Wendy1 wrote on Oct 4th, 2010 at 8:16pm:Wow, have you ever been diagnosed with spondolythesis? I had the pain in my back and down my leg... tried the cortisone shots and it made the pain WORSE... finally a dr diagnosed me with this, I had surgery to have L4-5 fused and I have been back/leg pain free for 5 yrs. Good luck and I hope it gets better.
Thanks Wimsey. Can use all the vibes/ prayers I can get right now.
Wendy, sometimes the shots DO work, but was told by the Nurse Assistant at last weeks appointment that, since all of my joints are flared up pretty bad (got Rheumatoid Arthritis pretty hard), that inflammation may have contributed to the shots going bad.
I do find it interesting that, the last two MRI reports came back as negative (nothing changed.) My pain management doc looked at the MRI's themselves and said BOTH showed L-2, L-3 & L-4 haven't changed much, but L-5 is bulging! So far, still no spinal lesions (which is very good news.) But, it just makes me wonder what ELSE gets missed when tests are read - and makes me reluctant to have more done unless they can GUARANTEE a pro will look at it with a fine tooth comb.
The RA doc felt all of my joints and said everyone of them are swollen, so back on Methotrexate, 15mg of Prednisone a day, and may have to start giving myself injections of somethin that starts with a Z, not sure what it is but reduces joint/ bone deterioration.
Did round 2 of CBing, and thought I knocked it out of the ball park. Unfortunately I had a bit TOOOO MUCH wine at a wedding reception on Friday night, and wound up waking up with a hard CH at 5:30am. Then, last night during the show - at a critical moment where I HAVE to be at the helm for the indie "Song of the week showdown" I felt major pressure in my eye and looked at Jeff, who is my cohost now, and he said it was changing. So, ran downstairs, huffed o2 for 5 minutes and made it back in time for the showdown.
So, guess I have to do a 3rd round.

But to quote the movie Dune, as far as the Beast goes, "I WILL KILL HIM."
Especially since my Praxair bill is so high due to insurance not covering o2, I'm about to get my tanks repo'd.

If it does, I have a backup plan.
Thanks for the well wishes. Been a hard day today, but I'll get through it. No other choice.
Peace,
Carl
PS - I see the cardiologist on Wednesday. Kinda nervous, since they are talking Pacemaker.