Teresa Fawcett - tgailfaw@cswnet.com
Here is my story. It all started in April of 2002. My name is Teresa. I live in Arkansas. I was at that time 36 years old. My husband and I had company visiting us. We took them 4-wheeler riding. We had a great time. We raise cattle, so we rode over the pastures to check the cows. I did not hurt myself at all. However, the next morning I awoke and could not turn over. My (tail) mid section hurt so bad. I assumed I had damaged it somehow while riding. If I had hit a bump and came down hard on the coccyx area I could have understood why I was hurting so bad, but I didn't. For several weeks I hurt pretty bad while sitting or driving. I would have went to the doctor, but everyone I talked to said that when it comes to the tailbone it only takes time. That there is nothing that can be done. So I suffered.
I have 2 kids. My daughter is very active in basketball, softball, gymnastics and cheerleading. So we spend a lot of time at some ball field or gym. The more I sit the worse I hurt. So finally, March 2003, I had an appointment for a yearly check-up with my gynecologist. I told him of my problem. He ordered x-rays and made me an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon. The next week I saw the surgeon. He reviewed the x-rays which showed nothing wrong in the coccyx area. He ordered a CT Scan. I went back a week later to get the results of the CT Scan. It also showed nothing wrong in that area. He tried the steroid injections. I got relief for about 3 days. I went back to him and he said the coccyx needed to be removed. He said that it was not his job, that it was the job of a Neurosurgeon. So he made me an appointment there. Well, the first thing the Neurosurgeon said to me that it was not his job that it is the job of an Orthopedic. But, he said that he could tell that I was in pain and that he would find and get to the root of the problem. He ordered another CT, MRI and a Bone Scan. Once again, they all came back fine. But he did not think that the coccyx should be removed. He thought the problem may be something different. He finally gave up on me and sent me back to a different Orthopedic doctor.
At this point I can not go on like this. I can not live like this. I was hurting terribly bad. All the doctors that I had seen had all given me pain pills. I can not take pain pills, they make me sick to my stomach. So I went to see the new Ortho doctor. He decided it needed to be removed. At this point I am willing to try anything. I had to get some relief. So on September 29, 2003. I had surgery to remove my coccyx bone. Surgery went fine. I was discharged the next day. Was not sick from being put out. I pushed the button on my Morphine pump only once. However, it did not work. I was not really hurting, I was just uncomfortable and could not sleep. So I pushed it and it did absolutely nothing didn't even help me to sleep, so I pushed it again and still nothing, so I gave up. Thank god I was not hurting bad.
My recovery was not very fun. I had an appointment to go back to see the doctor I think it was a week to 10 days later. I felt like I was on fire. Like it was raw. I could barely walk. When I saw him he took the stitches out and it was like instant relief. He said the stitches were starting to grow in my skin and that is what was causing the irritation. So I went home hoping to recover. Well, It got infected internally. There was no sign on the outside of the incision of infection. But, I started running a fever and could barely get around. He put me on 2 rounds of antibiotics before finally feeling better.
My pain did not get better. Of course it was going to take a few months for the incisional pain to go away. When the incisional pain was gone and I could finally be able to sit. I still hurt. I went back to the surgeon. He said there was nothing more surgically that he could do.
My gynecologist that I first went to called me one day and told me that he had received a pamphlet from a Diagnostics Pain Management Clinic in the next state over (Texas). My insurance would not let me go to them because they were not in my network. The said that there was other pain management clinics in my area that was in my network. Well, they are right, there is other ones, but they are not Diagnoses clinics. But, I did go to one as a last resort. In June 2004 nine months after the surgery. Again, all they did was give me more pain medicine and told me that nothing could be done. They did nothing to try to find out why I am still hurting so bad.
Today is October 8, 2004. I am as bad off if not worse that I was before having surgery. I have learned that if I know that I will be spending several hours at the ballfield sitting for long periods of time. I will make sure that I have something on my stomach and I take half of a pain pill then it usually helps. However, I try not to do that very often. I do not want to spend my life taking pain pills. Driving more than 20 minutes at a time is almost unbearable. I do not work very much anymore, work is 45 minutes away. I own my own business so I am able to not have to work everyday. When I do have to drive. I set on some sort of cushion, or donut pillow. I have several different shapes and sized. But after awhile it seems that does not help.
I am at my wits end. I know I cannot go on like this. But at this point I don't even know who to go see. What kind of doctor. Everyone that I have seen has passed me on to someone else.
Sincerely, Teresa Fawcett
Updated 2004-10-10