Well that's me off my bike for a while

[hondated]

GWS

My mum is currently suffering from the same thing, well a slipped disc is pushing on her nerve, that's been since May but in September it really hit her but thankfully she is on the mend

Col that's interesting and I am sorry to read your mum is still in pain. Its interesting because my son aged 41 two weeks ago went into Kings College Hospital and under a local anaesthetic had a part of his disc removed which was pressing on his spine.
Perhaps that's something your mum should talk about with her doctor.

 

[hondated]

When tablets mostly use a filter based on something you are severely allergic to, you don't get much choice and then I have several conditions which are classed as chronic conditions that are not common.

Bronchiectasis affects something like 30,000 people in the UK.that is not many and to top it off in have available rate form of tracheomalacia and I am my consultants only patient with this form of it. He is a very well known and respected consultant in a manchester university hospital.

Plus there are the complications of having a cortisol deficiency (sonic can present as being in a diabetic shock despite not being diabetic) and the fact that most people who say they are allergic to dairy are in fact only intolerant to lactose, whereas my body has decided that anaphylaxis is the way to go and it has also decided to be allergic to a rather common painkiller and anti-inflamatory drugs -v seriously not helpful! . I would add a dizzy head emicon at this point but I can't get the Web browser to keep them! Just got to try to keep smiling...

Sorry to catch up with your thread a find you are still poorly. I have only recently started going through the process to determine what is wrong with me and its a mine field trying to get various tests carried out.
ColinJ is clearly very knowledgeable about your issues GWS Ted

 

[ColinJ]

ColinJ is clearly very knowledgeable about your issues GWS Ted

Actually, I don't know anything about most of the things wrong with SNSSO, apart from what she has told us, but I do know what is wrong with me and I didn't want her (or anybody else stuck in bed for long periods of time) to risk the same problems due to immobility.

The number of people who used to end up dying in hospital from blood clots after long periods in bed is why they try and get you up and walking around as soon as possible after surgery these days, and is also why they often give precautionary anti-clotting drugs.

Avoiding blood clots

The sooner you start to move around, the better. Lying in bed for too long can cause some of your blood to pool in your legs. This puts you at risk of a blood clot.

If possible, doing some leg exercises can help prevent a blood clot. These may be as simple as flexing your knee or ankle and rotating your foot.

You may be given special support stockings to wear after surgery to help your blood circulation. Your nurse or doctor will explain how you should use these. Some people are given an injection to thin the blood slightly to help reduce the risk of clots.

 

[Col5632]

Col that's interesting and I am sorry to read your mum is still in pain. Its interesting because my son aged 41 two weeks ago went into Kings College Hospital and under a local anaesthetic had a part of his disc removed which was pressing on his spine.
Perhaps that's something your mum should talk about with her doctor.

She had an appointment at the hospital to discuss having the disc removed but it was deemed that it wasnt needed yet and shes on strong drugs until May 2015 and if its no better then she will get the operation but she wants off the drugs after xmas

 

[Dogtrousers]

Best wishes Satters, and get well soon.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Well after many attempts at bullying me into going down to the doctors, I managed to convince them that I did really need them to come out to me again, this reduced me to tears because I am just not up to it at the moment.

Thankfully when my GP arrived she remembered the staircase I have to negotiate, something I have not tried to do yet, and when I reminded her of the left side paralysis I have (I am not officially disabled in any way and can usually get by, it is just when my right leg has issues that there are major problems) she was much more sympathetic and helpful.

It does not look like it is sciatica. She thinks it is probably a slipped disc, and tbh I have no idea on what the implications of this are but my pain meds have been increased, the gabapentin is being increased from 300mg to 600mg three times a day (I think - I will have to check on the packet). the codeine stays for daytime use and I am being prescribed oramorph (not sure on the spelling) for night time use every 4 hours as needed. Paracetamol to continue, but to come off the diazepam. An urgent MRI (something about a red flag MRI) and physio (also red flag) and to be done at home is also being arranged. I still can't cope with any vertical pressure on my spine, or lie on my side (either of them, but one side is much worse than the other). Sitting is impossible - well I have managed to get from 30 seconds to around 2-3 minutes before I am in agony - standing with support is slightly easier on the pain side, it is just balance that is the major issue until the pain kicks in...

So I lie here and wait. I have an alarm that goes off every hour to remind me to get up and do some stretches and generally move around. I actually seem more mobile lying on my back that when I am standing, moving is easier and less painful, so some of the exercises are done lying down. I know they want me up and about, but the stairs are lethal at the best of times and now is not the best of times. plus other than the floor, there is nowhere downstairs for me to lie!

My Spanish seems to be coming along in between the sleepy periods caused by the meds - my typing and grammar I will apologise for now I have simply given up fighting that battle with my dyslexia and we wait and see. (Hopefully I have selected the correct versions of suggestions from the spell checker! ). Oh and if I randomly disappear, we have high winds at the moment, electricity is coming and going and my landline internet is down yet again! such is life.

I'm trying hard to remain positive, but it is difficult.

