----- Original Message -----

From: kathy sorensen

To: Cervical_Spondylosis@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 3:21 PM

Subject: [Cervical_Spondylosis] Introducing myself

Hi, all ... quiet list, here. I just want to introduce myself. I'm a
grandma and have had cervical spondylosis for about a year now. I have
tried physical therapy for 3 weeks (they said I had to move it or lose it
and after turning my head/neck for an entire session, I was in more pain
than I care to remember) and have quit that. I just do the stretching
exercises now. They also told me that if I get my head back on top of my
spine, I'd be as good as new. They said it can be done. I no longer
believe that. I also tried two chiropractors. I think the pressure of the
adjustments hurt the inflammation more than it may have helped. After
nearly 4 months, I quit them, too. Now my doctor wants me to have the
injection. He says sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. He also
claims that some people go for just one injection and it works forever! I
somehow don't believe that. How can liquid, injected into the system,
remain to keep me pain free for the rest of my days? It's going to be
absorbed and then cleansed from my body over time, isn't it?
Now, after a year of pain, the doctor finally told me that this is a
life-long condition. I wish the h..l he had told me that at the beginning.
I thought he was trying to cure me! I would have made more informed
decisions about the treatment. If I have to be in pain for the rest of my
life, so be it. I can handle knowing that. What I cannot handle is false
hope.
Question for all of you: has anyone ever had an injection (either the
first, second, etc one) and been pain free for a long, long time?
Another question: if I have the injection, can you please tell me what
occurs when I get to the hospital where the pain management clinic is? I
want to know the entire procedure from the night before, to arrival, to what
to wear, to position, anesthetic, etc. I can't get a straight answer from
their nurse. She seems too busy. But they're the only game in town, so I
don't have another choice.
Thanks for any help/answers I get from you all. I have never met anyone
personally that had this, so I've never had anyone to talk with about it. I
have friends who listen and commiserate, but ... well, you know how that
goes.

If God really, really loved us, he would have made our saliva taste like
chocolate!
Kathy/Mom/Bedstemor in Kenosha, Wisconsin USA
NEEDLEWORK FOREVER!!! HOUSEWORK WHENEVER. bedstemor@hotmail.com