Found out
that the bottom of my spine is fractured/broken, and that the disc between my
L5 and another vertebra is smashed and the nerves are exposed- causing the pain
down my legs and also in my abdomen.
Excruciating burning pain is what it feels like. Or when it’s down my
legs if I have any weight on my legs at all, the bones feel like they are going
to break with the pressure. It is highly
unpleasant. After meeting with the
neurosurgeon on Thursday my options were 3 choices:
1. Manage Pain with chiropractic care (which I’ve
already tried), acupuncture, and Physical Therapy
2. Manage pain with pain pills (not
going to happen)
3. Correct the problem with surgery –
take a small piece of the hip to fix the spinal break, and fuse the L5 with the
S1. Hospital time is 3 days recovery/out
of work time is 4-6 weeks.
He was very
positive about how successful the surgery is.
He told me that I could resume normal activities after I was
healed….running, etc. I was worried
about that so I was glad to hear.
Since I have
met with him and opted to have the surgery done – I had one of my coworkers
tell me about a physical therapy place that he went to prior to having a
similar surgery done several years ago.
He said he went 6 times ( it was highly painful) and then he hasn’t been
back since and didn’t have to have the surgery.
So, while I am waiting to hear from the insurance about the surgery go
ahead, I am going to the PT place to see if I can’t get some relief there? I figure it’s worth a try to see if I can
manage the pain through that rather than having a major surgery.
