Ah, the health care system
So, I’ve mentioned a couple of times that Darren has trouble with his back. Turns out, this story goes back much further than this.
Perhaps 5, 6 years ago, pre James, pre thought of James, so it much be more 6-7 years ago, Darren and I went skiing, something we did back then, but this as turns out, was the last time. Darren fell (long story short) and broke his shoulder. Now, this story definitely starts there. Whether the damage occured at that time and wasn’t caught, or whether, as he ws warned at the time, “there may be future problems from bone spurs in this shoulder,” this is how the story begins.
Fast forward to 3 years ago, the pain begins, Darren goes to the Dr., and then the first of a series of orthopedist. He complains about his shoulder, but the Dr. narrows in on his neck. He sees a total of three different orthopedists (all at the same practice), is put on increasing strengths of pain medicines, given very limited physical therapy (which annoys me to no end), and multiple MRIs and diagnoses (none of which are particularly treatable or hopefully).
Yesterday, after yet another MRI and yet another Dr. he finds he has a torn rotator cuff. How blanking simple is that? As Darren said, “If I was a baseball player, I would have known this in an hour.”
Now, in classic CYA style, it’s “Well, you may still have other issues with your neck. We’ll have to see once we repair this.” Other issues like, being in pain for three years from an unrepaired injury?
Oh yeah, the health insurance system is jsut fine here in the U.S.
Holy cow.
I wish I could say I’m surprised.
I hope it gets better soon, I hate it when Eric hurts.
Good Lord. That would really piss me off. I Hope he’s going to have it fixed and then feel MUCH BETTER. That’s a long time for a bunch of stuffed shirts to think they’ve got it all right . . . only to have it all wrong.
Good luck.
Preaching to the choir, missy! Makes me want to throw SOMETHING at SOMEONE most every time we have to go to the doc!!!
I hear ya. Just think…we could be recieving even WORSE care soon. lovely. Hope it all works out!
Egads! Glad it was discovered and hopefully it will be resolved soon!
Sirdar had a shoulder injury at 23 (head first into the boards when playing hockey). He quit playing and years (like 20 some) he woke up one morning with no mobility in his arm. He had pain that took narcotics to quench and still had to sleep upright. He suffered for 2 weeks and got meds that did something to his nerves. He ended up going to a specialist and they found out he had a pinched nerve from his one disc that was likely injured and was compressing. He had a lot of muscle waste from the 2 weeks and has a dip in his back and a smaller peck in front that never recovered fully despite going back to almost normal. He had a recurrence about a year and a half later but not as severe. He went to the specialist again and he said they would try one more thing before surgery. He sent him to a therapist specializing in water therapy. She charge $95 a session. He bought scuba gear and she evaluated his mobility, then gave him exercises to do in the pool. He started feeling better right way. The next time he felt it coming on, he started going to the pool for a couple weeks and it helped. He had a bit of trouble with his rotator cuff a couple months ago from playing volleyball and has had the problem with his arm again. I think it is time to go to the pool again.
I hope they find what is wrong with your husband. Have him ask about the little triangle pink pills called tryptaline or something. They are given to patience for depression, but they help with nerve pain.
I would be frustrated if I were you also with the expense of all that. He had one MRI which took some time to get in, but at least he isn’t being sent for a lot of them and they found the problem (which may never really be fixed). Good luck to you guys.