WhiteBeard

Thanks Chart
I have had a few problems I have been trying to get a handle on, as I had posted a while back I had couple of epidurals at C-2/3 and then an occitipal Nerve block, and then I was sent to the surgeon. Well the surgeon did not want to do surgery right now a ACDF at C-3 he said there is definitely a problem there at C=3 but he is not convinced that, my head and neck pain is coming from there, he thinks it might be coming from higher up at C-1 or 2. So he recommended PT to loosen up everything. The Surgeon also told me that he was sorry that I inherited such bad genes, as with the bone spurs and stenosis and bad disk I had the spine of a man well into his 80's! Anyway my Pain Doc does not really agree, and he wants me to see another surgeon, but he did agree to try me out with Physical Therapy but he did not think it would help much. In the mean time I have been having trouble with my lower back and right hip and leg. I have had a ton of X-rays and a MRI of my lower back and I am scheduled to have a medial branch nerve block, in my lower back, he said it is just for diagnostic purposes and would only work for a few hours, he is going to give me two injections at two different spots on the 7th and then two more at two different spots on the 9th if I get relief at any of the four different spots then he wants to do a radio frequency ablation of the nerve that I got the relief from the nerve block, if I do not get any relief from any of them then he wants to do an MRI of my hip because he thinks the pain in my hip might be coming from the hip joint its self. As far as the MRI of my lower back he said it is just as bad a mess as my neck. Also I have had 5 sessions of PT so far, I was suppose to have 3 a week for 4 weeks, I have been having traction to my head, and movement exercises. The PT has made things much worse, the traction part is I lay on the table on my back and he holds my head and pulls on it while moving my head in different positions and he also trys to press on and move and align the vertebra, Well all it has done is cause me more pain and makes me want to gag, and I have now started having problems with my hands and fingers going numb especially when I hold the phone or type on the key board on the computer. Friday he told me he would do 2 more sessions and if there was no improvement he would not continue. Well today I went in at 7:30 and he put the hot packs on my neck for ten minutes, and he said we would skip the movement exercises, and just do the traction, he start pressing on my neck on ther right side at the base of my skull and it hurt really bad so he stopped, and while he was gently pulling on my head he was pressing and feeling the vertebra at the base of my skull right in the center, he hit a spot, and before I could finish telling him to stop I sat up as fast as I could and started having a massive gagging episode, and it would not stop, he kept asking if I needed a bucket or something, but all it is, is spasms of my throat and neck, but it hurts like crazy, and I get needle and shocks all across my shoulder and upper chest while I am gagging an wretching, It was over a half hour before it was all calmed down. Anyway I hate it when it happens, and the therapist said he had never seen such violent and intense spasms and gagging. It is a reall SOB I will tell you! Well today was my last day of PT he told me he will not do anymore PT on my neck. It never seems to end!

And to top it off I got a letter from my ex's lawyer, it is a notice, or summons or what ever you want to call it, I have to go to court the 13th to show cause why I should not be charged with contempt of court for failure to comply with the Judgement for the Dissolution of Marriage entered Feburary 23, 2010. and puinished accordingly. And an order has been made against me to pay my ex's attorneys fees. Make a long story short my ex gets a percentage of my military retirement, the divorce decree does not give an effective date or say anything about it being retroactive. all it says is I will initate the paper work to make it happen which I did immediately!! My lawyer and I wanted the order worded a certain way, but her lawyer instisted the order be worded his way, so it was ordered his way and the Air Force rejected it, and we had to go back to court the 26th of April and redo the order,( this time my way!) it was accepted and we all got notified that it would be effective for June and she would get her first payment the first of July, Note I also got half of her 401K retirement I did not receive it till May. she gets a portion of my monthly retirement, and in 29 months she will have gotten more money, than what I got from her 401K! And she gets that forever! It is roughly 37.4 % of my disposable monthly retirement. and when I die she will get 55% of it for the rest of her life! Anyway she now claims I owe her the monthly amount she gets from my retirement from the date our divorce was finalized. My lawyer has told me all along that she does not, because they insisted that everything be calulated and done by the Air Force, but they did not specify a time or effective date. She would have probably gotten her monthly check from the Air Force, starting the first of April if it wouldn't have been for her lawyer and if she would have done it the way I wanted it done! Even then she would not have known the Air Force rejected the order if it were not for me, telling them. Well her lawyer, went to my lawyer saying I owed her the back money and my lawyer requested case law and statutory or other authority for his clients claim. My Lawyer also stated that I did not get my portion of her 401 k at the time of divorce, and it was his own fault it was late, and the divorce decree does not state an effective date or even mention anything about retroactivity for the pension division. Well her lawyers reply is I am in contempt of court, and I intentionally and willfully and maliciously refused to make these payments to her! And I am being taken back to court! He did not even answer my lawyers questions, and give the case law or any legit reason to back up his claim. All he does is quote the divorce decree order and it does not say anything about when when she should get the payments, or about me paying them. Reads like a soap opera novel doesn't it? and no Chart, I have not sold the house yet, but we did get a new realtor. I know one thing if she wins this, it will only get worse, she will try getting more from me with selling the house. She will take me back to court, I know she will! I do not have anything to do with her but she does have to pay half of two loan payments, and her checks to me are usually always late! That will also come out the 13th!

