Thursday, August 05, 2004
My Fieldtrip
I had an appointment with my new orthopedic surgeon today. I’d like to start out by saying that I really like this doctor. He really seems to have his shit together. His office is located at KU medical center in Kansas City, which is currently under construction. The building had a weird, dirty feel to it, which may be due to the construction, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about the hospital.
Maggie and I were supposed to get to the hospital fifteen minutes before the appointment so I could fill out all of the paperwork. We got to the hospital fifteen minutes early but getting to the office is another story.
There was major construction going on which slowed down all of the traffic in and out of there, cars were stopped for no reason at all. When we did get into the parking garage it was packed, but after much circling we finally got a spot on the fourth floor and headed to the elevator.
Now, see if you can follow me on this one; we had to take an elevator from the fourth floor of the parking garage down to the second floor where we had to walk over the street on a pedestrian bridge. Once across we had to wait for another elevator to take us to the first floor. We decided to just take the stairs because there were too many people waiting for the elevator. When we got to the bottom of the stairs we heard a security officer talking on his radio about how the elevator was stuck between floors with people inside. Good idea to not wait. Anyway, once we were on the first floor we had to find the main elevator and take it up to the second floor where the doctor’s office was. Not the best planning on the hospital’s part.
Now that we’ve successfully navigated the labyrinth of the elevators it was time to check in.
Check in went well and no one seemed to mind we were there ten minutes late.
We ended up waiting another two hours before getting to see the doctor and let me tell you, if you’re heading to the medical center, bring something to read. Unless you like Spots Illustrated or People Magazine, there’s nothing to read. It also seems that the television in the waiting room only picked up the Soap Opera Network. Needless to say, the waiting room left much to be desired.
Once we were finally called into the room it was smooth sailing. I got to meet my new doctor and his assistant. Both are very nice guys and they seem like the type more interested in medicine than golf, which is a plus. I would go so far as to say they are nerds, and really, I want a doctor who is a nerd. They ran me through all of the usual tests, asked me all of the normal questions and looked at my MRI films. They told us about everything that was going on inside my back and were able to “dumb it down” without sounding condescending. Have I mentioned that I’m glad I have these doctors now?
So, here’s where I’m at now. I have a herniated disc, which is pressing against my nerves, a fragment of disc rubbing against my nerves, a good deal of scar tissue, all of which is located in my unusually small spinal column. No wonder I can’t feel or use my foot.
The next thing for me to do is have some more steroid injections in my back. This time they will perform the injections with a smaller needle while watching it all on an x-ray machine. This way they can target the exact location of the agitated nerves by looking at my vertebrae. If that doesn’t work, it’s time to have surgery again. The office has already scheduled me another MRI to make sure that all of my back problems were picked up in the first MRI (I’m asking for sedatives this time). This whole back/surgery mess should be over by the end of the year. I can’t wait. I just hope I can get it all done before my insurance runs out.
It was a long, long day but I’m happy to know that I’m in good hands now.
Song Of The Day:
“Show Me Your Heart” – Need New Body
Maggie and I were supposed to get to the hospital fifteen minutes before the appointment so I could fill out all of the paperwork. We got to the hospital fifteen minutes early but getting to the office is another story.
There was major construction going on which slowed down all of the traffic in and out of there, cars were stopped for no reason at all. When we did get into the parking garage it was packed, but after much circling we finally got a spot on the fourth floor and headed to the elevator.
Now, see if you can follow me on this one; we had to take an elevator from the fourth floor of the parking garage down to the second floor where we had to walk over the street on a pedestrian bridge. Once across we had to wait for another elevator to take us to the first floor. We decided to just take the stairs because there were too many people waiting for the elevator. When we got to the bottom of the stairs we heard a security officer talking on his radio about how the elevator was stuck between floors with people inside. Good idea to not wait. Anyway, once we were on the first floor we had to find the main elevator and take it up to the second floor where the doctor’s office was. Not the best planning on the hospital’s part.
Now that we’ve successfully navigated the labyrinth of the elevators it was time to check in.
Check in went well and no one seemed to mind we were there ten minutes late.
We ended up waiting another two hours before getting to see the doctor and let me tell you, if you’re heading to the medical center, bring something to read. Unless you like Spots Illustrated or People Magazine, there’s nothing to read. It also seems that the television in the waiting room only picked up the Soap Opera Network. Needless to say, the waiting room left much to be desired.
Once we were finally called into the room it was smooth sailing. I got to meet my new doctor and his assistant. Both are very nice guys and they seem like the type more interested in medicine than golf, which is a plus. I would go so far as to say they are nerds, and really, I want a doctor who is a nerd. They ran me through all of the usual tests, asked me all of the normal questions and looked at my MRI films. They told us about everything that was going on inside my back and were able to “dumb it down” without sounding condescending. Have I mentioned that I’m glad I have these doctors now?
So, here’s where I’m at now. I have a herniated disc, which is pressing against my nerves, a fragment of disc rubbing against my nerves, a good deal of scar tissue, all of which is located in my unusually small spinal column. No wonder I can’t feel or use my foot.
The next thing for me to do is have some more steroid injections in my back. This time they will perform the injections with a smaller needle while watching it all on an x-ray machine. This way they can target the exact location of the agitated nerves by looking at my vertebrae. If that doesn’t work, it’s time to have surgery again. The office has already scheduled me another MRI to make sure that all of my back problems were picked up in the first MRI (I’m asking for sedatives this time). This whole back/surgery mess should be over by the end of the year. I can’t wait. I just hope I can get it all done before my insurance runs out.
It was a long, long day but I’m happy to know that I’m in good hands now.
Song Of The Day:
“Show Me Your Heart” – Need New Body
