Thursday, September 14, 2006

evening

Physical Therapy - Day Two

On Tuesday, physical therapy was kind of fun and relaxing.  Today, it started out nicely, then they added new exercises for me on an exercise ball, which totally kicked my butt.  I think the squats at the end really pushed me over the edge.  I felt fine until I got outside the building, and then my thighs started getting all wobbly and I could barely walk.  It was funny, until I realized that I couldn’t drive in that condition.  I walked it off a bit in the parking lot before I tried to drive.  My legs are still really weak when I walk up and down the stairs, but I guess that means that I actually did some real exercise finally.  What’s nice is that I’m learning what exercises I can continue to do at home because we already have a treadmill and an exercise ball.  I bought an exercise ball when I’d read something about people using them as computer chairs to help their backs.  I tried it for a little while, but it was too hard and uncomfortable.  Then, I read a couple other articles after that recommending they not be used as chairs.  So, I’ll use them for their intended purpose, exercise.

I have a small hospital bill rant before I toddle off to bed.  I had my surgery at Valley Hospital - they overcharged me by five hundred billion percent on the basics, like meds and anti-embolism stockings and such.  I got them to reduce my part of their bill by more than 50%.  Last month, I made payment arrangements, paying them $160 on August 9, then having them take $100 out of my checking account every month for eight months.  So, as of today, I’ve made two payments equaling $260.  In the mail today, I received two bills from them, in two different amounts, mailed on the SAME day.  They’ve clearly gotten my payments because the total was reduced by, yes, $260.  The first letter stated, “THIS ACCOUNT IS NOW SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT.” The second (remember, postmarked the SAME day) said, “WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED PAYMENT IN FULL ON THE ABOVE REFERENCED ACCOUNT.  FAILURE TO PAY THE BALANCE DUE WITHIN 10 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS LETTER WILL RESULT IN REFERRAL TO A COLLECTION AGENCY.” So, I call them up, reminding them that I took care of this more than a month ago, and all the woman says is, “Oh, I need to put the code in.” No apologies, no nothing.  I am so damned tired of these crappy bills.  Even when I pay them, they don’t record it properly.  I paid off the crappy injection doctor in full, then of course get another bill after that.  The hospital manages to take my debit card number and take money out of my account, but can’t manage to record that I’m paying the bill.  Grrr, arrrgggh.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

late evening

My First Day of Physical Therapy

Yes, I know you’re thinking to yourself, “But Flippy, your microdiskectomy surgery was April 26, shouldn’t you have done this long ago?” Yes, you’re correct, I should have.  Okay, not that long ago because it took me until July to get a referral to PT.  Then, life stress and this horrible sinus infection made me sick and cranky.  I finally decided to just go!  I can’t get rid of the sinus infection, but I can do something to help my back.

The building that the physical therapy office is in, is brand new.  The atmosphere is really quiet and peaceful.  The first thing they did, after making me fill out pages of paperwork (oh, the paperwork I’ve filled out in the past year...), was do a quick test of my reflexes, stretch out my legs to see if I had pain, test my leg strength, etc.  Then, the best part - laying on a really warm heating pad in a darkened room for fifteen minutes.  It was nice.  After that, my therapist, Dave, had me do leg/back stretches, then started me walking on a treadmill at a 3% incline at 1mph (I’d moved it up to a big 1.5mph before I was done) for ten minutes.  It wasn’t hard, but I quickly realized how horribly out of shape I am.  I also realized that there are worse things than to walk slowly on a treadmill and watch roadrunners outside the window.  After the treadmill, I was put on an arm cycling machine (like a bike, but for your arms) to help strengthen my upper back.  Man, my arms are weak.  After the arm cycling, I was on a rowing machine to strengthen more of my lower back.

We figured that was about all I could handle for my first visit.  I’m a bit surprised that I’m not sore, but maybe it hasn’t set in yet.  Also, we have a treadmill at home, so I asked Dave if I should start using it at home too.  He said yes, and said that I should break it up into two sessions at home, then follow up with the leg/back stretches.  I’m looking forward to being in decent shape again, and getting rid of the leg pain when I walk.  While I’m much improved from the surgery, I still have leg pain off and on.  It’s worse in the morning and late at night, but my surgeon assured me that that’s completely normal.  My next PT appointment is on Thursday, but I promise not to make you read all the details of that visit, unless something super exciting happens, like three roadrunners cross the street, instead of only the two I saw today.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

evening

My 3 Month Surgery Anniversary

We spent it at the Las Vegas 51s (Dodgers AAA team) vs Omaha Royals (Royals AAA team) game tonight.  My back did well.  My legs didn’t hurt much.  My butt hurt, but that’s only because it was three hours of sitting on hard plastic.  It was also like 100 degrees and humid the whole game.  We were somewhat near the misters, but not quite close enough.  We’d only get a bit of a mist every couple innings.  It was nice though.  The best thing about the night, other than my bladder acting completely normally (a nice giftie for the 3 month anniversary), was my Grape Shave Ice.  It was awesome.  Did I tell you how hot it was?  Grossly hot for a 7p game.

A few of pictures from the game.

I got my shoes delivered last week.  I didn’t want to write about them until I was sure I knew what to write.  At first, they made me feel weirdly wobbly, but that’s because the heel is lowered, so it took a bit of getting used to.  Then, after wearing them for a few minutes, my insteps started to hurt and hurt for a little while after I took off the shoes.  I wore them again for a trip to get groceries and that time they hurt a little less.  After I took them off though, my calves were achey.  This is normal, I think, for someone who has been as sedentary as I’ve been since October.  I think this means the shoes are giving my legs a little workout.  Plus, today, my back didn’t hurt once while we were out.

Here’s a review of the shoes from the Los Angeles Times: Aug 1, 2005
By ROY M. WALLACK



These shoes are made for walking

On the streets and treadmills, brisk fitness walking is gaining in popularity, appealing to fitness novices and experienced athletes alike with its cardiovascular challenge, all-body twisting movements and a low impact that’s easy on your joints. Shoe makers have responded with walkers that provide stability, comfort and a number of innovations.
That ‘70s shoe

Earth Energetic: The ‘70s icon with a negative heel slope returns.

Likes: With its thick front sole and lower heel (the reverse of other shoes), this 15-ounce shoe effectively makes you walk at a 3.7% incline on flat ground. The company says the unique design provides a more strenuous workout that burns more calories. (I found this effect to be pronounced during hill climbing.) The lowered heel also puts you in a more erect position; the company claims the design will benefit your posture and might help ease back pain. Extra-wide toe box adds comfort.

For the post-surgical update, I can honestly say that I’m slowly getting better and better.  I still have bad back days, but not like before.  I still have bad bladder days, but they’re more infrequent and they usually show up for several days at a time and can disappear for a week or so.  That’s a lot better than having it every day.  Of course, it would be nice if I knew which days were going to be which before I make plans.  Oh well, baby steps.

I think I forgot to post about my surgeon’s bill.  It the last of the many many bills I received and I was terrified to have Leigh-Ann open it.  After all, at that time, my pain management doctor was billing me $15,000 for mere injections.  What would the actual surgeon cost?  It could only be something that would make me cry, right?  But, it wasn’t like that.  I almosted wanted to cry in relief.  This is the bill:

I love Dr. Thalgott.  Not only did he help me, he didn’t empty my bank account.  Also, my PA, Ray, who assisted on the surgery...I loved him too.  So nice, so helpful.  Really, an office with a pretty terrific staff.  Sure, they’re usually like an hour behind, but otherwise the experience there is professional and friendly.

Monday, June 26, 2006

early evening

Two Month Surgery Anniversary

Two months (and three hours) ago I’d just gotten home from my outpatient microdiscectomy.  I had a large herniated disc at L4-5 that wasn’t responding to conservative treatment.  So, I popped in to my local hospital for a 45 minute surgery.  When I woke up in recovery, all I could think about was how sore my throat was from the breathing tube.  Ick, they should warn you that that’s going to happen.  Then, the nurse got me a cookie and something to drink.  As a chaser, I got two Percocet.  After that, she walked me to the bathroom (omigawd, I think I’d blocked this part out), helped me take off the anti-embolism stockings while yelling at me, “Don’t bend at the waist!  Don’t bend like that!  Ack, how many times do I have to tell you?”.  Then, she helped me to the toilet to pee.  I had so forgotten that part.  Anyway, she was a fabulous nurse (thank you, Susan, at Valley Hospital—and Tracey, who was with me before surgery) and for some reason (could it have been the drugs????) I wasn’t at all embarrassed.  We got that taken care of, so she got me into a wheelchair and took me downstairs to my parents’ car.  I was a bit surprised that I only felt uncomfortable getting into the car, there wasn’t any pain.  I guess when you’ve just gotten out of anesthesia and just taken two Percocets, you’re feelin’ no pain.

When I got home, I did what everyone does after surgery.  I ate Jell-O.  I think we had whipped cream for it (my general preference), but I couldn’t be bothered.  I managed the stairs okay right from the start though.  I was slow, but pretty steady.  We settled in for a bit of tv watching.  I posted a bit to let people know I was alive.  And then, I was exhausted.  Here’s where I give advice - if you have a raised bed, like we do, make sure you have a regular bed for about a week after surgery.  My first night was horrible because I had to pee constantly, but mostly wasn’t able to because the drugs gave me urinary retention.  I must’ve gotten in and out of bed at least a dozen times during the night.  By morning, the muscles in my thighs and hips were KILLING me.  My legs hurt way more than my back.  I loaded up on pain pills, but nothing would make it go away completely.  So, regular height bed, people.

