I am also new to this site and so am not sure if I am typing in the correct spot even at this point. But, I am a 44 year old female that has a severe herniation of the L5 and S1 Discs.
I have lost feeling in my right heel and the back of my calf and also it is now affecting my bladder.
But... I had SI joint fusion nine years ago. Had it done by a DR Ziran in Pittsburgh. Left me with a mess of pain and I live a life of suffering. To top it off I have Lupus as well as a few other diseases and problems that go hand in hand with Lupus.
I had an appointment to see DR Jho because of the recent severe herniation of the discs that I now have, and he would not help me.
His reason to me was that he only gives 5 MG of percocet for after surgery care and I am already taking more than that due to the SI joint dysfunction. He said that the only way he would do surgery was if I were to wean off all narcotics and be off of them for a full month. Then I could call them up and make a new appointment.
So.. wean off the meds, which would probably take at least a month. Be off of them for a month, and then make a new appointment which the first appointment took me three months of a wait to get. So, the way I figure it, I am looking at probably five months before he would even see me again.
Due to the fact that this is now affecting my bladder, he knew darn well that there was no way I could even begin to go that long to have surgery.
I honestly feel that he has an awesome reputation but I think it is partly due to the fact that he does not take anyone that does not fit into a certain criteria. I have too many problems going on. He was most interested in my joint fusion and never even examined me for the L5 S1 herniation. Instead of being a man about it, and just flat out telling me that he was not willing to risk his high success rate and that I simply don't fall into his protocol, he put it on me and made me feel like a drug junkie. I actually felt dirty when I left there. Like it is my fault that I have so much going on and have to live on pain meds at this point. I mean I would give anything to live pain free. I was so upset I had to call my therapist and have a session scheduled with her so I can at least get that off my mind. The thing about all of this is that I waited almost three months for this appointment. Certainly in that time frame he should have looked at all of my medical records and MRI that was sent to him immediately upon making the appointment and if he had, he would have known flat out that he was not going to help me. Instead he made me wait all that time only to be rude, and arrogant and basically call me a junkie.
I now have an appointment in two weeks with DR. El-Kadi.
My lupus DR set this appointment up for me and I can only pray that
Dr. El-Kadi is really great and can see outside the box and look at the entire picture.
If you are a healthy person with no prior issues, just a bad back with no previous surgeries either, Dr Jho is probably a fantastic DR. In my case, I have just too much going on for him to deal with. I am praying every single day that someone can help me. I honestly would not care if they cut everyone of those nerves right out and I never felt my SI joints or low back again. Not to mention the sciatic nerve that is caught up in those herniated discs.
If anyone has any advice I would love to hear it!
Thanks for reading and listening.