I had osteomyelitis of my L5S1 and the nearby disc last year. If you know anything about this condition, it is horribly painful; it is excrutiating. Unfortunately, my insurance company denied the first request for an MRI. By the way, if you have BCN like I do, I will say it right here, that's who denied it. The reason I am still angry about it is when my pain and physical health continued to decline incredibly and I ended up in the ER heading straight there from physical therapy. The physical therapy I had done that day completely excarbated the pain. I was in such excruciating pain despite the physical therapist working on me for 1-1/2 hours that I couldn't walk. The physical therapist had to put me into a wheel chair and take me to my car, where he had to pick me up out of the chair and put me into my car seat. AS I was driving away in horrific pain, all I could think of is how was I going to be able to get out of my car once I was home. The ER quickly treated me with pain medication, refused to do an MRI even though my family doctor said if the pain becomes unbearable, go to the ER and tell them to do an MRI. The next day I called the specialist I was seeing and told him what happened. He was able to get an MRI approved. Needless to say, I lost about a month or more time when I finally had the MRI. By the way, when I had the MRI, and at this point I couldn't even sleep on my back any longer and could barely turn over in bed so I was sleeping in my recliner. When I completed the MRI and sat up, I screamed out in agonizing pain. I couldn't walk and had to be wheelchaired to the changing room. It took hours before I could barely get myself back in my car to return to work. 2 hours after I left the facility where I got the MRI done, I got a call from the specialist saying I needed to be hospitalized. The thing is Osteomyelitits is an infection in the bone and my infection was in my lower spine and disc. This is a rare condition and 20% of people die from it. Needless to say, had the MRI been approved when it should have been, I would have been prevented further horrific pain and irreversible destruction to my spine and disc. I know much of this has nothing to do with my review but my hope is someone will read this who may be struggling or have had insurance issues similar and maybe I will save someone the horrific pain, etc. What I truly need and want to do is send a scathing letter to the CEO of BCN. Anyway, I was hospitalized for 6 days. Every time I had an MRI while in the hospital and they had me sit up coming out of the machine, I would scream and cry from agonizing pain. My spine would lock up and I can't even begin to describe the horrific pain I experienced. This was despite being prescribed Norco. Finally, the hospital (which if they knew what the heck they were doing, they would have figured it out sooner) gave me a very short acting but powerful painkiller and anxiety medication to me just before the last MRI which helped significantly. How they didn't fiture out how to to do this in the 6 mri's I had while there is beyond me. However, once I was discharged I had to get a follow up mri and went through the same mess. Anyway, I was on IV antibiotics for 10 weeks, out of work for 4 months and after IV antibiotics were finished, I took oral antibiotics for 6 months. About a month after discharge from the hospital, I followed up with the neurosurgeon I saw in the hospital. He wrote a script for the brace and there was an office next to his that sold this type of equipment. I was fitted for one and it has helped so tremendously. There has been lots of instability in my spine where the infection occurred. This brace supports me there wonderfully. There was talk of operating on my spine and putting in hardware but I got a second opinion thru U of M. I am so very glad I did. Plus, and I won't name names, the neurosurgeon who I had seen in the hospital wasn't board certified. There was no way I would even entertain the idea of spine surgery by someone who wasn't board certified. In fact, and what I find horrifying, there was only one board certified neurosurgeon for this hospital and it's a large hospital. Unfortunately, he was booked way out or I would have followed up with him. Like I mentioned, I eventually got the second opinion thru U of M. The neursurgeon there, who I researched heavily, was very conservative. Standard care for the infection is 6 weeks of iv antibiotics. He recommended against surgery and that my infectious disease doctor thru the other hospital system I was going thru extend the IV anti-biotics for 4 more weeks. In addition, with the brace, I was able to slowly start walking again, eventually longer distances. There was a time after discharge that I could barely walk around in my house. Eventually, I could make it 1/2 block. My family doctor urged me to walk as much as I could stand the pain. He explained that because the infection was in the lowest part of my spine, it's more difficult to get blood circulation there which helps the healing. I was so desperate to reduce the pain and heal the infection, that I got to the point where I was walking twice/day. This brace allowed me to do that. I speak highly of it to others. I have gone through several months of physical therapy and have several months more to do. The therapist said I need to work toward not using it as if you wear it too much, your abdominal muscles, etc end up weakening. I have had the brace since last year but my cat got ahold of it and chewed thru one of the strings. That led to me replacing it on Amazon. BCN paid the facility that I got it from the first time close to 150$ if memory serves me correctly. That's a huge difference from paying 60$ for it on Amazon. People have stopped me in the stores and asked me if the brace helps. I give them a resounding absolutely yes. This one is great quality. Again, I hope anyone reading this might find some of the additional personal story I added it in helpful to you. Doctors have said I will have permanent stiffness and pain that will never go away. However, I am a long way from where I was last year. By the way, when I switched my care to U of M and when I told the neurosurgeon there about my experiences with the MRI and he wanted a follow up one done, I was set up with light sedation to do it. That made a big difference. Why the heck the other hospital system didn't figure this out much more quickly is beyond me. Anyway, I give a big thumbs up on this brace.
