I previously posted in the chronic pain forum my doctor's recommendation for surgery for the herniated disc. I am getting a second opinion this week and don't know what I will do if this doc recommends surgery also. I have a couple of valid concerns about going through with it; one being the amount of recuperation time. It might be minimally invasive surgery but the recovery will be at least 3-6 months or more. I have researched spinal fusion and it's not a minor procedure; I am just afraid.

Had a short stint of physical therapy but rather than trying more sessions, my doc is insisting surgery is the way to go...well duh, he's a surgeon! What kills me is that my insurance will cover surgery but not for 20 more lousy days of PT. Just makes me so angry that I have to fight for everything.

I am also quite concerned about pain medication; namely the lack of it. I was told that my surgeon will supply me with pain meds for a period of two weeks post op. What if I need it for longer? My primary flat out refuses to prescribe narcotics for ANY reason. She refuses to give me anything stronger than tramadol. That might be all I need after 2 weeks but what if I am still in serious pain? My pain tolerance level is low unlike some people.

My primary will not give me any opiates for pain right now, suggests that I find a pain mgmt doc but there are none that take my insurance. I suppose I will have to make more phone calls to the idiot insurance company. As you can imagine they are NOT fun to deal with.

There are only 2 ortho surgeons in my area that will accept my insurance, and they often will not prescribe for longer than a couple of weeks. How am I supposed to cover seeing a pain mgmt. specialist out of pocket? I suppose I will have to see if my dad can help me. This might seem like a trivial matter but it is one I am very concerned about. I just don't know what to do.

Thanks for listening, sorry this is so long.