Hello fron Canada

[Grandmateen]

I am from Alberta, Canada. My age is 55, I am married to a great guy, have 2 wonderful children and 4 beautiful granddaughters. I also work full time as an Accounts Payable Administrator. My life would be complete if it wasn't for the problems I have incurred suffering from osteo arthritis in my spine. I recenttly had a laminectomy to relieve spinal stenosis; 6 months ago. A lot of the pain in my back and left leg have been minimized or completely gone. Unfortunately I am suffering a lot of pain in my right leg, between my butt and knee. The pain is different than what I suffered pre surgery. I am fine when I stand and walk, but sitting on certain chairs and laying down doesn't necessarily relieve the pain. I also have a lot of numbness and tingling; almost feels like electrical impulses going through my leg. Bending at the waist and knees seem to irritate it. I had an MRI, just received results today that showed post surgical changes in that there is scar tissue and the arthritis has progressed to the advanced stage; indicating narrowing of the spinal column but no nerve impingement, no further surgery necessary. I am on Neurontin, 300 mg, 3 times a day. As of today the dosage is being slowly increased to see if that will help. If not, cortisone shots maybe considered in the future. As you can well imagine I am concerned about what my future holds for me.


I am so glad I found this site where I can share my pain and suffering with those that can understand where I am coming from. Most of my family and friends can't really relate to what I am going through. Thanks to Spine Patient Society.

[Cindylou]

Welcome Grandmateen, nice to "meet you." Where has the arthritis progressed to the advanced stage? I'm sorry that you are having to deal with this. Chronic pain is the great equalizer. We are close in age, myself being 58. However, my initial spine issues were caused by a traumatic accident, that being a bicycle one.. I hope you can find some answers and get some much needed relief. There are so many good people on this site. And nobody "gets pain" like a fellow spine sufferer, so I hope you will take advantage of the support system here. Kind regards, Cindylou

[KBear]

to the forum! I hope you are able to find helpful answers and information to your condition and find relief soon. Chronic pain is definitely a hard thing to deal with, and as CL said, no one who hasn't lived it gets it. This site is wonderful in that we all have either been there or are there and thus 'get it.'

[Grandmateen]

Thanks for your words of support Cindylou & KBear. To answer your question Cindylou, the arthritis is confined to L4, L5 but is now at the advanced stage which I believe means that it will eventually spread to other areas. I was hoping the Laminectomy I had in June would have resolved most of my problems. Instead I have a whole set of new problems since the surgery.

[Katie]

Welcome! I used to live in your neck of the woods, till moving east. I still miss the mountains out that way. There is another member here from northen BC who you might like to chat with. I recommended a great surgeon to her from Vancouver.

If there is anything we can do to help, or you'd like to chat by phone, just let me know. Always glad to help ;-)

[Grandmateen]

Thanks so much. It's good to know there are Canadians on this site. You would be familiar with the universal health care system. In Alberta we are lucky that our health care is free and is available to everyone regardless of social status. However there are drawbacks to that; long waits for a hospital beds, OR's, certain tests; like MRI's. You cannot see a surgeon without a referral from your family physician and now they have a network called Patient Care Network; PCN that the family physician sends the referral to, they match you with a surgeon/specialist that is best suited for your problem. It is suppose to be efficient and cut down on wait times. I waited 5 months for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon that lasted less than 5 minutes. I then waited another 4 months before I had a laminectomy. There are maybe 5 spine specialists that serve a large City and surrounding area with a population of 1.5 million, plus many small towns. To date I have probably spent less than half an hour talking with this surgeon. I had an MRI; It took 6 weeks for that appointement, on December 6th, I waited for a call from the surgeon's office, didn't get one so I called them on January 6th. The person I talked to told me there was a letter for me and a copy for my family physican with the surgeon's findings from the MRI. It was mailed the day I called and I received it today, it was dated December 13th. Someone forget to mail it. All it said was there was post operative scarring which is normal but no obvious evidence of ongoing impingements, no further surgery required at this time. Nothing said about what other treatment and medication options I may have. It was not signed by the surgeon but intialled by the person who typed the letter. I am now back in the care of my family physician who is going to follow up on this with the surgeon. He outlined other options available to me. I feel better now that I am back under his care. You have no idea my frustration since this started one and half years ago. Phew! I am sorry for venting so much, but I have held most of this in for such I long time. Just had to let it out.