Quote:
Originally Posted by DebbieK
Thank you for the quick reply.My daughter had a cortisone injection into the nerve without an ultrasound.She had an ultra sound guided epidural block in the lumbar region at the base of the nerve last week. She felt the medication going into the nerve we had hoped it would work.Doctors seem unable to treat this condition.It is so frustrating.
Why is surgery discouraged? No one has told us why just that they won't.I have read online that it can help.Knowing what you know,now after living with M P many many years would you have considered surgery? Do you know of a specislist who has knowledge of
M P ? I have scoured the internet looking for answers.I found John Hopkins in Maryand and a DR Ducic in Wasington D.C.Any knowledge of these doctors? They are both very far from Indiana where we live. I just can't bear to see her suffer she is so young. Thank you for listening we are struggling so much with this horrific condition.As her mother I wish I could just take the pain and carry the burden for her. Debbie K
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Hi Debbie K,
I am sure there are very qualified doctors in your area that can be of help to your daughter. It is just a matter of "finding" them. Sounds simple but it is a VERY difficult task.
Here are a few things that I would attempt to do had I not finally found my anesthesiologist/pain mgt. specialist.
Make a lot of phone calls. Call neurosurgeons offices in your area and inquire if they specifically treat MP and how. Call every one that you can find. Phone calls don't cost anything, appts, with them do. You don't want to be going to tons of docs and not get results.
Call pain management clinics and inquire the same. Do they specifically treat MP and how.
You may get a lot of "Come in and we will evaluate" but don't waste your time and money doing that until they have assured you that they specifically treat MP and have explained to you the various options that they could offer IF you were to come in.
You may want to bypass the "receptionist" and ask to speak to the nurse or have the nurse call you back. Receptionists are only going to try to book an appt.
I would hate to see you travel outside your area when there may be someone in your backyard that can and will help. It is just a matter of finding them. As I said, a very difficult task.
Asking friends for referrals (usually a good way to find a doc) will probably be of little help in finding someone to treat your daughter's MP. That works if you know someone that also HAS MP and got good results.
Talk with the doctors that you have and ask them for referrals. Does your daughter have a PCP (GP) that can help you find the proper doc?
After all the phone calls, you can weed out the ones that do not suit your needs and then concentrate on the remaining ones on your list and consider seeing them.
I would limit the scope of your calls to neurosurgeons and pain management.
Personally, and this is just MY opinion and I know a lot of people here may give me a lot of flack for this, but I would stay away from chiropractors for treating MP. I would definitely seek help only from a board certified MD.
Good luck and hope you find help SOON. Please tell your daughter that she is not alone. Help is out there, it just needs to be found. Don't give up.
One last comment. It was surgery that "caused" my MP so having surgery to correct it is something I would consider only if I had not recently found relief with my anesthesiologist. Every surgery I have ever had, corrected the problem for which the surgery was designed but every surgery also "created" a new problem.
I would try more attempts to alleviate her MP before I would "jump" into surgery. Surgery may be her best option not too far down the road but I would exhaust all other options first.
Keep in touch.
Hopeless