|
|
Rank: Newbie  Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 5 Points: 15 Location: Dallas
|
Let's see, where do I start?
In July of '08 I was on my home from work when this lady in a big ass 4x4 decided that she needed to get to Wal Mart NOW!.
She made an obstructed left turn into the parking lot, and BAM! I T-Boned her going 40 mph.
I went to the hospital and they sent me home with a sprained ankle and a broken finger. No pain meds. Nothing but a pair of crutches and an ace bandage.
10 days later, after laying in bed crying from severe pain in my foot, we called an Ortho and went to see him. Nice enough guy. Older man that is semi-retired. He doesn't do surgery any longer but still sees patients. He has been in my significant other's family for many years.
Innyhoo, he took x-rays and after looking at them came into my room shaking his head asking what hospital I was at after the accident.
I had a broken calcaneous (heel) and a broken rib.
He wrapped my heel in a cast and we continued treatment for the few months that it takes for a bone to heal.
Once the cast came off I went back to work. I was still in a lot of pain, but I figured that is the way it was while healing. He was good about keeping me supplied in pain meds and was very worried and truly concerned about me but he was baffled about why it was hurting so much still.
After a few months I told the doc that something was still wrong. He sent me for a MRI and it came back neg. I showed him that one of my tendons was rolling around freely and it was killing me. He sent me to a ortho foot ankle specialist. He looked at all the tests and said that I needed surgery to repair the tendons. Told me exactly what needed to be done. We scheduled my appointment and on I went, feeling good about the fact that we knew what was wrong and it was going to be fixed.
For whatever reason I was under the impression that he was going to help me get it financed. (Please don't ask me why I thought this.)
When I woke up the next morning I realized that I need to find a way to pay for all of this. I hadn't gotten a lawyer yet. I thought I could handle it all without one. It was after all, a simple case and the lady that hit me was totally at fault and admitted to it.
I called the hospital and the anesthesiologist to find out how much. The doctor had giving me a quote already. So all in all I needed to come up with $15,000.00 in a month. And that is with the Doctor working out payments on his fees.
Knowing that this was getting out of control, I got a lawyer.
In the middle of all of this, my daughter was getting married 1000 miles away and I had to be there. I had to take the pictures for her wedding as it was a gift. (I am an amateur photographer.)
After I got back from my trip. (which was awesome.) my lawyer got hold of me with a Vascular Neurologist he wanted me to see. Huh?Huh? Not sure why Huh?Huh?
I met the lawyer at the Neurologist and talked to the Doctor for a few minutes, then he took a thumbtack and pricked my foot a few times and then said that he was going to help find me a doctor that can take care of me. To this day we call him Dr. Thumbtack. LOL Still to this day not sure why I saw him.
2 weeks later, the Lawyer called with an appointment to an Ortho 50 miles away. I went and met with the Dr. and he looked at all the test results and films. He said he didn't see anything but there has to be a reason why the tendon won't stay in place and he wanted to know why before he cut me open.
So off to get a muti-slice CT scan. That was pretty cool. I got a copy of it on CD as soon as it was over. I went back to the Doc's a few days later and he showed me where when I broke my heel bone, it didn't set right, and there was a 1.2 centimeter piece of bone protruding and pushing my tendons out so they wouldn't go back to under the bone where they belong. He called it an easy fix.
YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! it is all going to be fixed. By the way, 13 months has passed by this time.
Surgery came and went. No problems til the 4th week. I went to get my cast changed and it was really sensitive and painful. I felt like I was getting shocked. At first I thought it was just my scar healing up. The next time I went to get my cast changed, it was worse. I told the doctor about it and he said he would keep an eye on it. The next time I went in it was to take the cast off for good. He put me in a walking boot cast and the minute they tried to put it on me, I knew something was wrong. It hurt. It hurt bad and it hurt weird.
I told the doc, and he said to keep an eye on it. Skin acts strange sometimes when the cast come off. After a few weeks of what I can now call non hell, I went back and he tried to touch me. I almost kicked him in the face.
He said that it looks and sound to him like I may have CRPS/RSD. He gave me a good explanation of what it is and some gel to try. Told me to call him in a few days an let him know if helps. I call a few days later and tell him it did nothing. I went to see him and we talked about bier blocks in my foot. He wanted to try one and see if it helped.
So, I went in and got one of them. It helped some for about 30 hours. Then it wore off. I called him and told him, he said that he wanted to schedule 3 more. I ended up having 4 more with the last one not having a steroid in it. Those helped but wore off too fast for what I had to go through to get them.
After all that Doc wanted to get me to a pain management specialist. After a long wait I finally got a PMS. Once again, Yaaay! I got someone that is going to take care of me and make all of this go away.
