Just Beginning

I am an RN with 20 years of experience in the field of IV infusions. I work with every weird failed surgery known and with many of the autoimmune diseases as well. I have worked with plenty of doctors around Chicago all my life. I am now forced to have some type of surgery for my C Spine. Driving for a living and not enough serious specialty excercises took it's toll.   Can not get away without C5-6 / 6-7 and the pits is that C3-4 which is just two joints above is not great.  Haven't found the right surgeon yet who can tell me how close the US is in 2 level replacements.  Seeing one tomorrow  that should be able to tell me.  I have watched this forum on and off for 5 years and am now joining.  I will be looking up the herb Zyflamed by New Chapter thanks for that and will try and keep in touch with the forum with updates.  I have suffered the same as most all of you but previously had been able to return each flair to baseline since age 18.  Although 4 years ago it took me 5 months of PT Chiro massage and 3 shots to get over it and It was under work comp because I tripped at work and caused a big flair. If it hadn't happened accidentally at work I would have lost my mind, job; insert your own word here. It worked for 4  years now after a flair in December, I am on week 14 and I am a wreck.  Every week is a little bit better, but  I spend all of my energy on pain management and I can not take narcotics because I am still trying to work.   But, I am proud to say I am getting closer to my previous level of slightly painful mobility. I do have to have some kind of surgery because I have spinal chord involvement and i am only holding on so I won't go in to surgery with a very unstable neck. Anyway, I will let you know how it goes.  I will tell you that I have looked up the German? doctor doing multilevel replacements and if i had the money I would not waste any time getting on a plane and believe me I could get my primary to order the other stuff at home because he knows how badly i hav waited for multi level surgery.  
Please to all of you BE WELL and I will stay in touch!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

I must appreciate your courage to pull through all this. Though I am not sure about the exact condition and the type of surgery required; multiple level spinal surgery is done in centres in US as well. You could try contacting any of the university attached orthopedic medical centres. Hopefully things would turn out to be just fine.

Take care!

[myturnrn]

The post above was not supposed to be an MD question so I apologize for the rambling blurb.  I am new to this and chose the wrong area.  Thank You for response. I am in complete agreement with it. I am sure that it was very confusing for you. But unfortunetly, I was hoping for a cervical joint replacement in more than one ajacent level and was told by one of the supposedly top orthopedic university surgeons at Rush U. in Chicago that cervical joint replacement, let alone multi level replacement was only being studied in what he called the trained Monkey phase.   This made me sad, but I haven't lost my will to find a good surgeon.

As a very intuitive RN, My Soap box is.

It's rough out there Dr., and I say that with all the respect for the complexity of the practice of medicine.  I have worked with the best of the best and their patients. A high percentage of the conditions that long term home IV infusion is connected to are diseases that have a 8 to 12 year lag time before diagnosis.  For 20 years, patient's have been at the mercy of what their particular MD remembers from school, and making a diagnosis of munchhausens should include writing it down and discussing it with the patient and letting them  seek a psychiatrist to disprove it.  
I imagine that you are not one of those doctors but it goes on every day.
Sincerely Wendy J Clark RN, CRNI
No response is requested. And no offense is intended.