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Degenerative disc disease
lisaschultz327 | @lisaschultz327 | 4 minutes ago
I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease with arthritis, spinal spondylosis, some kind of a twist in my spine and some other spinal problems with long medical names and have the remains of a lumbar herniated disc from about age 30 which now is called a bulging disc. I’m in a lot of lower back pain pain and am allotted 2 – 7.5 hydrocodone with Tylenol a day. The doctor took an X-ray and I was told the above along with the comment: man, your spine is really messed up. I’m a 73 year old woman. The doctor also ordered a MRI but when I got to the hospital and I told them I had a pacemaker in addition to my right knee replacement, they wouldn’t do the MRI. I live near Key West and apparently there are no hospitals in the Florida Keys that have a MRI machine for people with a pacemaker. I have to drive over 110 miles to get to the mainland of Florida and another 30 or 40 to get to a hospital equipped with the right MRI machine so I’ve been putting that off. Other than being a great swimmer, my exercise was work related. I owned and operated a tree nursery myself which is strenuous. The last big hurricane retired me and the nursery so I haven’t really exercised since 2017 except for occasional swimming.
I have just been given cardiac clearance for light exercise after being diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, Atrial Flutter, Coronary Heart Disease, Tachycardia and Bradycardia. My history shows 2 Myocardial Infarcts although I didn’t feel anything. Medical care is limited down here (remember that if you think the Keys is a great place to retire) and I don’t really know what to do. I was hoping for a stem cell transplant for the damaged discs but just found out that’s not FDA approved. I don’t want spinal fusion after reading your letters. Any suggestions?
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Unless their services are FDA approved don’t let them near your back. There has been some research on stem cells and plasma rich infusions but none has shown any success. There are no large scale double blind studies I could locate either.
76 yr old female who opted not to have any spine surgery despite severe disk problems, herniated, bone spurs, scoliosis etc. PT was no help, neither were injections. MD I saw first said I needed ‘minor’ surgery then said ‘major’ without much explanation. Never given pain meds or muscle relaxants. In pain a lot, I sometimes take CBD with thc capsules. I try to walk every day and do some stretching but have to be extremely careful. Now have either a strained abdominal muscle or small hernia due to lifting heavy stuff ( my fault, I was feeling good and knew I shouldn’t do that, now I am having new pains,). Trying to lose weight (10 lbs overweight, losing about 1/2 pound a week, slow us lest). Good luck. Prayers fir you
Lisa, please be very careful with your choices in Naples/Ft Myers. I have lived here 35yrs and can tell you we have some very bad doctors mixed with few good ones. We have those who should be retired, moved here and are more interested in golfing than you. We have many bad bad stem cell drs all over the state. Some who have been fined. I had what was considered a good dr try to push me to have surgery with his partner. Suspecting his urgency, I got an appt at Mayo Rochester Neurosurgery to get a second opinion which took additional 4 months. They said no to surgery. I felt I had been rescued from a fate worse than death. Mayo facilities are World Class Top Notch .I Trust Mayo and IMO anyone searching for solid answers should try to get an appt with them before deciding. 🙏
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