I live in Limestone County, Alabama....just 3 miles from I-65. About an hour from Birmingham and about an hour and a half from Nashville. Problem is I don't know whether my insurance company, which is ____of Alabama, will cover anything done or attempted in another state, such as Tennessee, or Kentucky. I have had this issue for quite awhile. I don't even know if the "double jointed neck" issue (popping in out of socket feeling) is a problem or part of a problem or if it is just a congenital defect. Obviously the broken bone fragment is a problem and I suppose the "bruised" spinal cord could be a problem however, I just don't feel the urgency to "get it fixed" because the solution appears to be far more detrimental to my life than just leaving it the way it is and hoping for the best. The spinal cord is alarming...can this cause seizures, or depression, or worse yet, complete craziness, loss of memory, alzheimers, instant unexplainable death...??? Can the cord simply break if I turn my head too fast or get jerked around in a car? I have lived with pain my entire life, either physically or mentally. It has become a normal everyday monkey on my back. I will be the first to admit however that there is truth in the old adage "Ignorance is bliss".

Also, I thought that physiatrists are nothing more than rehabilitation physicians...I have nothing to rehabilitate, in fact, I have not been able to even find a Chiropractor that will touch me, I would imagine a physiatrist would be the same way. Once a physician feels my neck and takes an x-ray, they refuse me treatment and keep referring me to the same damned neurosurgeon or orthopaedic surgeon.

My biggest fear of either having surgery or forgoing surgery is not death but the next worse thing...paralyzation. We don't allow assisted suicide in this country, I suppose because that would cut into the medical industry's profits. At least if I end up in an accident of some type, there is a good chance that I could simply die. That outcome is far more attractive than the alternative. I would certainly prefer to die than to be a lifelong burden on my loved ones just because I still have brain function. Life is hard enough as it is without adding additional burdens. I filed a DNR yesterday and got a dog tag that says so with a phone number to verify the DNR.

We are all dealt a hand of cards and simply must live with them until the end. I wish doctors knew just how much what they say and how they say it affects the entire life outlook and outcome of a person, and his family. A person that obviously has things a little worse than the rich and fun loving doctor that can tell things so bluntly and flippantly with the gleam of dollar signs in his eyes.

Thanks for your support and compassion everyone.