My first week was a haze of pain pills and hockey.  I couldn’t sit for long periods of time (nor was I supposed to) because it hurt.  It hurt to sit and watch tv.  It hurt to sit at my computer.  I could only lay down on my side, with a pillow between my legs.  My legs were super sore the whole week.  But, if you had the easy in-n-out bed, you probably wouldn’t end up feeling that badly.

Our serious pool algae (our filter got blocked, underneath the solar cover) started at that time.  We were fully stocked with groceries because we had a bunch delivered, but they can’t deliver pool chemicals.  I finally felt brave and drove a block the grocery store.  I took a pillow to cushion the incision, but I didn’t feel horrible.  I shuffled through the store carefully, worried that people rushing around would run into me.  I started to feel a little faint when we were waiting to check out, but part of that was because it was warm in store.  I sat down while Leigh-Ann checked out, then we walked over to Starbucks.  Hey, it had been a week!

The first several weeks were very disappointing for me because everything I’d read about successful herniated disc surgeries said that patients felt immediate relief from leg pain.  I didn’t.  Not for a few weeks at least.  Last month though, my surgeon told me that the nerve was, “red, angry, and twisted”, so he expected it would take some time for it to heal.  He did a few tests and said I was 70% better.  At the time, I didn’t really believe him.  Now, I do.

I’ve gone from having pain going down both upper thighs, and down my left calf, to very very rare pain in my right leg and a lot of improvement in my left leg.  My symptoms seem to be reversing, in order.  I no longer have any left calf pain at all, even if I do a lot of walking.  The left thigh pain comes and goes, but mostly it’s pretty good.  One thing I do have is the occasional sciatica that is a stabbing pain in my butt.  Literally.  My bladder seems to be getting better, but not in a predictable fashion.  Still, it’s going in the right direction and some days I’m perfectly normal.  The incision healed well, although it still looks like railroad tracks.  So, even though I’m mad about wasting money on the injections, I’m happy I had the surgery.  I’m doing a lot better.  I have a follow-up with the surgeon on Thursday and hopefully he can get them to get moving on the physical therapy.  They were supposed to have called me a while ago after they’d set it up.  I think that’s the final thing I’ll need to feel close to 100%.

Friday, June 23, 2006

lunch time

Selective Nerve Root Block Bills

Okay, this is getting ridiculous.  I thought it was stunningly ridiculous when I found out the doctor charged $7000 for each injection, which took five minutes of his time.  So, three of them ends up being $21,000.  But the ridiculous turns into just speechless when the surgery center is billing me too.  I think I’m at $42,000 for these injections...and my insurance isn’t paying most of it, it appears.  Except for the first injection, which helped a bit, for a brief period of time, the injections were worthless to me.  So, I’m being charged the equivalent of a really nice mid-sized SUV for 15 minutes of the doctor’s time (he did at least six other people while I was there too!), 15 minutes of time for several techs, 15 minutes of the nurse who started my IVs, and maybe 30 minutes of nurses watching me afterwards to make sure I didn’t fall down when I walked.  My whole surgery, on the other hand, was about $19,000.

I’m just so baffled by these fees that I’m speechless.  How do I write a letter to these people telling them there’s no way I’d ever be able to afford these ridiculous fees?  That I can’t believe I’m being billed $14,000 for walking into a surgery center, filling out some paperwork, having an IV started, sitting around watching the Travel Channel for 20 - 45 minutes while I wait for other people to get their injections, walking into the surgery room, climbing up on the table, getting a dose of Versed, having the doctor zip in and inject me (five minutes total) with steroids & stuff, get wheeled out, given Pepsi or apple juice, put on my clothes, make sure I can walk, then get wheeled down to the car.  That’s it, no meal of lobster & champagne, no limo, no actual work for the nurses in recovery, except taking out my IV and fetching me something to drink.  I figure that while I was there, at least seven of us had the same thing done.  They’re billing almost ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS AN HOUR!

My advice to people thinking about the injections - find out if your insurance will pay...and how much.  Don’t bother getting more injections if the first one didn’t help.  There’s nothing I regret more than those three stupid worthless injections.  As you can imagine, I no longer enjoy getting mail.  It’s also made me not feel much like updating my blog either.  While I know it’s here for ranting, sometimes it seems as though the crappy stuff moves even beyond complaint.