And again, now you know the rest of the story!
Chart I hope you are not sorry you asked about me.

White Beard

Whitebeard, it sounds like you are probably at your wits end. That whole thing at PT must have had you flipping out! I don't think I'd try that again after what you experienced.

Good luck with the nerve blocks. I had good results with both of mine, no steroids were used, and the relief was amazing for about 6-8 hrs but everyone is different. The rf was also a success but after only 2 months I'm starting to have short periods here & there of the old pain returning. I asked my pm about how other people can tell if the rf is wearing off and she said some people have pain that comes back full force all at once but others like me see it come back slowly over time. I hope it goes real slow.

I think I'd ask your doctor for a plain old x-ray of your hip. Possibly you have arthritis in it and that won't really show up in a MRI. If I remember right you have alot of issues with bone spurs in your spine so maybe the old osteoarthritis monster has moved to your hip too. Then again your hip pain may be coming from your spine. My nerve pain issues in my lumbar area caused pain across my lower back into the hips along with major muscle spasms along the sides of my lower back. No amount of pain meds (narcotic/ non-narcotic for nerve pain) or muscle relaxers would seem to touch the pain. Especially at night sleeping, the pain in the hips would wake me up and I'd have to get out of bed. No other choice. I do feel for you is this is what your experiencing, it is just an awful thing to live with.

Keep us updated on what you find out and how your treatment progresses. Also, sorry to hear things aren't going well with the ex. I'm sure all you need right now are more lawyer fees.

Wow such a violent reponse to PT..... Man never let another doc tell you to do PT again! That is the weirdest response I have ever heard! At least now you can go back to the doc and say NOPE didn't work.

Regarding your exwife.... I have been around since you two decided to divorce. I will have to say it has been a long and rough road for you. Between your daughters reaction and the building of the poarch (deck) and then all these reactions from your ex I'm shocked you haven't just stood there and screamed at the top of your lungs toward the judge!

But it looks like your reaching the end soon. It sucks though that she wants so much from you! I will wish and pray for a fast ending to the insanity..

Laurie

Thanks every one for your support! You know it is probably good that the gagging episode happened, so that some body with some type of medical experience could see what I go through with it. I know that when I move my head certain way it can bring it on, and any extreme pressure on the back of my neck causes it. I will not go to a chiro PALady and when ever my neck is bothering me or that gag reflex is acting up I also use heat wraps and I often wear my soft cervical collar! I have been wearing it at night for the last few weeks, because I sleep in a sitting up or reclining position (I can not lay flat on my back) and that cervical collar helps keep down the pain! I constantly wake up in the night, and have to reposition the bed a little to get comfortable. If it isn't the back of my head and neck, it is my mid and lower back and hip! I think I can really empathize with so may of you, Jag I know what it is like to have that hip pain and wake up with it, and there is nothing else you can do but get up! Anymore I find driving to be really difficult too! My right hip just kills me after driving a little ways! It is a deep down inside pain. Just like what I have at night when I am sleeping!

PALady you are right I know that the stuff her lawyer wrote is legal posturing and all, but those word sting, when he said I was willfully and intentionally being malicious and I should be found in contempt and punished! I do take that personally I have tried my darnest to be fair, and actually make sure she gets her legal share of my retirement! I am the one who has kept on top of it all and help them because the military sends me all the paper work since I am the former military member. I make sure that her lawyer get copies of all that correspondence. They would not have even known that the first order, ordering her to get a portion on my retirement was rejected by the military if it were not for me! Because I am the one the military notified about it. I could of just kept it to my self, and let it drag out even longer, I would have benefited by it as I would continued to get a bigger retirement check, but no, I was honest and immediately let her lawyer know about the rejection, and then we had to go back to court and rewrite the order. And what do I get for my trouble in trying to help her? And it is the same with the Survivor Benefit Plan, the military still did not put her on as the beneficiary as was ordered in the divorce decree, I am the one that has pointed that out to them. I could of kept it to my self and they would have never known until I died and then it would have been to late, after all what could they do to me then? But again, I was being honest about it notified her a lawyer about it and he is resubmitting the paper work for her to get put on. It would have benefited me to keep my mouth shut because, I have to pay 122 dollars a month for that SBP to have her be the beneficiary. Her and her lawyers words do sting!!! and I tell myself not to take it personally but I do! One thing I have always tried to be, is honest!!! after all in the end, honesty and integrity is really all one has! To me they are the traits I most value and admire and I strive to keep mine intact! And it hurts and galls to be accused like that. If the divorce decree would have said I owed her that money from the time the divorce was finalized I would have paid it. But it does not. And from being in the military all those years, I know that in any given order you can not assume anything! I has to be down in black and white!
Thanks for all your kind words and support, from all of you, YOUR MY FAMILY!!!

