ACDF When will I feel better?

Hello Mary & welcome to Healing Well. First & foremost, go online to your health insurance & get the names of neurosurgeons that are on your plan. Check out each one online, look each one up on Vitals.com to see if any patients have posted anything. Then call your health insurance & ask to speak with a patient advocate type person, some even have nurses available. Explain how your insurance changed & you have been without a neurosurgeon since surgery. The insurance can contact the neurosurgeon's office directly & get you seen. This way you don't have to wait on a new GP messing around making a referral.

You should have been having xrays made on your neck to check the progression of your fusion to make sure it is in the correct place & to see how well the fusion is taking to become solid. It takes a good year for a fusion to become solid.

A NP or even a GP is not qualified enough to give you the proper care for your neck. I am floored you didn't get help sooner. No, drs are very, very hesitant to rx Diazepam because of the addiction issues with it. Because you are still having swallowing issues this far out, you need to be seen by an ENT specialist to make sure something else is not going on.

Again, get with your insurance to get in with a neurosurgeon. Holidays are coming up, it can take several weeks to be seen & you need an appt ASAP.

Take care.

I feel so defeated. I called my insurance, and they were not much help. I have to wait for my appointment on Dec. 18 with the new clinic and new doctor and have them make a referral. During the call, I remembered I had some Tequila left over from election night last year. Bottoms up.

Mary, I agree with WhiteBeard try to find an Urgent Care that accepts your insurance & get in to be seen. The internet is great to use trying to locate drs. I suggest doing a google search for for PCP's & Internal Medicine drs in your area. Most of these drs will list what insurance they accept. If you find someone call & ask how long of a wait for an appt. Unless you are wanting to see the one in December.

That stinks your insurance was of no help. I know a lot of companies now have a nurse that assists people in finding drs. What about your anemia situation, nothing being done to monitor that either?

Now a days patients have to advocate for medical care & there is nothing wrong with that. That seems to be the only way we can get decent care.

Worst case scenario, you could call your surgeon & ask how much an office visit would be for a cash paying patient. Just explain he no longer accepts your insurance. Drs often will give a discount for cash paying patients. If you do not have a copy of your op records, you really need to get a copy for your own personal use. A copy should be given to any dr that see's you.

Keep us posted.

Mary, I am sorry to read that you are having such issues getting treatment. Other than swallowing issues, can you give us a little better idea what else is going on? Perhaps we can help you put a list of questions together when you see the dr on the 18th.

Mary, I have been thinking about your situation. In spite of your lack of post op care, you seem to have done ok. I have to admit, no one has ever posted here about having such a surgery without the normal care afterwards. Generally the 6 month post op time frame is when people can see they are turning the corner. By now you should have been through physical therapy which is a huge benefit. You have definitely missed some steps so this will be somewhat of a hindrance for you.

Things to discuss with the dr; get an xray of your neck to check things out, ask for a muscle relaxer, don't bank on getting Diazepam but let them know it has helped, if you cannot get that perhaps ask for Zannaflex, I can't remember the generic name for it, Flexeril is a favorite with drs but it makes people groggy & I prefer not to feel like that. Discuss every symptoms you have listed here. In fact make a list since you may forget something. Also, discuss being sent to a physical therapist so you can be shown some gentle exercises to do at home. If you can manage 1-2 trips to one so you can be shown how to do things right it is worth doing. I realize you have distance to drive.

Have you tried any moist heat on the tight muscles? Moist heat is much better than dry heat. I usually wet a hand towel & nuke it in the microwave but you have to be careful they get hot. Alternate cold/hot. With heat no more than 20 minutes at a time.

Just some food for thought.

I have been patiently waiting for my appointment with the new doctor on December 18. The clinic called yesterday and said the doctor was unavailable that day and rescheduled me for January 15. sigh. I was told there was no waiting list to fill cancellations. I told the receptionist that I give up and am going outside to smoke a cigarette. I just don't have any cares to give. 20 minutes later, she called and had an appointment for me this coming Monday. I wonder if they can call in psyche because I threatened to smoke a cigarette. If so, fine. I could use some talk therapy at this point.

