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Newmom
USA
57 Posts |
 Posted - 04/04/2007 : 13:21:20
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I have to share this - since nobody at my job acknowledges TMS - a bunch of ambulance chasing lawyers!!!
I have a client who sustained a work injury to her back in March 2005. For a technical diagnosis only, it is basically a bulging disc with little if any nerve involvement. Over the past year the client's symptoms have improved very little if any. Since she has had conservative treatment over the past year and nothing else is working, the doctor is going to perform a multi-level fusion, because he feels this is the only option left. HA!!HA!! I need to add this is a physician who makes a very good living in our area and is a medical consultant paid handsomely for so called consultations.
I am in shock. She basically has a bulging disc that she probably recovered from months ago and the doctor is going to disable her for at least 4 months by putting rods in her back and fusing bones! Is there no shame. I cannot offer any advice to her in the way of medical because of my job. However, I have basically told her about my situation, but of course, she claim's she is different - she has an actual injury!! Of course in our society today, there isn't one person, including the judge, opposing attorney or even insurance carrier going to think that this is an unreasonable and unnecessary surgery.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds!! I guess I have become such a critic regarding these types of things.
Thanks for letting me chuckle and share this with you all of you.
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sensei adam rostocki
USA
167 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 13:40:54
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This is a topic close to my heart. I am a trial preparation investigator for the insurance industry so I see this type of thing all day, every day. Besides being completely involved in our unique community concerning psychosomatic back pain and a proud exponent of mind/body medicine, I see the toll these lawsuits have on patients all the time. The lawyers and the doctors can really milk the system and I would know since my employers pay the bills…
I am not trying to promote, since I know it is a “NO NO”, but for anyone interested, search my site for an article titled Back Injury Lawsuits. It might just open a few eyes to what is going on in the American legal system in terms of personal injury cases. -Sensei
CURE-BACK-PAIN(dot)ORG |
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Newmom
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 13:59:50
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Sensei,
Thanks. You are correct, injuries are so blown out of proportion when a legal matter is involved. We value cases on how much treatment our client receives and how much future treatment (surgeries are great for us) is needed. Little treatment and/or physical injury might mean that we will not even take their case.
I must admit, until I had sustained a back injury, I totally believed the who idea of the client's pain and suffering lingering on from their orinal injury. I mean, a ruptured disc sounded soooo bad if you are not familiar with normal changes in the back and that this can occur. Now that I have been there, moved on (or at least trying everyday), I have become a critic and my co-workers have even been shocked by my doubts regarding the clients injuries. I have been there and I understand that the pain is real. I just now doubt what the cause of their pain is!!
I have seen clients that have sustained a back injury (ruptured/herniated disc) and have been on workers' compensation for years, taking major pain meds, cannot do anything, etc. I also have clients who have sustained major injuries from 40 foot falls, crushing of bones, back, amputations, paralysis, etc. that have recovered to the point they went back to work and resumed their lives in some fashion. Now, I applaud these people and no longer think they are crazy for trying to push through their pain to get better and get their lives back.
P.S. - Maybe in the future, I will switch sides of the legal practice, but for now, I need a paycheck and must go with my trouble clients who are screaming for TMS Help!! |
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skizzik
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 19:35:46
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| ugh, I had a neighbor who only in her young 20's went w/ a back fusion after a car accident from a year b4. She looked fine to me all those months. Had two kids already. But, since it was the other driver's fault, I say "ka-ching" was the motivation in the fusion. Secondary gain if you will, right? I'm sure pain relief was the concious decision, but unconciously that settlement looks pretty damn good w/ a fusion cherry on top. Since you guys are in the field, is that how it kinda works? |
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Lizzie
United Kingdom
56 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 03:27:38
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Very interesting article. Thanks New Mom. Helped me feel stronger for the day ahead. I hate the blame culture. TMS and Sarno makes you take responsibility for yourself. Tough but somehow more empowering in the long run I suspect, so time to shout at the back pain for me then!
Lizzie |
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mikescott_98
USA
49 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 06:04:42
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It is frustrating that people will not even consider TMS as the problem when you try to explain it. Does anyone else think people believe you have a cold heart for not feeling pity when someone says "I am going in for back surgery"?
Newmom,
Since you work in a law office, ask the lawyers what the chances of bringing a class lawsuit against the medical community for mis-diagnosing most chronic pain problems for the past 30 years. |
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Newmom
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 07:45:27
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These docs need to stop doing useless surgeries and hopefully one day there will be more criteria for what injuries/defects actually require surgery rather than these doctors performing them just to get more surgeries under there belt, better known in the medical field = $$$$$!
