Well, my GP called this morning and wanted to see me, which was fine because I was only about 5 minutes away. I guess I was a little surprised because he didn't really see anything uncaring or non compassionate about the ortho's letter. He did say that it was right to the point and declared his policy on pain meds, which was true. He also said that this was the first time that he's gotten negative feedback about the ortho. I told him that it bothered me that it took so long for him to respond to me and took alot of calls from me to get a response. He said that he didn't know how specialists can get away with that, that he tries to repsond right away.

I guess I must be a wimp because he also said that typically they do not treat bone spurs with narcotic pain med's but cortisone/steroids, which I have no tolerance to the side effects, I've taken my fair share of them, including a one year period as well as for shorter periods. So, he prescribed Indocin, an anti-inflammatory that is used to treat patients with gout (as well as horses he tells me). At this point of course I'm ready to try anything. So I guess that I'll give that a try and hopefully my stomach will tolerate it.

He also wondered about the possibility that it could be my neck in addition to my shoulder that's giving me problems. The thing is I still have strength in my hands and arms but I had strength even with the herniated c5-c6. So who knows, but it sure is depressing. I guess just fix one thing at a time.

And of course here I am with the stupid debate of do I find another ortho that I'm more comfortable with which could take a considerable amount of time or just go through with the surgery as quickly as possible.

Thanks so much for all your support and responses :)

I'm definately going to get a 2nd opinion and find a new doc. The fact that this one didn't even offer me a stronger NSAID is also bothersome and that it took him so long for the impersonal response as well. The other thing is when I was in for my original visit I told him about the muscle tightness and difficulty with my neck and his response was " I can't help you with that, I've heard that people that have the disc fusion have that problem". I wish that I could find a doc that would look at the whole picture, even my autoimmune issues.....another long story that I'm researching.

I'm also thinking that I have more going on than just a bone spur. Yesterday was a horrible day. Saturday night I was more active than I usually am, but honestly far less active that most 47 year old women are. I'm involved in dinner theater and we had a show, I've given up acting for now because of my pain but still run the lights and help with the show, it's really not that much...a couple of hours and I sure paid for it. Not just my shoulder but between my shoulder blades and down my arms was so painful. Woke me up every time I moved. Lucky for me that I had a few vicoden left from my surgery. It just kills me that even the littlest amount of activity on my part can leave me feeling so crappy.

I've only taken one dose of the Indocin so far and I didn't really notice a lot of help but I think that NSAID's work best when they're built up in your system. I felt rather jittery and didn't sleep well last night but don't know if that's related or not, haven't researched yet.

Jeanne:
I wanted to mention to please be careful with the Indocin. My father, God rest his soul, developed terrible gout in his last few years of life and since he didn't like doctors, I had to take him to the ER when the gout pain became to severe for him to tolerate. I remember the ER doc giving him percocet for pain because she said she could not rx Indocin until she ran blood work and determined my dad's liver & kidney function was okay. I think everyone knows how ER docs don't like to give percocet, especially to a patient like my dad who never really treated with docs and therefore had no family doc, but, she insisted that Indocin could not be given to anyone with kidney/liver probs and that it is a short term med only. She did eventually rx the Indocin after she ran the blood test and my dad's liver & kidney function were normal, but, she only gave him enough for 5 days. I remember asking her if she could give a refill since the gout would always come back, but she refused and said it's not a med to be used for more than a few days.

Please keep that in mind and be careful because whatever you decide to do about your ortho, it sounds like pain may be something you have to deal with for more than a few days and I don't want to see you develop another prob because your docs are opiate phobics.
Oh and BTW, my friends dad has bone spurs on his lumbar spine and he uses oxycodone daily and his doc is an ortho, so get another opinion.
Good Luck

Hi Twisten - My surgery is scheduled for Nov 15 but I have an appt Mon with a new ortho for a 2nd opinion and to discuss my neck as well. I think it's more than just my shoulder....I know I have a bone spur and enlarged acroniam but it doesn't sound like I should be having the pain throughout my shoulder blades and down both arms. Or according to both my GP and the ortho as much pain as I'm having. So hopefully the new orth will look at me as a whole picture instead of just a shoulder with a bone spur. I have numbness/tingling in my thumbs and last 2 fingers at times, I was thinking that the numbness was related to my lichen planus affecting the fingernail but not sure at this point of anything anymore.

I would go back to my original neurosurgeon but he's downtown Seattle and I'd prefer to stay on the eastside, however, if I'm not 100% comfortable I'll go see him.

I don't notice much help with the Indocin but do have some vicodin left from prior.

Today I had some time to kill waiting to testify in court so I outlined my medical history (all that I could remember at this point) so I'm going to get more proactive with my health issues instead of just treating each thing as it comes up. I can't help but think that it's all related.

I had my 2nd opinion appt on Monday and I really like the new ortho. He's quite a bit younger than the original one and took the time to listen to me. He feels that there is a tear in my rotator cuff not just a bone spur and some impingement as well. He gave me a steroid injection in the back of the shoulder rather than in the side like the original ortho did and I do feel quite a bit of relief...it hurt like hell that 1st night and the 2nd morning but now today it feels much better. Not 100% but at least the sharp pain is gone.

He also took an x-ray of my neck just to make sure that my fusion has not failed, he said he didn't see anything glaring there but since he's not the neck expert he would pass it by the 2 neck experts in his office. It was so much better than "sorry, I can't help you there".

I didn't ask for any pain meds since he gave me the shot and it had lidocain in it so I was numb. BTW the Indocin did nothing at all. I have to call him back in a week to let him know how the shoulder is feeling after the shot, so we'll see how it all goes.

Thanks for all of your responses :)

ps Chaddyfriend I'm in Redmond....not too far from you :wave: