Posted by Lonely on July 2, 2007, at 18:52:51
In reply to Re: Osteomyelitis - SCARED!!!! What to do? » Lonely, posted by Larry Hoover on July 2, 2007, at 17:25:29
Thanks for posting - I appreciate the interest.
It's been an odd experience of twists and turns!
The "referring" physician (pcp) kind've went ballistic when I saw him 2 weeks ago and sent a letter telling me he would no longer treat me. He was pissed that I wanted to go to specialists. Kind've an in-sensitive control freak, I'd say. I asked him (phone and fax) several times to send me a copy of the report. I have yet to receive it from him.
Since I had a copy of the films, I scanned the label and sent it to a specialist who is treating me for various lung diseases (never smoked - just highly allergic). She faxed the mri report to me and it only shows some facet degeneration at L5 & S1. The weird part is that 2+ years ago I had the same degeneration plus a couple of bulging disks + slight stenosis. I don't know why that didn't show up. The report said there was no identifiable reason for the radiculopathy which the pcp had on the order. This was a very reputable hospital, too! Also strange because the bone and joint pain (maybe inflammed nerve?) had definitely been getting worse for 3 months. Also, I've gained weight which should make bulging disks worse!
By the middle of last week I began feeling like a cold and/or flu was coming on. My pulmo has told me it needs to be treated aggressively so in my case antibiotics are given to avoid almost guaranteed lung infection. I looked through my small collection of Rx meds that I take only as needed and found Avelox, a fluoroquinolone. I've had good results w/that class of antibiotics before so I went ahead and took it - 1 x day 400 mgs for 10 days. Still on it.
The strange thing is that the Avelox appears to have taken the "edge" off the body (joint/bone/nerve) pain. I can tell the difference - can more easily turn over in bed and pain is less acute. No pain killers - just the antibiotic! So, now I'm wondering if there was some kind of infection involved that an MRI can't show????
My pulmo wants me to see a rheumy and I agree but due to the first pcp's temper tantrum I have to start over with a new pcp (end of this week) and get referrals started. Unfortunately, my insurance contracts w/specialists that have waiting lists of 4 - 6 months.
Meantime, I've got diarrhea that got started with a very strong prescription vitamin. I dropped the vitamin but something got started there! I'm hugging the pepto-bismol bottle but have to take it 8 hrs before or 4 hr after the Avelox. Life is strange sometimes!!!!
> I hope that you've obtained some supportive care by the time you're reading this.....Osteomyelitis can be a very serious disorder, depending on a number of factors. The most important thing, obviously, is to determine the infective organism underlying the condition. Given your sensitivity to antibiotics, I'd still think there are more options for treatment than you might imagine.
>
> Here's a good article: http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic349.htm
>
> I hope you're feeling better already.
>
> Lar
poster:Lonely
thread:765334
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/health/20070701/msgs/767243.html