 

[vickster]

Most of the time sciatica is caused by a slipped disc, symptom not a diagnosis per se. Mine certainly was

I ended up under the knife aged 20 after 3 months of lots of pain, but quite an extreme case and times have changed (they can now operate keyhole, I have a 6 inch scar on my lower back! Looks like the stitching on a rugby ball, alternative tramp stamp )

Is the MRI and physio being done via Bupa - even emergency on the NHS can take a few weeks at least around here

Once you've had the MRI, get referred to an orthopaedic back specialist (using the Bupa to speed things up if needed )

GWS

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My GP seemed keen to keep it NHS for some reason and I know that for any surgery it is quite important to have me at a hospital that had icu beds available. The NHS won't operate on my unless there is an icu bed free because of my severe asthma, tracheomalacia and bronchiectasis plus the adrenal insufficiency and the allergy side of life. It makes things interesting. My operation back in July needed such requirements despite it being done under sedative and epidural!

We will see what happens over the next few days, though approaching a weekend in don't hold out much hope!

 

[vickster]

My local private hospital has a fully equipped ICU but it is quite unusual

They probably won't operate so quickly unless there is a risk of permanent damage (i.e. paralysis) which apparently was the case for me (although I wasn't told at the time) - I had a CT scan after 10 days of spinal traction (horrible) and operated on a couple of days later

 

[hopless500]

Man up FFS and get Ya man a cup of tea Ya big wuss!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My local private hospital has a fully equipped ICU but it is quite unusual

They probably won't operate so quickly unless there is a risk of permanent damage (i.e. paralysis) which apparently was the case for me (although I wasn't told at the time) - I had a CT scan after 10 days of spinal traction (horrible) and operated on a couple of days later

not sure what the options are here, but permanent damage would be a serious problem with me already having issues with my left leg being partially paralysed. fingers crossed for the next few days/weeks... there is already significant loss of use in my right leg, and loss of strength and some function as well. I can't balance on it at all and can't support myself or walk unaided. basically I'm a mess. I would say something else but I would have to moderate my own post! sorry my sense of humour is beginning to fail me.

 

[ColinJ]

My Spanish seems to be coming along in between the sleepy periods caused by the meds - my typing and grammar I will apologise for now I have simply given up fighting that battle with my dyslexia and we wait and see. (Hopefully I have selected the correct versions of suggestions from the spell checker! ).

I had not considered the extra difficulties that someone with dyslexia might have learning another language - I can see that it would not help so well done for trying!

I would quite like to learn Spanish but I have significant hearing loss at lots of spot frequencies so making out unfamiliar words in an unfamiliar accent would be hard for me, especially if the person is speaking quickly which many Spanish speakers seem to ...

PS Clearly, learning Spanish is not your biggest issue at the moment, but I am trying to distract you from that!

 

[hopless500]

not sure what the options are here, but permanent damage would be a serious problem with me already having issues with my left leg being partially paralysed. fingers crossed for the next few days/weeks... there is already significant loss of use in my right leg, and loss of strength and some function as well. I can't balance on it at all and can't support myself or walk unaided. basically I'm a mess. I would say something else but I would have to moderate my own post! sorry my sense of humour is beginning to fail me.

all I can offer is a

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I had not considered the extra difficulties that someone with dyslexia might have learning another language - I can see that it would not help so well done for trying!

I would quite like to learn Spanish but I have significant hearing loss at lots of spot frequencies so making out unfamiliar words in an unfamiliar accent would be hard for me, especially if the person is speaking quickly which many Spanish speakers seem to ...

PS Clearly, learning Spanish is not your biggest issue at the moment, but I am trying to distract you from that!

distraction is what I am working hard on at the moment. Spanish seems to be helping in that, as is reading... I have found some Spanish apps that allow you to select word groups you want to learn and then vary between seeing them in English and you selecting the correct answer in Spanish, which it then reads to you, or it reads it to you with no clues and you have to select the correct English... one of the apps allows you to switch between English speak, select Spanish and Spanish speak and select English. another is actually expecting me to spell them out on the keyboard which is really making the words stick even if I am not doing that well with the spelling - Spanish spelling is coming to me slowly, is the best phrase.

Ironically my dyslexia made learning German really easy for some reason. I think it is just the way my mind is wired! That and 7 years of compulsory French at school, and 3 of compulsory Latin have helped with listening to languages enough to be able to pick up the gist (spoken and reading) but leave me unable to write or speak it.... still my Spanish should improve given I am spending 3 or 4 hours a day on it at the moment, when the side effects of the meds allow! And my tutor is being really helpful and sending me what they do in class, plus I have tracked down the videos we watch (some Spanish sitcom designed for learning Spanish and totally daft) on youtube and even managed to track down the transcript of it as well... so I should be able to keep up with the class even if the speaking side of life isn't practiced too much... It is just keeping up the motivation that is the hard side.

 

[Katherine]

I am in awe of your positivity! I'm sure you must be allowed sense of humour lapses. I hope you get some physio very soon to help prevent any more loss of power and function as well as whatever else you need. It sounds like you're making the best use of the time too, however frustrating it must surely be, although I can't begin to imagine. Best wishes to you.