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are my medical problems caused by original injury
In 1987 my right hand was crushed in a shipboard accident. For a year my hand was rebroke, reset and recasted. I was able to get appropiate medical care after that year, and than I was told I had Stage 4 Kienbocks disease. I went through cardiovascularization surgery, with no improvement. Shortly after this, I diagnosed with fybromyalgia, traumatic arthritis, degenerative joint disease, chronic pain and fatique,
a few years later, chronic severe depression, chronic anxiety, sever adjustment disorder, carpal tunnel and arthritis in left hand, hypertension, osteoarthritis, reflux esophagitis, stomach and doudenal ulcers.
The VA has nothing they can give me for pain, Dr says, I've tried everything, and there is nothing else available to me. Are my medical problems caused by original injury? Is are there anything I can do for the pain? Thank You
a few years later, chronic severe depression, chronic anxiety, sever adjustment disorder, carpal tunnel and arthritis in left hand, hypertension, osteoarthritis, reflux esophagitis, stomach and doudenal ulcers.
The VA has nothing they can give me for pain, Dr says, I've tried everything, and there is nothing else available to me. Are my medical problems caused by original injury? Is are there anything I can do for the pain? Thank You
Jim you said it better than I could regarding VA. I've been a military wife. To put it mildly I was never happy with the medical care.
Maggpie I hope you will take your pain managment to the civilian physicians if the VA physicians are unwilling or unable to help you.
Maggpie I hope you will take your pain managment to the civilian physicians if the VA physicians are unwilling or unable to help you.
I would definitely try other places than the VA, they put me on the streets of Houston, homeless, jobless and with severe congestive heart failure(I'm on Social Security Disability now) simply because I missed 3 bed checks in the Healthcare for Homeless Vets program. I called the manager of the facility I was staying to let her know I was in the step down unit (cardiac care unit) of the local V.A. hospital and she told me I no longer had a bed.
Anyhow, I too suffered severe fractures of both my left wrist(it got shoved into my arm, grinding all the wristbones to mush so badly that the orthopedic surgeon scheduled an amputation) I refused to sign the consent form and he consulted with a specialist civilian doctor who told him what to do. I was told that in ten years(this occurred when someone pushed me out a third floor barracks window in 1976) I would definitely wind up with arthritis. I did and now my wrist is fused and does not flex. My right femur broke in half in three places and exited out the side of my leg in the same instant that my wrist shattered. I have had nothing but one health problem after another since this.
I am on disability now because my heart has finally given out on me (12 major surgeries and over 50 'procedures') so I can no longer work.
Upshot of it all is, clerks run the V.A., upset one and you likely not receive notice of a doctors visit or as in my case both that and no medication. If you are receiving no cost healthcare from them that's one thing( they garnished my income refund check to pay for the medication I never received, go figure!), stay with them but definitely seek outside help for your pain. I was assigned a physicians assistant as my primary care provider. Saw the idiot one time and could tell that I knew more about my disintegrating hip than he did. In 1997 an orthopedic surgeon did X-rays, MRI and cat scan of my femur at the hip socket and told me that my hip was falling apart. At the time, it wasn't bad enough to replace but he said I needed to be in a pain management clinic due to the constant pain I am in.
The V.A has pain management clinics and could probably help you, you just have to 'prove' to them that you are in enough pain to warrant a consult. It will take months, if not years to do it though. I don't know what your financial situation is, but if you can afford an outside doctor, see one!
Anyhow, I too suffered severe fractures of both my left wrist(it got shoved into my arm, grinding all the wristbones to mush so badly that the orthopedic surgeon scheduled an amputation) I refused to sign the consent form and he consulted with a specialist civilian doctor who told him what to do. I was told that in ten years(this occurred when someone pushed me out a third floor barracks window in 1976) I would definitely wind up with arthritis. I did and now my wrist is fused and does not flex. My right femur broke in half in three places and exited out the side of my leg in the same instant that my wrist shattered. I have had nothing but one health problem after another since this.
I am on disability now because my heart has finally given out on me (12 major surgeries and over 50 'procedures') so I can no longer work.
