I have been having severe pain in left hip socket and down leg.After about a month of increasing pain i went to see my doctor.because of my past disc problems the doctor assumed i had a bulged disc and gave me a steroid shot,painkillers,and muscle relaxers.Things didnt improve saw doctor he gave me a total of three steroid shots over a couple of weeks and told me to continual meds.In the past i had several incidents of sciatica from a bulged disc and everytime befor the steriods would correct the problem and the pain within days,but this time they didnt help at all,nothing has.So my doctor had me do an mri.Here are the exact results of my mri.
FINDINGSISC DESICCATION WITH MILD BULGING AT L3-L4 AND MODERATE BULGING AT L4-L5 AND L5-S1,DISC SPACE REDUCTION ALSO NOTED AT L5-S1
AT THE L5-S1 LEVEL,BULGING WITH SPONDYLOSIS LATERALIZES TO THE LEFT LATERALLY.MILD FORAMINAL NARROWING ON THE LEFT NOTED.NO MASS EFFECT ON THE THECAL SAC OR ROOT SLEEVES.AT THE L4-L5 LEVEL,MILD TO MODERATE BULGING WITH SUPERIMPOSED 5MM BROAD POSTERIOR CENTRAL/LEFT PARACENTRAL PROTRUSION NOTED.MODERATE MASS EFFECT ON THE ANTERIOR THECAL SAC,GREATER IN THE SUBARTICULAR LATERAL RECESS ON THE LEFT,JUST AT/ABOVE THE ORIGINS OF THE L5 NERVE ROOT SLEEVES.AT THE L3-L4 LEVEL,MILD BULGING AND SUPERIMPOSED 3MM BROAD POSTERIOR CENTRAL PROTRUSION WITH HIGH SIGNAL ANNULAR FISSURE MINIMALLY INDENTS THE ANTERIOR THECAL SAC.IMPRESSION:MILD TO MODERATE INTERVERTEBRAL DISC DEGENERATION AND BULGING IN INCREASING ORDER OF SEVERITY FRO L3-L4,L5-S1.SUPERIMPOSED BROAD POSTERIOR LEFT PARACENTRAL PROTRUSION AT L4-L5,VERY MILD BROAD POSTERIOR CENTRAL PROTRUSION AT L3-L4 AND MORE PROMINENT LEFT LATERAL SPONDYLOSIS AT L5-S1.Since I was treated for this problem before getting insurance they will not help with the surgery the doctor wanted me to get.I have been dealing with this pain and stiffness for about 5 months and its only seems to be getting worse not better.Without the pain meds I cant even bare to walk more than 15 mins.I have been trying to look up home remedys,anything I could do to maybe help the situation.I have been trying to do some stretches I found online that are supose to help with sciatica pain,but its seems like the stretches only aggrevate it more and the pain really flares up.I am desperate for some relief it hurts 24/7.it never stops,the pain meds only help alittle,it still hurts bad enough that I am never comfortable,I am only 38 and my life has been so limited the last 5months,its like being tortured.As bad as it hurts to walk it hurts way more to sit or lay down.I can only sleep about 30mins at a time and it starts hurting so bad I have to get up.Its horrible I cant even put on my own socks and shoes,I have to walk very slow with a bad limp because it hurts so bad to walk normal.Which now after have to walk this way for 5months its causing my knee and ankle to hurt on opposite leg.Please if anyone has ever been through this or knows any thing that I can try to alliveate this please let me know.I am desperate I will try anything at this point

Your ins won't cover anything related to this, or just the surgery??
Can you appeal that or find a work around, I think most hospitals have a patient representative or someone that helps with things like this??

Some members in the past have contacted their senator or representative about non /ins issues.


Maybe a pain pump or SCS?? Those are spendy too, and ins usually requires an approval process.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum118.html

What kind of surgery was the dr suggesting?

Welcome to Neuro Talk. I am sorry to hear that you have such a lousy back. I do understand the pain. I am fused C3-7. When this first happened to me, I asked both the hospital, and the neruosurgeon for help financially. There are hospital advocasy groups in just about every hospital. My neuro surgeon gave a big discount, and I didn't wind up paying very much for the hospital. It was based on what my income was. There are also womens centers, which can help direct you to agencies set up for just this kind of problem. I had other problems after that, which required additional surgery. I had no insurance at all. This agency paid for my surgery 100% as their goal is to get you back to work. As long as you intend to go back to work, they will do the proceedure. Granted, this took months of investigation. Please talk to your neruosurgeon and ask him directly for the help. No matter what, get the second opinion any time you are contemplating surgery. I should have done that, but I was too eager to be rid of the pain. I wasn't told about "all" of the problems assiciated with my cervical spine. Check your local hospital, and see if there is help available. I was never allowed to have insurance because I had pre-existing conditions. I hope you can try to appeal the decision your insurance company gave you too. I wish you all the best, and I hope you get some help. ginnie