I met the PMS. Nice guy. Young and friendly.
He said that he wanted to put me on anti depressants. Now I have a serious problem with this. The only reason that I am depressed is because I am always in pain. If ya took the pain away, I would be back to my old self again.
So after talking to him about this he put me on Neurontin and ordered a spinal block.
I have been on hydrocodone this whole time. Well, except for the 4 weeks I quit to clean myself up from it. It was getting to be too much and I had to stop. It wasn't doing anything for me anymore.
So I stopped cold turkey at the same time I quit drinking coffee, smoking and eating all sugar and chocolate. Anything that affects my nervous system I quit. No more canned foods, most everything I eat now is natural. I miss the coffee the most.
After almost 4 weeks, I was in so much pain, I couldn't stand it anymore and my significant other couldn't watching me hurt so bad. So he went and filled one of the 4 scripts I had after the doc gave them to me after my bier blocks.
I have been on them since. I hate them, but along with the Neurontin, I experience very little pain in my daily life.
I had my spinal block this morning and all I can say is wowzerz do I feel good right now. I have none of the electrical pains and most of the stabbiness has left. It is still sore, but after 16 months of not being used or used properly I expect pain.
I have another block scheduled for next week. I hope these last longer than the bier blocks did.
There is a whole bunch more to this story, but I think it is long enough.
After reading everything I could on the internet, I ended up here.
Ta Daaaa!! 
|
|
|
Rank: Administration  Groups: Administrators
Joined: 5/22/2009 Posts: 1,321 Points: 4,100 Location: Dallas, TX
|
Hi! Nice to meet you. I'm glad you found your way here. Was the idiot going to Walmart talking on a cell phone too? I had an almost identicle accident on a highway a few years ago. A little 19 yr old girl trying to impress her boyfriend. I wanted to kill her. It totalled my car and my left knee. I've read so many stories just like yours where people walked around with RSD for a year or more before it dawned on some doctor that it was RSD and the patient really wasn't just whining. Sounds like your docs made a long series of bad decisions. Please be careful when you get ready to settle. Remember that what you have is for life. I'm an insurance adjuster. While attorneys are supposed to have your best interest in mind, often they just want to line their pockets as quickly as possible. I'm not saying yours will do this, just keep your own best interest first. I've had 15 stellate ganglion blocks and 5 cervical blocks. I have RSD in my left arm. The blocks are great when they have just been done. Most don't last me more than a few days sadly. I wish something lasted longer too. I'm really happ you found us! Hope to get to know you better. Feel free to post anytime and ask anything you want to.  Gentle Hugs There are times when parenthood seems nothing but feeding the mouth that bites you.
(Peter De Vries)
|
|
|
Rank: Administration Groups: Administrators
Joined: 5/22/2009 Posts: 1,321 Points: 4,100 Location: Dallas, TX
|
I just realized you are in Dallas. I'm in Dallas too. What area are you in? I'm in Frisco.  There are times when parenthood seems nothing but feeding the mouth that bites you.
(Peter De Vries)
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 5 Points: 15 Location: Dallas
|
I am in the East side of Dallas area. By the lake. 
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 6/23/2009 Posts: 431 Points: 1,314 Location: No. Las Vegas, NV
|
Welcome to thejabberbox. I'm glad you found us.... I hate doctors. lawyers and insurance company's. Your story is so typical and so life altering and those people have NO CLUE! I am so sorry you had to go through all this. I had 5 SGB's and they never helped me at all. Not even for 5 minutes. But, I got a Trigger Point injection in March that helped me. it's funny, how we all act so differently to the treatments. I'm glad you are able to manage the pain. I don't blame you for not liking to take meds, I don't either. But, as long as you have your life back, it's worth it. You must have a lot of will power. I stopped all my meds in June, but not my coffee, cigarettes or good food......I did try to stop smoking, but that's harder to do than get off the oxycodone and fentanyl.......  You have the coolest, avatar I have ever seen....did you make that yourself? I have never seen one like it before. I love it! I look forward to getting to know you better. Trudy (thematrix777) thematrix777"Living with RSD" Radio Show"I am Not What Happened to Me; I am What I Choose to Become" Carl Jung
|
|
|
Rank: Administration  Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/10/2009 Posts: 381 Points: 1,191 Location: Rhode Island
|
