August 11, 2004
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Broken Back
Dr. G just called me with the results of the radiography. He said I have moderate to severe deterioration damage to the entire thoraxic region of the spine with a compression fracture at T9. He will be going out of town for two weeks but is having his office get approval for and schedule an MRI so the results will be available when he returns.
Comments (3)
I hope it all turns out well for you. There must be something for the pain at least to begin with so that you can go on living a better life!
Surprisingly, there isn't much. I spent a good part of the day today doing research on the Web and the results were discouraging. Surgery in that part of the back is difficult, dangerous, painful, expensive and ineffective. It would be about like open heart surgery because they have to work on the inside of the spine, not the outside, so they would have to break ribs, deflate lungs, move the heart, etc. So, surgery isn't an option.
That leaves therapy, which apparently either works for two or three years ... or doesn't. The same for exercise programs, losing weight, and almost everything else. Pain medication just chases the symptoms, doing nothing about the problem. Some people seem to get better after about two years, some stabilize, the remainder continue to get worse despite efforts to help. The medical industry doesn't know enough about what is happening to be able to control the outcome. I recall something about mortality being 17%.
Arthritic fractures in the neck or lower back are fairly common; they are rare in the middle back where mine is. I found a support group of people with similar problems and have petitioned them to let me join.
I'm sorry to hear about your back problems, James. All I can say in offer of support is that you are really in the best country to get the best treatment. I know from my own experience - which is nothing like your own experience - that back pain is extremely bad. I twisted my back at work a few weeks ago, and had to medicate with strong painkillers for the rest of the day...and the pulled muscle was bad for many days afterwards.
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