The medical community is very tight regarding back & neck surgeries, it seems that if a surgeon performs a back surgery and it doesn't take, guess what, they simply say "it failed." Did anyone ever hear of failed laminectomy syndrome? This is ludicrous, a person has a laminectomy of their lower back, and guess what, they still have pain!! Suprising? This is so common in my area of practice. Of course the surgery failed, it wasn't needed and it didn't fix the problem. I mean, if an OB/GYN was delivering a baby and "it failed" that would be unacceptable and they would have to answer to somebody - immediately. However, it has become acceptable to say that the surgery they performed failed because they patient didn't get relief - bull****! It truly amazes me that cutting open a person's back while risking doing real physical damage, is so accepted even though the chance of failure/success is only 50/50 sometimes.
I have been blessed to have experienced both spectrums. I almost went through this useless surgery. My disc ruptured and I was told that I had nerve compression (pretty severe), however, I have never had any pain down my legs. Funny huh? Almost everyone of my clients with ruptured discs reported pain down their legs and not pain in their back. I had numbness down my leg and even dragged my foot for a few short weeks after this happened. This eventually went away and I was left with the back pain. This is what puzzled me and made me hesitant about the surgery, I needed back pain relief not leg pain relief. This began my quest that led me to Sarno and all of you wonderful people on this board. As soon as I read and learned that many people had the exact same ruptured disc that I did, but all of our symptoms are very, very different, the ah ha moment kicked in for me and I consumed every word that Dr. Sarno wrote. I am one of the lucky ones.
On an ending note - since my "injury" happened when I sneezed, there is nobody to hold responsible. Maybe that's why I got better and learned to move on, there is no $$$$$ in my future!!!!
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Kevbosf
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 10:37:30
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I had pain for over 5 years and I tried everything - (Except Sarno because I just heard about him 6 months ago)
In 2005 I finally gave in for surgery and now I have a brand new state of the art artificial disc - and guess what?
My back is still killing me. I have pain throughout the day in my lower back lumbar area and in my right buttock. I spent the last year off of work researching and seeing nerve specialists, orthopedic surgeions, PT's, everything - and everyone says the NEW disc surgery went perfect - it is working fine and there is nothing they can find....
hmmmmmm..... then I stumbled onto Sarno in November of last year.
I went back to work full time in January and I have had some luck with it but it is still a struggle. After I started the reading and journaling I started to get anxiety attacks at night. Then for awhile my pain seemed to be gone in the morning and most of the day only to return in the evening with force. I even started therapy sessions because I figured it could not hurt and with my personality I want to fix things as soon as possible. We discovered some things like my parents were great but not very emotional - we bottled up emotions in my family - and I have a "goodist" personality and a perfectionist. Being the youngest of 5 kids I most likely wasn't getting a lot of attention as a kid. etc. etc.
Sorry to get off the topic of surgery - but now my pain is getting worse again - in the morning - all day - and I am starting to doubt that this is going to work. I have read the books, done the journaling, and I thought I was getting better... and tapping into some emotional issues....
How do people FIX the perfectionist / goodist issues? They tell you in the book to list them in your journal and be aware of them - but how does that stop the chain of internal pressure on yourself?
I have gone through a pretty major surgery - now I feel stuck again.
Thanks
-K
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 11:16:53
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It is critical to take a long-term view and not get frustrated with setbacks.
It is common for TMS pain to recede for awhile as you learn about the concepts and accept that it applies to you, only to flare up again later. Sometimes the flareups are more severe than the original pain. This is your unconscious mind refusing to let go of the strategy it has employed for so long to keep you focused on the physical and not on the psychological.
Accept those flareups as a benign indicator that you may be avoiding something and need to dig around to find the emotions that your mind is trying to distract you from. |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 12:24:32
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Kevbosf, it's also possible that since you are making progress emotionally, you are getting to those things the mind wants to keep you away from. Thus it brings back the pain, hoping to distract you afresh and get you off this "dangerous" path. I think if you keep going and tell your mind you are not afraid, you are ready to deal with this, and you will not be distracted, then you will see improvement.
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Wherever you go, there you are. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 12:30:11
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quote:
Originally posted by armchairlinguist
Kevbosf, it's also possible that since you are making progress emotionally, you are getting to those things the mind wants to keep you away from. --
Wherever you go, there you are.
Hear, Hear! EXCELLENT point ACL!
some of my favorite excerpts from 'TDM' : http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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Kevbosf
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2007 : 12:04:19
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Thanks for the support. This site is great. The past few weeks have been hard for me. I will continue to stick with the therapy and journaling - in spite of the worsened pain.
My hope is to someday post my success story on this site and encourage other people that they can do it too.
-K |
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Another useless back surgery
