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My mother, in the last 6 months, has been having severe back and hip problems. She is struggling to stand and walk. She has a cane but still can only go a few steps then has to stop or sit. She went in for an MRI a month ago, but they have pushed back her appointment to the end of Aug. She is in so much pain, and all they have done is sent her to PT. I want to help but it's hard to help if they haven't confirmed what is going on with her. I just want her to get some relief any suggestions?

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We are closing in now on the end of August. Best thing to do is not do anything to injure the back until you can get a diagnosis. If she went to PT their exam will likely tell them a whole lot about what may be causing this. There are many clues they can pick up on. With age comes "spinal compression" and truly it's not avoidable and just must be lived with. The pain is difficult to deal with.

So this is a matter of getting the diagnosis with an MRI. Then the prognosis and how best to deal with this pain. She isn't alone. Bad backs are common and almost inevitable with aging. We were never really designed to walk upright!. Meanwhile, minimal of sitting unless you get a zero gravity chair to keep pressure off sciatic nerve, the longest nerve in the body. She can stand, walk, lay in semi-fowler's position (look it up). Take pain meds; keep constipation away with daily citrucel or stool softener such as colace.

Good luck; hope you'll update us after the MRI.
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lealonnie1 Aug 9, 2024
Today is Aug 9th. OPs mother had the MRI last month but is waiting to hear the results.
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I would imagine there is nothing serious going on that requires anything more than physical therapy if that's what was recommended to her after an MRI. Had something been seriously amiss, she'd have already been notified. This is very frustrating and dismissive, however, and should be addressed now, imo. Mom should send a message to her doctor asking for an answer about her MRI. I get my test results on my portal, read by a radiologist, typically same day. Are you able to log into moms patient portal and see her Test Results?

In any event, do contact her doctor and ask for an immediate update and advice about pain management. Even if the MRI showed nothing seriously wrong, arthritis and musculoskeletal problems are very painful and should not be ignored or postponed by doctors! 😑 And PT does NOT fix everything, contrary to most doctors beliefs.

Alternating heating pads with ice packs helps me quite a bit, along with alternating ibuprofen and extra strength Tylenol. I also take Tramadol 1-2x a day for pain.

Best of luck to you.
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Daughterof1930 Aug 9, 2024
Lea, fully agree about PT, not to diminish their skills and job, but it’s not the answer and fix so many doctors seem to think. Or maybe they just pass patients on to it when they don’t have much else to offer.
And at my house we call Tramadol, dammitall 😜
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"She went in for an MRI a month ago, but they have pushed back her appointment to the end of Aug."

Are you saying she went in for the MRI and they rescheduled her when she showed up so that she had an MRI at all?

Or, she had the MRI but they pushed back her follow-up to talk to her ortho doc?

How old is your Mom?

Does she live at home? With you? At a facility?

Is she on Medicaid?

Did anything happen before the pain started, like did she have a fall (even a minor one)?

It's especially helpful to know if she's on Medicaid as this would partially explain why they are dragging their feet about her diagnosis.

I agree that she hopefully has a patient portal you can either help her access to communicate with the medical staff.

I don't know why or how they're sending her to PT if she's in that much pain -- people don't do their PT well or at all when they are suffering. Call her ortho doc's nurse and tell them your Mom's pain is like 9 or 10 on their scale. Ask what she should be taking for pain relief and that your Mom cannot do PT with level of pain. You can still take her to Urgent Care or the ER if the "standard" OTC pain relievers aren't helping her. But make sure to contact the doctor's office to report how much pain she's in and cannot go to PT.
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Anxietynacy Aug 9, 2024
The in house PT helped mom alot to get her to where I can get her to the next step of getting her to the car to get her to physical therapy.
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All you can do right now is to be patient and wait for her follow up appointment, but you may want to check her patient portal though now, as the results of her MRI should already be on there. That would at least give you an idea of what's going on.
And until her appointment just make sure that she's taking whatever pain relief medications she's been prescribed even if it's over the counter on a consistent basis.
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I'm going through pretty much same thing with my mom, though X-rays she has been diagnosed with degenerative spine.

Waiting for MRI, haven't even got the appointment yet for it and the pain management doctor was suppose to set it up over a month ago.

She has had physical therapy, in house needs out patient now. But that hasn't been set up either.

Honestly Im not sure if she is even going to be able to be still long enough for the MRI.

Her pain level is better as of now, but honestly I don't see a good outcome for the long run with this. She and my family say it's just a little sciatica. So it's good that your eyes are open.

About all I can say is , if the physical therapist says don't do this or that, they are not lying, mom can't reach, hurt it and January, would not slow down, then we were right back where we started, pluse some. Every time she has a really bad spell , there is less she can do after.

It is horrible horrible to see are parents in that kind of pain. Her GP told her there is nothing more they can do. I myself am not POA, and sence no one in my family sees her decline I told her the same thing the GP said, but that is just my circumstances.

Best of luck, this totally stinks to high he!!.
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Anxietynacy Aug 9, 2024
Honestly I don't think they are pushing moms MRI because I don't think they think she will be able to handle it, and also I don't think there is much they can do to stop or change the denegation
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I would kick and scream until your Mom gets something for her pain NOW and appt pulled in. It’s hardly closing in on the end of August with 22 days left in the month. The squeaky wheel …..best of luck.
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