Posted 12/20/2012 1:16 AM (GMT 0)
Hey all, Snowbunny, as always, I appreciate your questions, sometimes they help the wheels in my brain start turning, lately I'm afraid the wheels have been seizing up more than usual lol. Anyways let's see if I can answer a few of them.
Well, I did have some questions for the doc this last appointment about his idea of revision, big one was "why did you use this specific hardware if it's not as good?" He said it's kind of a complicated guessing game trying to figure out which procedure and which hardware will work best with each patient, but he said his main deciding factor was that he feels that the new hardware leaves a patient at a far lower risk for a stress fracture in the vertebrae 40 years down the road, than inserting a screw into the bone does. He said that inserting screws leaves a weak spot in the bone, and while it's not really been a major concern in the past, he said, it's one of many things he can avoid with the newer hardware; and he said because of my gastric bypass, and my family history, he believes I'm in a high risk group for osteoporosis later in life. So that's why he picked the hardware that he did, and he said, obviously, it can take some time for fusions to set up, but he said in 99 out of 100 patients, it usually goes fairly smoothly.
The BMP, yes, they did use it, I also just found that out. I asked him if they did, he said (and they didn't really explain this with as many details until now) the cage in the disc space is filled with a mix of that, and segmented autograph bone from my hip. They didn't tell me until now that they took bone from my hip, it's been aching there off and on pretty badly, so that makes sense. The two incisions for the discectomy would have given them immediate access to my hip, I guess I should have asked previously about the autograph, but it somehow didn't make it to my list before surgery, and since there were no other incisions, I just assumed. They also used BMP around the allograph bone plate in the back, and also filled the fixation clip with it.
With the bone growth stimulator, the WC uses 3 different companies to review medical requests, I know one of them is Anthem, not sure who the others are. But the doctor said that he usually dictates everything, and an assistant types it all up later, he said sometimes there's a breakdown in things from that system, so this time he's going to write the request himself, and fax it to my claims adjuster, and request a peer to peer with the reviewing person. He said that should do the trick, we'll see what happens.
Ok, on the pool things, there's two public pools in my town, both are drained for the winter. While one is an indoor pool, it's owned by the school district, which hasn't even had the money to open it themselves at all. They've leased it to the town for the last two summers, but it gets drained every September. My dad is actually the lead maintenance guy for the district, I asked him why they drain it, he said it would cost to much to keep the water from freezing, and damaging the pool surface or its plumbing. The other pool, it's outdoors at a resort that only operates during the summer.
So, the closest pool is about 65 miles away, at a rehab center. This area isn't really a small community, it's just not a good place for a pool. Last night we hit 19° F, and its not even winter yet lol. Anyways, we'll see how work comp wants to get me there, the doc said they're not disputing the DX, so, hopefully we'll see some things come to pass with some of this stuff.
On the divorce end, I'm not sure what route to go, but the first thing, I've talked to my brother, and he's going to get my boxes of files and stuff dug out of his garage over the next couple weekends. It got pretty buried when he moved his in-laws in. While I'm waiting on that, I'm going to keep making phone calls, and doing more research about trying to find some free or discounted legal help. There's no point in trying to head down to the court house until after the holidays, I can't take my son with me, and my usual babysitters are booked or busy. My goal is to have something filed by the end of January to get the process going again, but one thing I've learned, it's not always when you file something that's important, as what did you file.
As far as those other doctors that were with my back surgeon, I'm not sure if they'll actually all be treating me, they're all part of the same orthopedic group, and I'm under the impression that he just brought them in there for a few more ideas, and maybe for more opinions on what's going on. He did make the statement that he felt that the approach of being overcautious with the PT might have bad consequences, I think that's why he consulted them. He's one of the best back surgeons in the area, but I know he has his limitations. I'm just glad he went ahead and talked to them. The neurologist actually recommended that I be sent to a specific rehab center down by UCLA, but one of the other guys said my work comp company has never given approval for that place, as it's an intense live in rehab center that's very costly.
Anyways, hope I answered all the questions, I'm so thankful to have all of you here, even when those around me aren't behind me, everyone here has been. The last couple of days have been a little easier, just relaxing mostly, and trying to give my back a break. Next week I have a long trip planned, up to my grandparents. The doc said it should be OK as long as I get out of the car once an hour. But I'll be away from "civilization, my grandparents don't even have cell signal at their house lol. You have to drive 30 miles from their ranch before you get cell service back. No internet either lol. Should be a nice change. Thank you all so much.