Need some opinions

[Pontiacgp]

Hi my name is Cody.i was diagnosed with scoliosis I'm 2007.i had health insurance but lost it and when I got my first X-ray my spine was at 15 degrees.i couldn't go back to the doctor so I went for the first time last month since 2008.my doctor hasn't called me but I got copy's of my X-rays and I'm not sure of the degrees now but 2 of my disc are rubbing together and 1 coming close to the others,my back has killed me for almost 3 years,what would the disc problem be called since its due to scoliosis and what do I do,can't sit and drive or walk without my back killing me,what do I do I'm only 20?? Any help will be appreciated,thanks,I uploaded a pic but its not the best in the world

[Pooka1]

Hi. I think you need to get high quality radiographs from an experienced orthopedic surgeon specializing in scoliosis.

That radiograph looks like you might have a collapse of a disc. Those two vertebra appear to be in contact with each other and it looks painful!

I wish you luck and hope you get some help soon.

[Pontiacgp]

It's very painful,takes my breath,I'm fighting for disability cause I got other problems cause of diabetes,I have no health insurance and I'm seeing a nurse practitioner at a clinic,they won't give me Medicaid until I get dissabilty,this may help me get it

[LindaRacine]

Hi Cody...

Welcome to the forums. It's hard to tell how big your curve is because the xray doesn't show your full spine. It's definitely bigger than 15 degrees, but it's not huge. I don't think your scoliosis is the cause of your pain. (Discs can't rub together, as even in the largest scoliosis curves, they never touch. You do have 2 vertebrae that are touching on one side, but not sure that's the cause of your pain anyway.)

Unless you're independently wealthy, or live in a country with socialized healthcare, you're between a rock and a hard place. Even seeing a specialist for a single visit can be very expensive. Perhaps you should try something like Yoga for Scoliosis (http://www.yogaforscoliosis.com) might be helpful. I think you can purchase the DVD for under $30. Whatever you do for your pain, I also strongly urge you to start working toward finding employment that provides healthcare insurance. There's a reasonable chance that you'll need to see a scoliosis specialist in the future, and if you eventually need surgery, you're going to need insurance to make that happen.

Best of luck.

Regards,
Linda

[Pontiacgp]

So is it not called degenerative disc disease?

[jackieg412]

Hi you are very young and it will be real hard to get diability for this at your age. I agree--you need to look for a good way to obtain medical insurance. Are you in school now? Can you be on your parents insurance. At least you could see a Dr and get help with the pain.

[rohrer01]

Welcome to the forum.
It would be better if you could show us a picture of your x-ray without the big circle around the area you want to highlight. Like Linda said, your curve definitely looks bigger than 15*. It could be degenerative disc disease. That is associated with a ruptured disc, but you could have another problem. DDD usually happens with aging, not saying that couldn't be the cause. I had "drying" of my cervical discs in my late 20's, an early sign of DDD.

Degenerative Disc Disease is one of the "disabilities" that are on the list for the Social Security Administration. However, unless you have earned enough work credits, the best you can hope to get is SSI. This doesn't pay very much at all, BUT does qualify you for Medicare and state aid. It's hard to get government assistance like this, but I know people that have. My guess is that you'll be in pain for a long time before getting insurance from the Federal Government. It can take several years and many appeals. Your best bet is to hire a disability lawyer that gets paid on a contingency basis. In other words, they don't collect unless you win. They will take 1/3 of your "back pay" that you are owed. They pay back to the time of your disability if you can show "when" it happened.

I don't know what to say about seeing a doctor. I know that when I lived in Arizona, they had a scoliosis clinic for kids at Phoenix Children's Hospital and another one for adults (not sure which hospital). Both of these clinics had sliding fee scales based on income. You can check to see if there is anything like that where you live. You might start at a charity clinic for children and ask where they send their kids when they "age out".

Linda's idea about getting a job with insurance sounds great. But I have boys around your age and it's hard to find jobs with insurance. My one son is a restaurant manager and they just pay the penalty rather than offer him insurance, so he has none. Also, if you are in that much pain HOW can you work? If you aren't in that much pain it would be good to try. But it still usually takes about three months to kick in. Then you'd be gone at the doctor all of the time and possibly be having surgery, then where would your job or your insurance be? You are in a real pickle. Do your parents have insurance?

I hope you get the help you need. I don't know if anything I said was at all helpful. It's all I could think of.

[susancook]

WOW! Your disc looks painful! I hope that you can get some insurance to take care of it. I just had surgery to repair my degenerative discs and my pain is mostly resolved.

Although I am much...no, phenomenally older....than you, I think that your scoliosis [if you indeed have scoliosis which I believe is defined as above 20 degrees, but I don't exactly remember the number] probably is caused by the degenerative discs which when they lose their straightness [like stacking plates] and collapse to the side, cause the scoliosis to increase as they progressively collapse asymmetrically.

Good luck! Ice worked well for me, some people like heat to the back. That worked better than any narcotic!

Susan

[Pontiacgp]

I've got a good lawyer,he said I qualify for type 2 dissability,diabetes has messed my nerve endings up in my legs and hands,can't stand for hardly 3 or so minutes,I'm going to see a admin law judge soon,the nurse practitioner is helping me,just haven't heard anything back from them yet,it's hard to deal with this,can't sit,stand or sleep I uploaded a new pic it's not good but all I got---it uploaded but is sideways sorry,my name goes at the bottom on the X-ray

[Pontiacgp]

I do live at home but at my dads work they want a lot to be on his health plan,I'm not in school and am in america

[jrnyc]

good that you have a lawyer....
am sending you a private message...

jess

[Pontiacgp]

rohrer01 I tried working at dollar general and had to quit within a week and then the manager let me come back to try it again and had to quit again,I'm stuck without insurance,I've got denied probably 10 times for Medicaid already,I can't even get my diabetes insulin it's so high

[rohrer01]

rohrer01 I tried working at dollar general and had to quit within a week and then the manager let me come back to try it again and had to quit again,I'm stuck without insurance,I've got denied probably 10 times for Medicaid already,I can't even get my diabetes insulin it's so high

Medicaid is State insurance. Medicare is Federal insurance. If you get any form of Federal Disability, you will qualify for State and Federal as far as I know. Your best bet is to try what you are doing and get Federal disability.

I really feel bad for young men. Unfortunately, this system is designed to reward young women that get pregnant out of wedlock. Have a kid and get free everything and not have to work at all (depending on the state). But young men that need help are out in the cold. If they have a kid out of wedlock, they are done for. Now they have to pay child support and get no help from the "system" to make it easier to work. Even if they don't have kids they are done for if they have even minor medical problems, let alone major ones. It's hard to find a job that will offer insurance. My boys have medical bills out the wazoo! I can't afford to insure them.

I've seen most places that are minimum wage jobs just cut full-timers down to part-time to get around offering them insurance. Heck, before the insurance mandate they were doing it. I worked at a job that required technical training that refused to offer me insurance even though I was working more than 40 hours a week. I wasn't "listed" as full-time, therefore didn't qualify for insurance. They only had so many "full-time" positions available. The full-time people actually worked less than the part time people! Part-timers were on call to work when the full-timers called in sick, which was a LOT.

There just is no great system out there. We've all seen what happens when there is socialized medicine. Look at Elias and Walid from Canada. Those kids were dying from scoliosis and still waiting to be seen!

Sorry, Cody. Life is unfair and hard. I hope you get some help. Try calling around like I said.
Linda Racine posted a "sticky thread" about an agency that gives help to people without insurance. Maybe you can find some resources there to help you.

Take care.

[rohrer01]

Oh, and I looked at your x-ray, again. Thanks for removing that circle. Next time try using an arrow that doesn't interfere with the rest of the film.

You do indeed look like you have a lumbar scoliosis. BTW, scoliosis is defined as a curvature greater than 10*. Just from looking, it's hard to tell how big it is. I'd guess in the 40's. But if it was 15* a few years ago, then it is definitely progressing. Your big issue is that disc. When a disc goes, it compresses the nerves and that's what causes the pain, tingling and numbness. You definitely need to get in to see someone for sure, ASAP.

Take Care.

[susancook]

Cody: I am worried that you are not taking your insulin [you mentioned that in an earlier post]. There has to be some way that you can get your insulin donated. Ask your nurse practitioner about resources to pay for your insulin. What are your fasting blood sugars?

Susan