Sciatica and sacroiliac joint

Hi Stacey,

Just an afterthought....I tend to go on a lot about hydrotherapy...it helped me to stay fairly mobile whilst I was waiting for the op..it may be worth asking your GP to refer you if you have a hydro pool attatched to the physio dept at your local hospital.

take care,

Jules xx :D :D

Hiya Jess,

Chest infections can be nasty and need to be treated with antibiotics...try and get to see your GP ASAP hun, just in case you do need meds...the last thing you need is to let it fester and need to go back into hospital again.......hoping you feel better soon :D

Take care,

Jules xx :D :D

Hi Jess,

I'm with Jules on this one. I know that you don't like to keep contacting your GP, which is probably why you are \"debating seeing him next week\". What is wrong with today??? The sooner you get something to help, the sooner you'll feel better!! Don't put yourself through it. If you need help, you need help!!! Simple as that!!!

You know it makes sense. I'll be thinking of you.

TFU

thank all

i went to her doctors yesturday as i have never gone in before, alway waited outside well this time i went in what a wast of time they was. i asked for a private concultant he said go out and find one and come back with name and i will write him a letter in three days time. I when on internet to find a concultant in east midland area and cant find one. got a name from a friend that helped them put cant find is private appionment number

so going to see my family gp today and ask him, he friendly and cares not like girlfriends doctor i think thats why she did not what to go to gp to sort it out.

lets hope that my doctor pays of and he can advise me the way to go

fingers crossed

thank you all

Hi Jess

Like the others have said \"don't leave\" contacting your GP today is Friday so that will mean either a emergency trip or a wait until Monday and thats going to do you no good whatsoever!

My Mum has just had surgery on her foot and got a chest infection, she left it and has just been readmitted with bronchitis & asthma

Hope you feel better soon

Donna

hi, look for a local to you bmi hospital at bmihealthcare.co.uk phone and ask them for the name of their consultant, then give it to your doctor for referral, mind if they were any good at thier job they would already know the name of one and where they are, it will be up to you to make the appointment once you have a referral letter from your gp though.

It wont be cheap, i pay around £120 everytime i see mine, and if you have x-rays thats extra.

Good Luck.

Hi Jess,

Just thought I'd let you know...I read up about chest infections on NHS Direct last night and they say that if the infection is caused by a virus then, understandably antibiotics are not prescribed, but if it's caused by bacteria, then antibiotics are prescribed....a sputum sample is required to send off to the lab for testing......I still think you should get it checked out though.......just to get it checked out......how are you today?

Take care,

Jules xx :D :D

I have paid out many hundreds of pounds (7 at least) in the last 2 years re this problem to the Osteo/Chiro/Acupuncture healers.

I got a result today from an NHS scan and am looking forward to my discectomy which will solve the problem of a huge bulge of disc that is pressing on a nerve and starting to make it's way internally down the spinal column.

All I can say is if you have this pain then demand a referral to a specialist for a scan. I am not sure if manipulation etc can help in this situation. Or may even damage further?

Comments welcome!

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Hi

Hope everyone is ok and not in to much pain,

Can anyone please tell me how much it is to have the op private i have not had my appointment for the consultant yet dont think i can take much more. Its my daughters 4 birthday in the week and i have yet to get anything went to asda today got down the first isle and had to go back and sit in car while hubby did it. Iam just going to write a list and send hubby to toys r us on monday there nothing else i can do.

If anyone has had it done private how long did you wait and how much.

Thanks for reading.

Ive got LS 51

Stacey

hi Stacey,

I haven't had the op done privately, so I can't tell you how much it would cost. I think I read somewhere it was £5k -7k, but I can't be sure. Russ may know more as he went private. But I would just say that if the main reason you are thinking about this is the waiting to see an NHS surgeon then I think that it would still take several weeks to go private. You would have to research who you want to do the op, your GP would need to write to him, then you'd have to go along for an appointment and maybe subsequently more tests, then the op. It would certainly be quicker than the NHS, but could well take several weeks.

