When the 2nd opinion counts

Well, I had my 2nd opinion on my lower back issues yesterday from Dr. DeLuca at the Orthopedic Institute of Pennsylvania.  My, what a difference a doctor can make.  First of all, he asked for my history.  After I'd told him about the Diazapam and falling down all of those times, he pulled up my MRI.  He showed it to me from several angles, top to bottom, left to right, front to back, in a slow, methodical manner, point things out to me.  "These are your Lamina," he said, "and while there is some narrowing, there's nothing there indicating they need to be removed.  And this," he pointed to a little wedge of black, "is disc protrusion between your L4 and L4 vertebrae."  That's right, I have a floppy disc.  The Doctors at Arlington never mentioned a disc problem to me.  maybe they didn't think it was important/

My back

Will I need to have surgery?  That would be totally last, last resort.  No back fusion for me!  On Wednesday I'm going to set up a schedule for Physical Therapy for a 30 day period and after that he will reassess my situation.  I also get to go back to work much sooner than expected.  When I think about all of the time I wasted before getting a 2nd opinion I get a bit cranky.  This time the 2nd opinion counts.

PT over surgery?

I finally heard from the Arlington Group on Friday regarding the copies of my MRI and my back X-rays.  Elaine told me she had just gotten my voice mails (left Tuesday and Wednesday) because their phone system was working improperly.  Right.  Even thought she was very pleasant, I could tell they were writing me off as a patient,  She said things like "if your insurance company approves the claim you have 6 months in which to have the surgery," and that my insurance company "is so difficult to work with."
My neighbor Karen, who is a claims processor for another insurance company, asked me what surgery the Arlington Group had planned.  After I told her she looked at me for quite a bit and then said "they're doing a 4 level fusion without getting a pre-auth?  Some thing's not right there."  I suspect she's correct, that someone dropped the ball at Arlington, or just did very shoddy work.
On 6/5 I go for my second opinion.  What I suspect this Orthopedic Specialist is going to say is that 5 weeks ago I traumatized the hell out of my lower back, the result of falling down so many times.  five weeks ago I couldn't lift my right foot more then 1 inch off the ground, that problem has completely gone away.  I couldn't go up or down stairs, now there's no problem as long as there is a banister.  I could only get around using a walker - today I only use a cane when I'm out in public.  I think my traumatized back is healing.

What do I think this new specialist will prescribe?  I suspect Physical Therapy and perhaps a steroid injection.  I am sure he's going to take a much more conservative approach to my lower back issues.  Hopefully I will be back at work in a month or so because sitting around is boring as hell.  And I don't mind exercising at all.  Jees, I have almost a full gym at my house, I would really like to start using the equipment again.

Avengers is good & the back fusion is bad

I received a call from Elaine at the Arlington Group this AM.  She told me it took her 4 days to get my voice mails because their phone system doesn't work...???  According to her my appeal is before the review board at Anthem Blue Cross and that, if it's approved, will be good for 6 months (which left me with ???).  Anyway, Anthem emailed me the criteria and (surprise, surprise) I don't meet it - no conservative treatment for 3 months prior to surgery.  When I told Elaine I no longer use the walker and only use a cane when I'm outside the house, she said "oh, really."  And when I told her I went to the movies last evening she said "oh, that's nice."

And I did go to the movies.  This is movie season, you know, and actually my biggest lament so far has been that I'm not going to get to see all of these really neat action movies on the big screen.  So, taking a cane with me just in case, I went with friends to see the new Avengers movie last night.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I go to these movies to have fun, to be 12 years old again for a short time.  There are people out there who feel they need to analyze movies of this genre - I don't.  And I know there are people out there who are so caught up in the lore they find flaws - I'm not one of those, either.  I'm a buttered popcorn and soda man and the action on the screen doesn't jolt to a screeching halt I'm happy.  And I thought "The Age of Ultron" was a really, really good movie. 

The new Mad Max movie has just started.  I'm planning on going to see it next week.