I'm trying hard to not worry about this, but common sense is telling me I'm living with a ticking bomb in me. Please let me know what you think.
Have a look at my x-rays I have attached. See the break at T11? You can see the broken rods in the picture, but you cannot see that I also have vertebrae slippage because of the break.
Isn't it very possible that if I had a major jolt, such as getting in a car crash, the rods and/or vertebrae could really move around in there and possibly cause some major trauma, such as the rods poking out of my back or puncturing an organ??? Common sense tells me this could happen and I'm scared. At the same time, I've seen two orthopedic surgeons about it and neither one of them immediately put me in a brace or scheduled surgery to fix the breaks. I am having an MRI in 2 weeks and the doc will probably determine at that time if I should have surgery or not. 2 weeks is an awfully long time to worry about this. I don't even want to risk driving anywhere, but as a single mother of a 12 year old, I do have a part-time job as a chauffer.
I asked the doctor I saw yesterday if I should be concerned. He didn't really give me a straight answer. He said, "I don't like my patients to worry". I pressed him further and asked him if I should be taking any precautions, and he thought about it for a moment and said, "I don't think so".
I do believe I have a great doctor. I'm sure he knows what he is doing. However, I know from experience to never blindly follow any doctor. I have tremendous respect for doctors in general, but I also know that they do sometimes make mistakes and that there are many unknowns in medicine.
I don't want to seem overly paranoid and I don't want to be a pain in the butt, but I'm just so worried. Every move I make causes loud cracking noises in my back. I was sort of hoping that the doctor I saw yesterday would want to do surgery asap, or at least put me in a brace. Your thoughts?
History:
Car accident in 1978 resulting in T4/5 paraplegia. Limited feeling below injury level.
1983 - Harrington rod surgery
About 10 months ago - started hearing cracking noises in my back. These noises have become more and more frequent as time passes.
Found out about the broken rods just a few weeks ago.
Have a look at my x-rays I have attached. See the break at T11? You can see the broken rods in the picture, but you cannot see that I also have vertebrae slippage because of the break.
Isn't it very possible that if I had a major jolt, such as getting in a car crash, the rods and/or vertebrae could really move around in there and possibly cause some major trauma, such as the rods poking out of my back or puncturing an organ??? Common sense tells me this could happen and I'm scared. At the same time, I've seen two orthopedic surgeons about it and neither one of them immediately put me in a brace or scheduled surgery to fix the breaks. I am having an MRI in 2 weeks and the doc will probably determine at that time if I should have surgery or not. 2 weeks is an awfully long time to worry about this. I don't even want to risk driving anywhere, but as a single mother of a 12 year old, I do have a part-time job as a chauffer.
I asked the doctor I saw yesterday if I should be concerned. He didn't really give me a straight answer. He said, "I don't like my patients to worry". I pressed him further and asked him if I should be taking any precautions, and he thought about it for a moment and said, "I don't think so".
I do believe I have a great doctor. I'm sure he knows what he is doing. However, I know from experience to never blindly follow any doctor. I have tremendous respect for doctors in general, but I also know that they do sometimes make mistakes and that there are many unknowns in medicine.
I don't want to seem overly paranoid and I don't want to be a pain in the butt, but I'm just so worried. Every move I make causes loud cracking noises in my back. I was sort of hoping that the doctor I saw yesterday would want to do surgery asap, or at least put me in a brace. Your thoughts?
History:
Car accident in 1978 resulting in T4/5 paraplegia. Limited feeling below injury level.
1983 - Harrington rod surgery
About 10 months ago - started hearing cracking noises in my back. These noises have become more and more frequent as time passes.
Found out about the broken rods just a few weeks ago.
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