I went to my appt at Colorado University Hospital and those doctors got more done in 2 and half hours than Kaiser did in two YEARS! They already have a treatment plan, steroid shots in a different joint at a different angle. OUCH! (they did say they would put me under anesthesia if I requestd cause those mf shots HURT like hell!) Then, if it is worse than the shots can help, I may need an SI (sacroiliac joint, the bottom of the spine and the hip joint) microsurgery or diskectomy, but that is down the road if the shots do not work. When I had my original MRI done last March, I took it to Kaiser Neurology and they said it looked normal, no problems. The two docs I saw this week at Univ. said there were 3 problems in the area of the spine that was hurting, as well as some slight scoliosis from aging and a bend in my spine, probably postural in origin. This was from the original MRI from March, NOT a new one. So the dimbulbs(that is a nice name for them, I do NOT want to offend anyone with what I really call them here in the privacy of my own home)at Kaiser missed 5 things in my spine. That March 07 MRI was the only MRI I had done so far, since a couple catscans and Xrays a couple yrs ago.. These new docs at the Spine Center want me to have another one now at THEIR hospital, (I guess they don't trust Kaiser either after the misdiagnosis:mad :) because the problem has probably worsened since March's MRI. So I need to go into the tube again very soon as soon as I get the go ahead from Kaiser and they BETTER okay it There is a tear in some part of the spinal tissue and a narrowing where the nerve goes through the foramenal opening (hole) from the spine out to the rest of the body as well as a flattened, dried looking disc in the lower back. Hmmmmmmmm...they found this after 2 and a half hours. Kaiser had almost 3 yrs to find out what was going on in my back, but would not due to the way their referrals work. You HAVE to be able to SHOW a problem in the back with xrays or the catscan to get further into the system, ie: An MRI with a Neurological assessment. THEY decided my back problem was NOT serious enough to warrant futher treatment until I called screaming in March of this year and my doctor did get an MRI ordered. They finally agreed to send me to Neurology, NOT Neurosurgery where I SHOULD have been referred to. It was Neurology that determined I did not have a problem with my spine in March07 and said "Go to Orthopedics to see if it is in your hip." Both my doc and I KNEW that my hip xray would be negative and it was. :mad: Another waste of time and more co-pay $$ for Kaiser. They were giving me the runaround!
My Primary Physician has her hands tied by the beauracracy. She could NOT order the tests 3 yrs ago even when she wanted to. They would not approve it. So they did nothing to find the problem. And in March this year when I was trying to get in to see Neurosurgery, AFTER the first MRI and I still had excruciationg pain 24/7 and could not walk more than an hour or stand longer than 2 hours on a good day, they told me NO, I did not have a problem that showed on my original MRI that would warrant an appt. and that little office hack asswipe did NOTHING but tell me that there was nothing they could do and they were sorry I was in so much pain, but good luck! I will give him good luck if I EVER see him in person! That ass made a diagnosis when he was simply a chairwarming appointment maker!!! :mad:
:notallthe 
:bbbat: 
:brazilia: 
:clubb: 
:pitchfork 
:pleasdie: :punchbag: 
:paperair: 
I finally called patient services and lodged complaints while having my primary put through the request for the outside referral at the same time. The Management reprimanded the office hack, he should have been fired. He should NOT be working with people with chronic pain that is for sure! And at the same time my referral for outside help finally came through with a wrong number to call. It took some digging on my part to find out WHERE they actually referred me to, since the the number I called on the referral letter was not even remotely close to what I needed. Fools. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! :mad:Okay, do you want to know how I really feel about Kaiser? ;)
Those fools did not do anything to help me, but they sure get mad if your premium payment is one day late. I agree Kwahati, the bane of medical help, is the HMO! They don't WANT to cure you, because then they would not be able to keep charging for all those meds and treatments that keep you coming back and paying your co-pay each time. I am SICK of Kaiser and am now going to look into other possibilities. The bad thing here is that I have ongoing medical issues and any insurance is going to take that into account so it may end up costing me a shitload to get new insurance. It is worth it though. With Kaiser I may end up very dead, if they keep this quality of care up. I have to say though, my primary care physician is phenomenal. She goes to the mat for me and has lit a fire under the asses of the committees that make referrals and second opinion decisions and gotten me a LOT of help outside that Kaiser is going to cover. She got me into breast reduction surgery quickly, (YES the girls were TOO big at one time :D: ) and she put me through the system and got it done quickly a few years back.
The docs at University Hospital want another MRI done at THEIR facility and want the treatments (steroid shots or surgery if needed,) done at their facility. I am betting in the time between my March MRI and the one that will be done now, the problem will have worsened and that is Kaiser's fault! My pain has worsened! And, you can bet I will NOT allow Kaiser docs to touch my back after they said nothing was wrong. Those quacks will not get near me! I want my new docs at University doing the shots and surgery. They are awesome. I have to start physical therapy again, but this time it is a very specific exercise for a very specific joint locale. The Kaiser physical therapy dept is literally one block from our house, a 3 minute drive. So the Univ docs think that Kaiser will want me to go there and not go their facility. I hope they know what they are doing and if not, then I demand to go to University Hospital and Kaiser will pay! My premium is almost 700.00 a month and they keep me on morphine and Percocet, INSTEAD of FIXING the problem with shots or surgery that could help me more in the long run! :mad:
They WANT to keep you just sick enough to keep coming back and they love to push pills! My liver hates me right now and I am going to have to go into rehab, (Hey Lindsay and Britney and Nicole watch out! Make room! Here comes Susislicker! LOL!) Actually it is going to take a very Looooooooong weaning process to get off the opiates because of withdrawal. I have been on this crap in the form of Vicodin when the pain first started 3 years ago, graduated to Percocet and then Morphine AND Percocet together EVERY DAY for the past 3 and a half YEARS! You know how addicted I am? It scares me to know I have to go through the withdrawal
and yet I am so looking forward to being drug free. I love a clear mind and the ability to have some desire to get up off of my ass and do things, something I don't have now. The drugs make you lazy and lackadaisical. You live in a semi fog and can't really do anything, because it does not get rid of the pain altogether, just dulls it for awhile til you take more meds and get even more fogged out. Though if you spoke to me in person you would have a hard time telling I was all opiated up. I have gotten USED to it. THAT is scary. And I do still ahve alot of internal energy jusy clamoring to get out! I jusy don't *feel* like doing anything and that is what these drugs to to you. :(So anyway, we are well on the way to getting something positive done with my back and I am happy and if these docs can really do something, I will have little or no pain at all. That will be heaven. For a person like me who never stopped when I was younger, this would be a godsend. I could walk distances again and maybe even try to start running again. :) I REALLY miss running. I was an avid jogger and loved nothing more than being out by myself and pounding the ground and making time go by. I would also lose the extra 50-60 lb, I need to lose for lack of being able to do anything with our home gym. It is dusty down there, but I cannot use the machines, my back is tortured by anything. I am looking forward to the day I can put on my athletic shoes and shorts and tank top again and be slim enough to look good in it ;) and take off on a slow lope around the lake! :D: I can dream, can't I? :)
*And if by chance they cannot rid me of the pain, then I will learn to deal with it and live with it the best I can for the rest of my life. I am NOT gonna shoot myself if they cannot fix it! There is too much fun to be had at WDW and Disneyland and in the world! :D: *
I know this was long, but my rant is over now... and only positive vibes from now on! We will only get only good reports and we will see progress in this journey!~
Susi*my back hurts now, but maybe not forever*slicker :p:
