[Vickie C.]

Great post, Tim. I’m in close to the same boat as your wife–I didn’t break my back, but I had a two-level spinal fusion last year that was a huge mistake, and I never really recovered from it. I now have what I believe is arachnoiditis due to either the trauma of the surgery or steroid injections or both, and am struggling, while on Worker’s Comp, to get a doctor to concur with me and to treat my symptoms now. I will have to go off WC to get enough money to pay for some tests myself so that I can go back and challenge the Failed Back Syndrome B.S. My doctors failed me by not doing enough medical history and realizing that because of a genetic predisposition to autoimmune problems that I was a very poor candidate for the procedures I underwent. And the sad thing is that all this information is available on the internet, if only they, or I would’ve done a ton of research beforehand.

So now, at 45, I can only work half-time at best now. I am trying to explore alternative treatments and have had a lot of success for the pain with fish oil and milk thistle, so far. I am trying different things to see if they help, including a change in diet. I have cut down caffeine to a bare minimum, eliminated almost all artificial sweeteners, am working on eliminating glutens too. When I get my settlement I will definitely buy a good chair, maybe a kneeling chair, and a good bed as well for the same reasons you gave.
And I will never trust a doctor again until I have thoroughly explored what others have gone through and consider the worst possible outcomes, weighing that into my decision for any invasive procedure.

I’m really happy for you and your wife, that you have made some serious changes and it’s working for you. Thanks for sharing.

Sincerely,

Vickie C.