experience for your father (and your whole family) to go through back then. I take it he recovered with full functions?

Pat

[phesina]

I saw the surgeon, Dr. Brodkey, again on Friday. My sister came with me. He gave us an even more detailed tour of my MRI, showing just how miniscule the opening for the nerves in the bottom vertebra is.. much smaller than I'd thought from the first visit.

He also clarified just what the surgery and recovery would involve: three or four days in the hospital (which is about what you said yours took, Ellie),

and then... well, it wasn't quite what I thought when he said last time that I'd need 3 or 4 weeks in a rehab place:

I could go back home, but I would need someone to come live with me, or I'd need to go stay with someone else. In other words, I'd need someone who would take care of me, to help me with things I wouldn't be able to do alone at that point, like take a shower every day. I said, there's no one who could come stay with me and no one else I could go stay with for that.

That's when he said, well then you'll need to go to a (this time he didn't use the euphemism of rehab place) ... nursing home. For about 3 weeks. So that is the same as before.

I asked, how about a home health person, and he said that might work. So I guess I need to find out more about what is involved in getting one of them and just what they would do.

I also need to find out just how much everything is going to cost and how to pay for it. I have Medicare and a Medicare-supplement policy with Standard Life, but I somehow doubt they'd pay for everything.

I again asked Dr. Brodkey just how much time I have to explore options before I have to do something. He said, if I start having a lot of numbness and/or losing my balance a lot, that's a sign that nerve function is being affected and we'd better act quickly then.

We made another appointment for me to see him again in six weeks, so I guess he feels I'll be okay for that much time, at least.

I'm looking into getting another opinion from surgeons in the University of Michigan heath system.. see if they would have any different treatment ideas. Looks pretty clear to me just what is going on in my body.

I will be starting some Physical Therapy sessions in about a week and a half, but all the P.T. in the world isn't going to fix this, of course. I hope it might at least help to alleviate the pain, because this is getting to be quite painful.

That's the latest, folks... Thanks for all the good wishes!

[Vette]

It was indeed an yes he did ^^ he walks funky now. its hard to describe but at least hes mobile an able to do almost everything he used to before it happened.

glad it to hear its not as big as you thought it was. thats good news. hope you have luck in finding a helping person. my dad didnt have any worries about that with us here with him an yeah Medicare dont covers everything. they will up to a certain amount an then you have to pay the rest. i dont know about Medicare-supplement stuffs though. maybe they aid in the sameway as Medicare does.

best of luck to you once more ^^

[pomtzu]

Glad that you were able to get some more definitive answers this time. Continue to ask anything and everything that concerns your condition and treatment.

As far as what Medicare and your supplement will pay - you will probably be surprised. Since I've been on Medicare and my supplemental insurance (United Healthcare thru AARP), I've never had to pay a penny for anything..........doctors, hospitals, labs, imaging, therapy, etc. I don't carry prescription coverage because it's rather pricey - and I don't take anything on a regular basis, and when I do have to get a prescription, then I get a huge discount as I am an AARP member. When I bought my supplemental coverage, I elected to go with the highest option possible, simply because I didn't want to be left with big medical bills to pay when Medicare didn't cover it all. I don't even have to pay any deductibles or co-pay - everything that Medicare leaves sitting on the table, United pays. Can't beat that - and both Medicare and United have paid out a HUGE amount of money for me.

Keep us posted, Pat. I hope that everything works out for the best for you.

[phesina]

Thanks, Ellie. After your surgery, did you have someone who came to stay with you or you stayed with them, to help you with things like taking a shower? Or were you able to function on your own right after your surgery?

Pat

[pomtzu]

Thanks, Ellie. After your surgery, did you have someone who came to stay with you or you stayed with them, to help you with things like taking a shower? Or were you able to function on your own right after your surgery?

Pat

I was actually functioning pretty much on my own and with no trouble at all, and I just wasn't allowed to drive for 2 weeks, and of course no bending or heavy lifting for a while. I live in a mulit-generation household. I sold this house to my son and his wife (now ex-wife ) at a dirt cheap price, with the stipulation that I was part of the package. So at the time, I had both of them to help if needed, and also my grandson. I still have my son and grandson (he's Steve's from a previous marriage), and Steve's girlfriend is here too. I don't anticipate having any more trouble this time, than I did last time - just can't do much in the way of bending and/or lifting. You might want to consider picking up a shower bench or stool - that way you can sit and not be concerned with the possibility of falling.

[phesina]

It was indeed an yes he did ^^ he walks funky now. its hard to describe but at least hes mobile an able to do almost everything he used to before it happened.

glad it to hear its not as big as you thought it was. thats good news. hope you have luck in finding a helping person. my dad didnt have any worries about that with us here with him an yeah Medicare dont covers everything. they will up to a certain amount an then you have to pay the rest. i dont know about Medicare-supplement stuffs though. maybe they aid in the sameway as Medicare does.

best of luck to you once more ^^

I'm glad your dad did so well, Vette.

That is something along the line of what I heard: that Medicare pays up to a certain amount, 20 days or something, and then after that it's another something like 70 days before the other policy kicks in. That would leave me thousands and thousands of dollars in debt. I need to check all this out further.