Spondylosis-have lots of questions!

[Guest guest]

Does anyone else on the group have lumbar spondylosis? I have so

many questions about it, because the more research I do on it, the

more confused I become. Some of the things I read say that the

joints become fused, some say it's really just OA, and that there is

degeneration, and so on and so forth. I'm not a stupid person, but

with each thing I read saying something so totally different to the

thing before it, I'm just getting baffled!

The facet arthritis, that was pretty cut and dried. No contradictory

explanations on that one, so I understand what's going on there. But

this spondylosis thing, just about the ONLY thing I'm getting is that

it's in the lumbar region of my back. I also have lumbar

radiculopathy, and have no clue whether it plays any role in the

spondylosis or what.

Bear in mind that I found out about all of these diagnoses through my

records. The only thing I really knew for sure that I had was

sacroiliitis, and that I had pain that was spreading up into my

lumbar area, and when he did facet blocks (I think he called them

transforaminal blocks) they worked really well, and he suggested the

RF ablations as a more long term treatment. Then I needed my records

for something else, and there it was, documented in several different

places.

Why is it that doctors don't tell us about these things? Do they

think we're not capable of understanding, or that they think we will

hurt less if we don't know just how screwed up we are? I lost my job

not too long after my RF ablations were completed, and my husband is

laid off, so I've not been able to ask my pain doctor that question.

But I would really like to know what (in general) to expect from

living with spondylosis. Does it spread to other areas of your

spine? Does it affect other joints, such as hands, feet, ankles,

etc, like the other spondys do? The middle knuckle of my middle

finger on my left hand looks like it's becoming arthritic, and I'm

hoping it's all one in the same, and not another illness, like RA.

Although since my CRP has been slightly elevated all along, and my

pain doctor did at one time mention the possibility of MCTD. Not too

long after I started to see him, he made this comment once when we

were talking about the fact that my only unusual bloodwork was the

elevated CRP. He said that he had the feeling that something was

brewing just below the level of detection, waiting to erupt. It's

weird how I'm HLA negative, as well as being negative on pretty much

everything else, but have so much pain in my back, and he saw the

problems for himself when he did my RF ablations. My PCP has always

said I don't fit any medical norms though!

So if anyone out there is living with spondylosis, preferably in the

lumbar region, I would really love to hear from you, and know what

I'm facing, because I'm not learning a whole lot going the research

route! It's pretty frustrating to have this thing going on with my

body and know next to nothing about it except how painful it is! I

would appreciate any guidance and info!

Thanks in advance,

Jen