Welcome Toolgirly, Truly, that is an interesting name to start! I wish you would take a moment to explain to us how you came up with the name and the avatar, please! My name is Laura, boring huh? Yepper, I just wish, now that I have been here a while, that I could change this thing, oh I know I can change the picture at anytime, which I have, but not the name. Anybody, by the way, know how to do this?  So anyways toolgirly, again I extend a hand of welcome to you. I hope you took some time to look around to see what jabberbox is all about. If not, play girlfriend, it's fun really. You will see with time, that some people tend to speak more often than others. That's okay too, some are not able due to the RSD factor, and others just tend to jump in a look around and read. And that's okay too, we are very easy in here, and that's one of the reasons why I stay. I also love the fact, that if we have a concern about our current treatment plan, or we are having some type of problem with our personal life, or whatever...we can feel comfortable bringing it here, because we are FAMILY here, and what ever is said here, stays here. Nice, huh? Yea, I thought so too! In regards to myself toolgirly, my rsd nightmare actually was diagnosed this year. I hurt my right knee for the second time. The first time was in 2007 and it required surgery and was never the same since, it continued to hurt all the time. This year, I injured it again, and June I went to see my surgeon again and this time not only did I tear it again, requiring surgery again, but I also had a stress fracture of the tibia. So we had to wait until that was healed before anything else could be done. And that was a LONG wait, let me tell you. Well once the wait was over, I already had so much burning going on, and found out that the RSD took over. Now they don't know if it started at that point, or did it start back in 2007. Who the heck knows. I am very concerned about it going into my left leg now, because I am getting bad symptoms in this leg too. Oh, enough about me for today. Again, I'm welcoming you with open arms, gentle that is, cuz I'm just not certain of all your pain sites yet , and hope you can tell us even more about yourself. If you would personally like to speak to someone, just feel free to type there name, we are very open here, or use a private message to who ever and it goes into their mailbox, and you have one too now!  OOOhhhh isn't that exciting !!!!! Your very own mailbox that you don't have to share with anyone..are you excited now?????? "YOU DON'T LOOK SICK" THANK YOU.....BUT, WHAT DOES SICK LOOK LIKE?
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/4/2010 Posts: 5 Points: 15 Location: Dallas
|
Quote:You must have a lot of will power. I stopped all my meds in June, but not my coffee, cigarettes or good food......I did try to stop smoking, but that's harder to do than get off the oxycodone and fentanyl.......TALK TO THE HAND
It really wasn't willpower, my Ortho looked me in the eye and told me that the first thing I needed to do was quit smoking. Then start thinking about quitting anything else that affected my nervous system. I also quit coffee, chocolate and sugar at the same time.
It was real hard for the first 3 days, but then it got easier. Knowing that it may help some of the pain go away or at least not get worse, it was worth all the bad time I had quitting. Best thing I could have ever done for myself. PERIOD!!
Quote:You have the coolest, avatar I have ever seen....did you make that yourself? I have never seen one like it before. I love it!
I found it online long time ago. It is a representative of how I have been feeling lately. I change my avatars often.
The name Toolgirly is a name I have been using for years. I am a huge fan of the band Tool, and it was given to me by my online friends.
I am very familiar with forums and message boards.
I am looking forward to getting to know y'all and learning everything I can to make this as painless as possible.
|
|
|
Rank: Administration Groups: Administrators
Joined: 5/22/2009 Posts: 1,321 Points: 4,100 Location: Dallas, TX
|
Feel free to jump into any of the other posts on the board. I'm happy you found us. Now I'm not the only Dallas member. There are times when parenthood seems nothing but feeding the mouth that bites you.
(Peter De Vries)
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/25/2010
Posts: 63
Points: 179
Location: canada
|
 wow how a car accident can cause so much damage to our body the person that hit me was also a cell phone but texting off the hwy ramp doing 65km i was a compete stop i drive stick my thumb what they call a skier thumb dislocated thumb mencis tear (sp) in the knee sprain ankle and spaem (sp) in the lower back and neck 3 surgery later..... the guy said oh am late a meeting what!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the damage was 10,000 am sorry spelling bad 
|
|
|
Rank: Administration Groups: Administrators
Joined: 5/22/2009 Posts: 1,321 Points: 4,100 Location: Dallas, TX
|
He was late for a freaking meeting??? And now your life is changed forever because of his stupidity over such a dumb, meaningless, thing. Texting and driving infuriates me. It should be illegal to use a cell phone w/o a hands free device at all times in any state. Texas just started it where you can't use a cell in school zones but that isn't good enogh. Sad that people can't have common sense and just think. Instead we have to make laws and treat them like children. Spelling is no big deal. as long as we can figure out what you are saying, no big deal. It happens to us all.  There are times when parenthood seems nothing but feeding the mouth that bites you.
(Peter De Vries)
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/25/2010
Posts: 63
Points: 179
Location: canada
|
yes cell phone texting illegal here in canada but they still do how are you your car accident at wal-mark hope you are feeling better...
|
|
|
|
Guest
|
