[Terri311]

Hi,
My name is Terri and I am a 35 year old mother of 5 and I have been suffering from lower back pain for years but, until recently, I didn't have insurance so I just delt with it. I went to an orthopedic dr. as soon as I could and he did an MRI and said that other than mild scoliosis and some slight degeneration that there was nothing wrong with me and he sent me on my way with no relief. I saw which 3 of the many images from the MRI he looked at and he didn't look at the lower back (tailbone) area at all.
Then back in December I had a ruptured ovarian cyst that the er dr. though was diverticulitus (sp?) so she did a ct scan with contrast which showed that I had "lumbar levoscoliosis with a spondylolisthesis at L5-S1 and early degenerative changes present" I'm sure this was from an abusive ex that threw me down several times...once to the point where I couldn't pick my 2 year old up for almost 2 months.
Just last Thursday I fell really hard on my tailbone and went to the er and they did a ct scan (dr thought I might be passing a kidney stone as well because of pelvic pain that started after the fall) and several xrays. The dr. said that I didn't have any new fractures but that I had aggrivated an old tailbone fracture. BUT when I went to pick up the reports to take to my primary care dr. the reports said that I didn't have any fractures, breaks, compression, displacement or narrowing of the discs, or spondylolithesis. Basically it said that there was nothing wrong at all. But they also forgot to give me the actual films, which I didn't notice til I got home.
I just don't get it. Why would the Dr. tell me that I had an old break if the reports showed nothing (could he have looked at the xrays himself and read different?). And why would the old ct scan have picked up the spondylolithesis but the new one didn't? And one of my biggest ?'s is where do I turn to get relief? I have 5 boys ranging from 16 months to 14 years and I am always in so much pain that I can't keep up with them, much less the house work that goes with it. Please help me understand all this and point me in the right direction. Thanks so much for listening

[Fancylady_2006]

I don't post much anymore, but wanted to say I have had lots of back pain myself. I truely know what your talking about. You are so young to have so much trouble, and 5 children besides. I have had 7 back surgeries and the pain don't stop with surgery either. I have a good doctor also.

I have had Spondylolithesis and had surgery for it. Still the pain is bad.This is a slip disc and they finally fused mine in a slipped position. I have also had what they called a cracked tail bone and the only thing they did for it was a small intertube to sit on, till it healed.

I have had screws put in & took out later. Then I have been glued and also had a Spinal Stemlator Inplanted. Wore a brace for many years. It helped more than anything, but is hot in the summer.

The other things you mentioned I haven't had. I just want to say, most of the time the pain comes back in less than a year. I am fused from L-2 thru S-1.
If you could find a good specialist they can get your xrays. Most likely they will order their own tho. Have you ever had a Discogram? They are painful but they usually do one before surgery. I do hope you can find a Dr. that can help you! Good Luck and don't give up.
Hugs,
Billie