Spinal Injuries: A Patient’s Fear and Perspective
Monday morning I woke up just like any other Monday, happy about the day I had planned ahead. Working Monday through Friday on the night shift left my Mondays open to play around while others were at work, do my shopping, my laundry, and other necessities without worry or bother from the normal crowds during the evening hours or on the weekends. While it was the start of my work week, you could say that Mondays were my happiest day of the week thanks to the fact that I would have the day for tasking. Mondays were also doctor days, you see a little more than a month ago October 13th to be exact;
I hurt myself at work fairly badly. I didn’t know how badly till I woke up Saturday afternoon and couldn’t stop screaming. I took my weekend and told myself that this pain would go away on its own, but come Monday it was still there, burning in the section of my back right between the bottoms of my shoulder blades. I went into work early to tell my manager that I wanted to see a doctor, he of course didn’t want me to see a doctor, instead he had me wait a full week while working 2 of those days till I could see a doctor.
The doctor I was taken too confirmed my managers suspicion of a bad muscle strain in my thoracic region, I was relived and given 3 different pain killers to help me get through my days. my second appointment went about the same, but they decided to take some X-rays this time as I still wasn’t feeling better, they try over and over again to get me into physical therapy but my Workman’s comp insurance is dragging ass as insurance companies normally do. The X-rays showed something that made the radiologist nervous but they wouldn’t alert me as to what was wrong, even when I asked specific questions. They were all dodged with the excuse of they just wanted to see how bad my scoliosis was on film. A few more weeks pass and I finally get my first physical therapy appointment, though by this time I think it’s a crock as I’m starting to feel better and able to put some weight and strain on my back again, but the physical therapy…. If you’ve ever had a broken bone in your life and tried to give it a deep massage, you know the kind of pain that I endured that day, its now a week later from that appointment and my back is only getting more numb and hurting more and more, I really only just started taking my pain killers on a regular basis, before it was just as needed and I only took a few.
The appointment directly after the physical therapy the doctor finally told me that they found a fracture in my spine that they don’t know how to deal with and there sending me to see an orthopedic surgeon to figure out exactly what has to happen next. Of course there trying to tell me that the break is a type of break that I couldn’t do at work so therefore it must be an old injury. I have a compression fracture in the lower Thoracic section of my back, with my scoliosis, and kyphosis putting the extra downward pressure on my spine from the lifting with my shoulder that I did could have easily compressed my spine in a way that could have fractured it; I consulted the best Spine & Neurosurgery Specialists of Austin to have quicker recovery because delaying the injury specially related to back invites the issue of sciatica. That damages the nerves and stops the blood flow to the legs which causes pathetic pain to the lower parts of the body.
So now I’m scared. The insurance company is again dragging along in letting me go see a new doctor so now lawyers are going to start getting involved.
I can still move, walk, and get around on my own. My spinal cord isn’t severed in anyway, but the pain. If anybody has ever hit you in the upper portion of your back with an 8 pound sledge hammer you may know the kind of pain that I feel right now. Some days it burns, then other days that small section of my back goes numb, similar to when your foot falls asleep, or your arm when you’ve been laying on it the wrong way. It’s a very scary something to deal with, and if you have scoliosis or kyphosis, or like me both, and are scared to get them fixed surgically. Don’t be as stupid as I was, get it done otherwise even worse problems could find you not so very far down the road.