Mary, I am checking on you, please give us an update when you can.

Good morning Mary. I am so happy to read that you have made a little progress in getting some medical attention. At least you know everything looks good on the xray & what a gem the radiologist was to explain everything to you. I don't think the NP would have done that at all!! This NP sounds like like one from hell, lol. The attitude is unreal. I have ran across a few over the years, not many, but I have asked myself why are they even in the medical field. I have called a few out too, I am the reason they have a paycheck, they work for me.

Yes, it can be difficult finding a dr to see someone that has had surgery by another dr. When I worked we ran into this when a client clearly needed to be seen by another dr. Especially if the surgery was fairly recent. It was explained to me by nurse the reason drs are this way with a surgical patient is a couple of things. The dr may not agree with the particular surgery that was done but the biggest concern is this one: if the patient is not doing well after a surgery, they often look to the new dr to be the one that can fix things & sometimes its just not possible. I understand both, however, everyone is entitled to the best care they can get.

I am happy that you got to talk to your surgeon, wow!! He sounds like a good caring dr. And then getting to talk to the physical therapist. I have to say these calls & the radiologist were a good Christmas present for you. Some reassurance can go a very long way for us.

Yes, pacing yourself is a must. I think that is one of the hardest things for us to learn. In my day, I was like that energized bunny on tv, lol. Never stopped, always going full blast. My daughter use to say, you are a crazy woman, you never stop, surely there is medication out there to slow you down, lol. Of course she is the same way.

Do not feel bad because you didn't shop or decorate & put up a tree. I have not put up a tree in 3-4 years now. I live in a 2 story house, all the decorations & tree are upstairs. The tubs are light weight & can be slid down the stairs. It's the going up & down those stairs that are a killer & being able to stand. I can't stand up straight at all, osteoporosis & arthritis has done a number on me. I went from being 5 "2" to 4 "11". The dr use to keep track of my height. I have a plan for next year though, my daughter & her ex husband's daughter have already said they will help put up my tree & decorate a little next year. We will have Christmas here next year. I ordered most of my gifts for the little kids online, thanks Amazon, lol. I was fortunate to get in one store that was not crowded & picked up the few other things I needed.

Keep doing what you are doing & pace yourself. Keep us posted on how you are doing. Happy Holidays to you.

Mary for now you need to avoid strenuous activities. You have been very lucky to date with your neck, my advice is don't push your luck. You already know if you do something & end up in bad shape you access to no medical help. Is it really worth the risk? Almost 6 months out from surgery, if it were me & knowing how these neck surgeries are you need to be more patient.

Take care.

I am extremely new at this....I’m scheduling my ACDF surgery for A5-6 for February in the hopes that I’m good enough to go on a 12 night cruise in mid April. Is this wise? If I’m doing this wrong please guide me in the right direction for this question and the many more that I have.

Hi Susie, It's okay with me if Copgirl used this thread. Hopefully, she will learn how to navigate this forum. Anyway, here is my update which I also posted on the Thyroid page: I was posting at HW because of questions about my spine surgery, but now I have another thing going on. My serum calcium is 11.1 and my parathyroid hormone (PTH) is 81. It does not take an endocrinologist to diagnose a parathyroid tumor (or two). It took me 6 weeks to finally get my primary to order the PTH. I have spent days on the phone with my insurance. (which wasn't cancelled after all) They say this is elective surgery and not covered. I say this is life threatening and I need a specialist endocrine surgeon to do the surgery ASAP. I have an appointment with my primary tomorrow and I am taking my pillow. I will not leave until I am satisfied that I am not being ignored and the surgery WILL be scheduled and paid for by my insurance, or the cops come to get this peaceful protester out of the waiting area. My ACDF (spine fusion) has never been adequately followed up. I have never had pain control. And I am cranky enough to be willing to get arrested to make my point. I am NOT depressed. I WILL NOT take Cymbalta to make me docile. I admit I am cranky. Almost 6 months post ACDF and I would not even think about taking a cruse. But that's me. Copgirl might be a whole lot younger and heal faster.