Upshot of it all is, clerks run the V.A., upset one and you likely not receive notice of a doctors visit or as in my case both that and no medication. If you are receiving no cost healthcare from them that's one thing( they garnished my income refund check to pay for the medication I never received, go figure!), stay with them but definitely seek outside help for your pain. I was assigned a physicians assistant as my primary care provider. Saw the idiot one time and could tell that I knew more about my disintegrating hip than he did. In 1997 an orthopedic surgeon did X-rays, MRI and cat scan of my femur at the hip socket and told me that my hip was falling apart. At the time, it wasn't bad enough to replace but he said I needed to be in a pain management clinic due to the constant pain I am in.
The V.A has pain management clinics and could probably help you, you just have to 'prove' to them that you are in enough pain to warrant a consult. It will take months, if not years to do it though. I don't know what your financial situation is, but if you can afford an outside doctor, see one!
Hi Maggpie,
The cause of Kienböck's disease is not known. However the type of trauma that occurred to your right hand can disrupt the blood flow to the lunate. I think it is a good guess that in your case Kienböck's disease is attributable to the injury.
Remember I am not an expert or a physician. But if you look at the whole picture it would seem to me that many of your medical problems can be traced back to the injury. Arthritis often sets in after an injury. I am far from an expert on Fibromyalgia but I have read that it can be triggered by an injury. Chronic pain often is accompanied by fatigue, depression and anxiety. Hypertension can be caused by anxiety. An injury that results in the loss of ones ability to function as they once did can also result in an adjustment disorder. The requirement for pain medications, including NSAID's can disrupt your GI system and cause GERD, reflux esophagitis, along with stomach and duodenal ulcers. Hard to beleive that an injury to a hand can result in so many other medical issues, but it appears to be the case.
So what is left on your list? DDD, CT and arthritis in the non-injured hand? These are probably not related to your injury. But it is possibly someone could make a case that some or part of them are also some how related.
Regarding the pain medications. I agree with Mollyrae. It seems to me that there are medications that though they may not allow you to be pain free they should help in control of your pain. Lyrica, antidepressants, and narcotics should have some effect. It seems that different medications in different combinations should be tried, or maybe in your case, retired.
It appears that you may be tied up in the VA system, you may want to look outside to find better pain management. Or maybe just another physician without VA can be more helpful. But please don't give up.
I hope you are able to find some solutions to pain control. Good luck to you. Please let us know how you are doing. We will look forward to your updates with interest. We are here to support you in anyway we can. Take Care, Tuck
The cause of Kienböck's disease is not known. However the type of trauma that occurred to your right hand can disrupt the blood flow to the lunate. I think it is a good guess that in your case Kienböck's disease is attributable to the injury.
Remember I am not an expert or a physician. But if you look at the whole picture it would seem to me that many of your medical problems can be traced back to the injury. Arthritis often sets in after an injury. I am far from an expert on Fibromyalgia but I have read that it can be triggered by an injury. Chronic pain often is accompanied by fatigue, depression and anxiety. Hypertension can be caused by anxiety. An injury that results in the loss of ones ability to function as they once did can also result in an adjustment disorder. The requirement for pain medications, including NSAID's can disrupt your GI system and cause GERD, reflux esophagitis, along with stomach and duodenal ulcers. Hard to beleive that an injury to a hand can result in so many other medical issues, but it appears to be the case.
So what is left on your list? DDD, CT and arthritis in the non-injured hand? These are probably not related to your injury. But it is possibly someone could make a case that some or part of them are also some how related.
Regarding the pain medications. I agree with Mollyrae. It seems to me that there are medications that though they may not allow you to be pain free they should help in control of your pain. Lyrica, antidepressants, and narcotics should have some effect. It seems that different medications in different combinations should be tried, or maybe in your case, retired.
It appears that you may be tied up in the VA system, you may want to look outside to find better pain management. Or maybe just another physician without VA can be more helpful. But please don't give up.
I hope you are able to find some solutions to pain control. Good luck to you. Please let us know how you are doing. We will look forward to your updates with interest. We are here to support you in anyway we can. Take Care, Tuck
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