White Beard

Hey WhiteBeard, we are all in your coner rooting for you so keep us posted, every step of the way and maybe the judge will
see how bad her lawyer is being and put that lawyer in jail, that part would be nice...but I think things
will change in your favor...make sure to write this all down and explain it to the judge, and remember
you are a good person...no doubt in my mind about that....You are a good person...
Keep us posted on your neck issues and I hope that pain will ease up for you...
Prayers and HUGZ
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((WhiteBeard))))))))))))))))
hugz

This reminds me why we have so many Lawyer Jokes. They are worse then car salesmen. Sorry is we have and good lawyers or car salesmen on the forums..lol

 

   Dear White Beard,

 

     It is always good to hear from you *hugg* I have often wondered what was going on with you and how you were doing. I am just sorry to hear you have to spend your summer traveling to and from so many places for all of these tests. I have never had that test done on hips. The only thing my doctors do is regular X rays and such. Never anything so extensive. Hopefully someone will stop by with more information about that.

 

     I am sorry to hear the injection in your neck wore off so quickly. I had hoped it would give you enough relief to have time to get in with the new surgeon. I really hope this time, you can keep it at bay long enough.

 

     Your low back pain sounds like it is becomming quite a hassle. Are you schedualed to have an MRI on your lower spine aswell? I do hope that problem can be pin pointed quickly. You have had so much happen this summer, it is high time you got some relief.

 

     I know vitamin deficencent in D is different from what my problems are with my parathyroid absorption, but my absorption causes so much trouble! I can only imagine you are experiencing bone pain, boneloss, and a whole host of other problems aswell? I hope more than anything you are like me, and able to reign in the symptoms within the first few months of treatment! Boneloss *shudder* causes so much damage. Most of it is not repairable.

 

     Gosh, she wants your retirement too? Right down to your retirement? ......man oh man. You know after all her scheming and plotting, I hope her lawyer has a nice fat bill to hand her when all is said and done. Happy little 5 figures outta be justice.

 

     I am glad you sent a letter to the judge. It seems like your voice isnt being heard. Worse, your needs are not being taken into account. Everything in the proceedings seems to be centered around her whims, her wants, and everything your long hard decades of work has earned. Noone seems to be taking you into consideration atall. I really hope your judge recieves the letter and truly hears what you have to say.

 

     I do hope you are able to get all the tests done and treatments started soon. I can only imagine you are worn out from all the running around town. You are in our prayers here.

 

*hugg*

   dani

Hi White Beard,

I just wrote you this big long reply & the HW ate it! Argh!

Well basically, to sum it up, I have not had a hip arthrogram before, but I have had a shoulder arthrogram. From what I remember (it was 7 1/2 yrs ago), it was not the most fun procedure. They did use a local anesthetic first, but I almost wish they didn't, because that was almost as bad as the actual intra-articular injection, because they had to numb so deep & it burned. Then they used a fluoroscope to guide the needle into the joint & inject the contrast. As you can imagine, having a several inch long needle thrust into your intra-articular space is not so much fun. However, the good thing is that although it is painful, it is also brief. It's essentially over a few moments after it begins. Although I was very happy when I switched doctors/hospitals & the other hospital (and advanced speciality teaching hospital) did not require arthrograms, because their MRI machines had much better resolution. Between my many shoulder surgeries & re-injuries, God knows I had enough shoulder MRI's (I lost count after 5)!

Good luck with your procedure! I hope it goes well & is not too painful. Perhaps ask your doctor if there is something you can take an hour or so before the procedure to make you more relaxed. They didn't use any kind of sedation during my arthrogram, but I do remember taking valium or something shortly before the procedure & that probably helped.

hugs,
Skeye

I use vitamin D3 and it has helped me a lot.  I live in sunny Florida and never imagined that I would be vitamin D deficient.   But, when I developed osteoporosis, I was put on calcium with D and Evista.  Had a bone scan two years later with no difference!  That's when the doctor checked my vitamin D levels and they were in the dumper.  I wasn't absorbing the calcium because of the low D. 

 

I presently am taking 5,200 IU of D3 a day.  I have fibromyalgia and the extra vitamin D has helped me a lot with my pain, too.  Hope this helps.

 

Sherrine