My name is Cindy, but to my friends on CPS I’m just “Rotten”. My story isn’t unlike a lot of others, my road to where I am today all came about rather unexpectedly.
To give a little background about myself, I’m happily married and have 3 children ranging from age 14-20 years old. I’m employed as a Benefit Systems Consultant for a software development company; my job entails configuring and installing software to our customers and then training on the new functionality.
In 2006, I underwent a partial hysterectomy when my doctor suspected cervical cancer. After a successful surgery the results came back that it had been cancer and the surgery probably saved my life. For me that was a turning point in life, never take it for granted and live it to the fullest and that’s what I did.
On August 31, 2007 my youngest daughter was supposed to go to her Father’s for the weekend but when he canceled unexpectedly, I agreed to take her to the mall. On our way to the mall an SUV ran a stop sign and T-boned my Ford Taurus on the passenger side. As I saw what was about to happen, the fear I felt for my daughter was overwhelming (who was sitting next to me on the side hit) and I think numbed me to my own initial pain. After making sure she was safely out of the vehicle I began to feel pain in my right shoulder as well as in my back. After being seen at the emergency room and released with no broken bones, the pain seemed to increase over the next few days. My daughter and I were both seen by a physician early the next week and began physical therapy. Luckily my daughter had a mild case of whiplash and was completely better within a month. I continued with land and aquatic therapy and while my shoulder (torn ligaments) improved dramatically, my back got worse just as quickly. It just didn’t seem real after what I had gone through the year before; I kept thinking, “We weren’t even supposed to be going there that night.”
Prior to my spine injury I lived a very active life, working out 4-5 days a week during my lunch at the gym in my office building, as well as working out with my husband several evenings a week and on weekends.
We both enjoy living an active life style from hiking and camping to indoor rock climbing (I’ll admit I only went once before my accident but loved it and wanted to go back and still do). Every free week we could we headed off on the motorcycle for a weekend of camping or staying at a “tree house” cabin we fell in love with, but all of that stopped after the accident.
On October 26, 2007 I was sent for an MRI of my spine and the findings were as follows:
At L1-2 and L2-3, the discs appear unremarkable. At L3-4, a small left posterolateral disc protrusion and annular tear are present with minimal left neural foraminal encroachment. At L4-5, diffuse bulging of disc and mild spondylosis are present with minimal neural foraminal encroachment. Mild bilateral facet arthropathy is present. A small right posterolateral annular tear is identified. Flattening of the ventral aspect of the thecal sac is observed. At L5-S1 marked disc narrowing is present with endplate reaction. A central disc protrusion results in slight posterior displacement of the left S1 nerve root. Mild bilateral facet arthropathy is present.
After the results the physician I was seeing (through my attorney) recommended nerve-blocking injections and I was sent for a series of 3 and all physical therapy was stopped at that time. I underwent the series of injections from November 2007-February 2008. After the final injection I was sent back to the physician who told me “There is nothing more we can do for you, surgery is your only option”. I’ll never forget that day; those were the words I did not want to hear. He gave me the number for a surgeon and sent me on my way. I was upset, scared and unsure. I called my attorney for guidance and their reaction was “well you don’t want to do that and we can’t leave this case open forever so get a estimate from the surgeon”….I was in shock. I was seen as a number by both the doctor and the attorney, I didn’t want to get rich…I wanted to be well! And that’s when I realized I had to take care of me!
I went to see the surgeon and he wanted to schedule me for a discogram and send me to see an orthopedic surgeon with the recommendation of ALIF surgery, 3 levels. Something about the surgeon didn’t sit well with me and I decided to get a second opinion. The following week I went to another surgeon’s office with MRI’s in hand, they too felt surgery was my only option but they thought I should move forward with an L5 fusion going in from both directions. After leaving their office with yet another opinion rolling around in my mind, I determined that I still wasn’t comfortable. I called my husband who worked with someone who had spine surgery the year before and he was happy to recommend his surgeon. I think because by this time I had resolved myself to surgery for me it was more of an expedition to find the “right” doctor and then move forward but I wanted to do it quickly. During my appointment with the third surgeon he reviewed my MRI’s but also had an x-ray of my spine taken where he noticed a small crack in my spine, which he determined was also from my car accident. After my first appointment with doctor number 3, I was ready to schedule my L5- S1 ALIF surgery with him.
Because like so many other working families money is a factor, my husband and I discussed my upcoming surgery and decided to put it off until early May for financial reasons. The company I work for provides STD at a rate of 50% for employees employed with the company less then 5 years. The first month after your 5 year anniversary the rate changes to 66%, my anniversary was in late April so May it had to be.
The reason I decided to have the surgery was simple, I wanted my life back. I had to give up exercise in all forms and even sitting at work was becoming almost unbearable. I was taking Tramadol for pain prior to my surgery but as the time drew closer it was no longer helping. The doctor put me on Darvocet, which caused extreme nausea, but it helped the pain. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to work from home 4 days a week leading up to my surgery.
On May 8, 2008 I had my surgery and I still believe it was the right choice for me. I woke up from surgery with numbness in my left foot which is not something I had encountered prior to having surgery, but other then that I felt pretty good the first night. The next morning I woke up extremely sick and nauseous and no amount of anti-nausea medicine seemed to help. By day three I was feeling really good and allowed to get out of bed and go to physical therapy in the hospital. I passed the “tests” with flying colors and the surgeon grudgingly released me from the hospital that afternoon. I left the hospital on the minimal medications, I was taking an anti-nausea medicine and for pain Norco 5-325. Week 2, my doctor called in more medication and accidentally changed the dosage from 2 every 4 hours to 1 every 6. I have a very high tolerance for pain but this was unbearable. I found myself crying in pain by the second hour when only taking one pill. I called my doctor multiple times and each time was forced to talk only with his secretary. Finally I called and refused to discuss it with her and demanded he return my call personally. Within a few hours he called and once he heard how badly I was hurting he immediately apologized to me for the error on my newest prescription and he called my pharmacy with another prescription for Lortab. Now the fun began…the pharmacy had just filled the prescription for 60 pills 1 every 6 hours so they said I didn’t need another refill for at least another week, they said if the doctor called and changed the original prescription that would solve the problem. The next day I called the doctor again, he called the pharmacy and spoke to someone and changed the script. I called to make sure I could pick up my refill and I was told “no…I don’t know who told you your doctor could do that but he can’t, your insurance will not fill this for at least another week”. By then I’d had enough and said “fill it today! I will pay for it without my insurance company”. I wasn’t asking for more medication then I needed, I simply wanted the prescription corrected, my doctor made an error. So $55 later I got the medication I needed. It took 3 days of arguing with the receptionist and pharmacist before I had to give up and just pay out of pocket for something that should have just been taken care of. What if I hadn’t had the money?
In the past 9 weeks of my recovery, I’ve seen my ups and downs. In the beginning I did very well and was walking up to a mile a day by the time I was 2 weeks post op. By 6 weeks I was doing almost 3 miles a day. Right now I’m struggling with a lot of pain again, my doctor put me on “low activity” and changed my medicine to Percocet in hopes I’ll be doing better when I return to his office. The good news is the latest x-ray shows I’m fused!!!! But the pain is the latest concern, my surgeon worries a nerve is being pinched or that my L4 has given out. I continue to stay upbeat and know that in time I will regain my life again. I’m too stubborn not to. This is not the end of the road for my active life or me; it’s just the beginning of a new chapter. I have a quote I use on CPS and it fits whom I am very well, I don’t know the author but it is “Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain!" So until this storm passes you can find me dancing with my friends on CPS