The NHS are getting a bit quicker now because they have the new 18 week rules that they are implicating this year. That means that the longest it should take from GP referral to op is 18 weeks. I know that when you are in pain it seems like an eternity and when you have a family to look after it is particularly hard. But the new rules are certainly better than the old ones which left some of us here languishing on lists for months and months last year. But clearly the NHS has a long way to go yet. In the meantime it is hard struggling on everyday. For me the hardest thing was the waiting. It still is to be honest. I really thought that the NHS would be as finely tuned into my pain as I was but it wasn't so. I see you are in London, which hospital has your GP referred you to??? Some of the London hospitals let you check in as a private patient, rather than needing to go a private clinic/hospital. You basically get to see the same hospital consultants, get operated on in the same theatres, but go to a private ward and have better food!!! And you get through the system quicker!!! But it comes at a price. I must say it sticks in my gut a bit though, I think that if I was going to go private I would prefer to go to a private hospital!

In the meantime whilst you are waiting to see the NHS consultant you have absolutely nothing to lose, by looking into private treatment even if you decide not to proceed. It fact it will probably help you because psychologically you will feel that you are moving forward.

Let us know how you get on!!!

Best wishes

TFU

Hi There

Iam from london but live in essex now i am going to been seen at basildon hospital when i dont know i will phone consultants sec tomorrow and iam just going to keep on.

I might look into going private but i think its selfish as the money is just going on me and we all could have holiday or go towards new car or something thats for all of us ,but hubby says it is for all of us as they need me, but as you say looking into it will keep me busy for a while and i will feel like iam doing something.

Have a good and pain free sunday

stacey

Hi Stacey,

So you're an Essex girl eh? I don't know anything about Basildon Hospital, but if you had been going to King's College in London (I wouldn't btw!) I could certainly have filled you in on what's what.

I take your point about how best to spend family resources. In fact the very isues you have brought up is what I was thinking last time I wrote. Unless you have wads and wads of cash in the bank then you are always going to come up against the dilemma you face. With a young family to care for money is usually tight and it is about making the best of the resources that you have. I take your hubby's point that your health and wellbeing is worth the money, that is true, but it is a hard decision to make, particularly if you need to take out a bank loan that will put further strain on your finances.

As I said previously, it doesn't sit easy with me that people should have to seriously consider going private just because the NHS system is so slow. The fact of the matter is that it costs no more to treat a patient privately than on the NHS, yet the service is better all round. Why should that be so??? God knows the NHS has more than enough managers, yet the private hospitals can do it cheaper and make a profit too. Something isn't right somewhere??

I think it's a good idea to chase up your appointment. It certainly can't hurt. If nothing else at least you can probably coming away knowing the likely timescale of things. Which may then help finalise your decision on whether or not to go private. As I said before in an earlier post, even if your GP put you forward as an urgent case, that may not be how the neurosurgeon will see it. In the meantime you need to do all you can to keep your pain at bay and make sure you are not over doing it. Severe muscle spasm in your back on top of everything else really isn't what you want. Maybe your little girl when blowing out the candles on her birthday cake can wish for mummy's back to get better. It certainly can't hurt and may even work!!!!

Best wishes

TFU

Hi Stacey

I have no idea on how much the operation would cost but I paid to have my initial consultation and it was £180, I would have paid that tens times over as I was in so much pain.

I had to wait two weeks for an appointment as the surgeon's private list was almost as long as his NHS one.

Was prepared to pay for private MRI as well but he was disgusted I paid myself with no private healthcare cover. Anyway my need was great so he then fast tracked me back to NHS for MRI and follow up appointment.

Waited two wks for MRI then another eight for follow up but have been scheduled for surgery this week after only a two week wait so in my case they have been fantastic.

Call the surgeon's private scretary they will give you the figures, hopefully just the intial consultation privately might be the push they need like me?

HTH & good luck

Donna

Hello there i have just come across this site after returning from my long awaited MRI scan!After visiting my gp in November 07 with back/nerve pain he referred me for physio-this had no effect so then had to wait 4 months for referral to consultant.In the meantime i tried osteopathy,painkillers,exercise etc all to no avail.So here i am,how long do the results take and if there is a prolapse what's the treatment? Another query for you girls-did anybody find that their pain became worse during their period? Thanks for reading any info or thoughts would be greatly welcomed.

Cheers Honeysuckle

HI

we have dicided to have a second look at girl friends back and rang a couple of private hospitals they are all fully booked up till mid may or june to see the best in area

so with her been in so much pain (as you all know )

i when on internet and got a private mri scan and a consultant to look at scan

£250 for scan mri one area

£200 for consultant

rang to day they are seeing us tomorrow in evening it as so quick

so hopefully if will help under stand what can be done

if i know this 9 months ago

hope this helps

i will tell you tomorrow how it go's

bye