My back is still in the same shape it was last weekend, with one minor addition- I now have a tightness in my left leg that is pretty unusual. I am also having some spasming one of the muscles in my butt. It is possible that it's my Piriformis muscle, but I am not entirely sure.
In addition, it feels like the hamstring in my left leg is very tight and stretched to the cramping point continuously. It is still painful to walk, but I can walk, er, shuffle, for several blocks without having to stop. I now look like Quasimodo when I walk.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Return of the Pain
Well, I went way too long on my story, so I"ll give the abbreviated version to catch me up to present.
After the first dose of the Med pack, i had a follow up with the doctor, who asked me if I had any discomfort. I told the truth, and said that I had a mild sensation in my lower back. She said, well, that means that we need to kick it up a notch. She then decided to continue on with a ESI, or Epidural Steroid Injection, as well as a consultation with a Neurosurgeon. THe neurosurgeon would require an MRI, so we should get that done too.
So, even though my pain was pretty minor, I had the MRI, which requires you to be stuffed into a tube that you are SURE you don't fit in. I would not consider myself claustrophobic, but I really really wanted it to end about half-way through. However, things got a lot better when I opened my eyes and say that my head was out the back of the machine... I was convinced that the tube was closed in the back, and had some quiet internal panicking when I realized that I would suffocate... Needless to say, I was fine. However, the country music didn't help very much.
THe results were what they expected. A herniated L5-S1 disk pushing on my S1 nerve root. About 2 weeks later, I had my ESI, and the next day, had the consultation.
The ESI was neat, but they knocked me completely out for it. I'mnot sure if it's standard procedure, but it sure made it go quicker.
The next day, I drove to Sioux Falls to talk to Dr Mark Fox. He said that a Herniated disk is normally no big deal. 40% of all people seem to have a herniated disk, and it's only painful to a handful of them. He said that the litmus test is this: If I can not stand the pain, then I should have surgery. If I can stand the pain for the rest of my life, then don't have surgery. But make the decision soon. He said I should be able to decide within two weeks if I need surgery. However, the longer I stall, the less likely I will have a full recovery.
About 3-4 days later, the ESI corticol steroids kicked in, and I was again, feeling amazing. We were moving, so I was moving heavy items. However, last Wednesday, when I was carrying salt bags out to the car to move them to the new house, I felt a weird sensation in my back. Sorta like when you step on a loaf of bread, except that loaf of bread was in my back.
Wednesday, I felt some pain in my leg. Not bad.
Thursday, that pain felt a bit more. Not terrible, but I took an Ibuprofen to try and help.
Friday, I had super-extreme pain, 8-9 out of 10. It was awful. All through the workday it got worse. I took about 13-15 Ibuprofen, but still literally could not walk more than 30 feet without having to sit down. Sitting in the chair was even worse. I drove home after work and crawled in the front door and asked Rhonda for anything to kill the pain. She gave me my last Tramadol, an Ibuprofen 800, a Muscle relaxant (Flexor) and some Tylenol with Codeine. I passed out holding my leg in pain. I woke up again at 4:00 AM and needed some more medicine.
Saturday: About 8:00, I woke up in pain. Rhonda gave me another codeine, andI tried to get out in time for breakfast. After breakfast, I noticed that my leg pain was giving way to another sensation - numbness.
This numbness was better than the pain, but troubling nonetheless. Rhonda decided that I needed to see a doctor IMMEDIATELY, so off we went.
After some debate, I decided to go to Mercy's Emergency Room because they had the technology to fix me if I was deemed broken enough to repair. Instead, all I got was an apology (we can't get you the MRI today) some reassurance (your nerve willbe fine) and a couple prescriptions (Hydrocodone 5/500 and Med-Pack).
I will see my friendly doctor (PA-C, actually) this week, hopefully. Until then, I am completely numb from the back of my left leg halfway up my butt, down to my knee, and feel tingling on my heel all the way to my little toe.
Two good things about my doctor - PA-C means that my PA is nationally certified. She was also on the class schedule for teaching several 700 level classes in the Med School. Extra cool, and an extra boost of credibility. PLus my hydrocodone is making me feel nice and pleasant right now...
After the first dose of the Med pack, i had a follow up with the doctor, who asked me if I had any discomfort. I told the truth, and said that I had a mild sensation in my lower back. She said, well, that means that we need to kick it up a notch. She then decided to continue on with a ESI, or Epidural Steroid Injection, as well as a consultation with a Neurosurgeon. THe neurosurgeon would require an MRI, so we should get that done too.
So, even though my pain was pretty minor, I had the MRI, which requires you to be stuffed into a tube that you are SURE you don't fit in. I would not consider myself claustrophobic, but I really really wanted it to end about half-way through. However, things got a lot better when I opened my eyes and say that my head was out the back of the machine... I was convinced that the tube was closed in the back, and had some quiet internal panicking when I realized that I would suffocate... Needless to say, I was fine. However, the country music didn't help very much.
THe results were what they expected. A herniated L5-S1 disk pushing on my S1 nerve root. About 2 weeks later, I had my ESI, and the next day, had the consultation.
The ESI was neat, but they knocked me completely out for it. I'mnot sure if it's standard procedure, but it sure made it go quicker.
The next day, I drove to Sioux Falls to talk to Dr Mark Fox. He said that a Herniated disk is normally no big deal. 40% of all people seem to have a herniated disk, and it's only painful to a handful of them. He said that the litmus test is this: If I can not stand the pain, then I should have surgery. If I can stand the pain for the rest of my life, then don't have surgery. But make the decision soon. He said I should be able to decide within two weeks if I need surgery. However, the longer I stall, the less likely I will have a full recovery.
About 3-4 days later, the ESI corticol steroids kicked in, and I was again, feeling amazing. We were moving, so I was moving heavy items. However, last Wednesday, when I was carrying salt bags out to the car to move them to the new house, I felt a weird sensation in my back. Sorta like when you step on a loaf of bread, except that loaf of bread was in my back.
Wednesday, I felt some pain in my leg. Not bad.
Thursday, that pain felt a bit more. Not terrible, but I took an Ibuprofen to try and help.
Friday, I had super-extreme pain, 8-9 out of 10. It was awful. All through the workday it got worse. I took about 13-15 Ibuprofen, but still literally could not walk more than 30 feet without having to sit down. Sitting in the chair was even worse. I drove home after work and crawled in the front door and asked Rhonda for anything to kill the pain. She gave me my last Tramadol, an Ibuprofen 800, a Muscle relaxant (Flexor) and some Tylenol with Codeine. I passed out holding my leg in pain. I woke up again at 4:00 AM and needed some more medicine.
Saturday: About 8:00, I woke up in pain. Rhonda gave me another codeine, andI tried to get out in time for breakfast. After breakfast, I noticed that my leg pain was giving way to another sensation - numbness.
This numbness was better than the pain, but troubling nonetheless. Rhonda decided that I needed to see a doctor IMMEDIATELY, so off we went.After some debate, I decided to go to Mercy's Emergency Room because they had the technology to fix me if I was deemed broken enough to repair. Instead, all I got was an apology (we can't get you the MRI today) some reassurance (your nerve willbe fine) and a couple prescriptions (Hydrocodone 5/500 and Med-Pack).
I will see my friendly doctor (PA-C, actually) this week, hopefully. Until then, I am completely numb from the back of my left leg halfway up my butt, down to my knee, and feel tingling on my heel all the way to my little toe.
Two good things about my doctor - PA-C means that my PA is nationally certified. She was also on the class schedule for teaching several 700 level classes in the Med School. Extra cool, and an extra boost of credibility. PLus my hydrocodone is making me feel nice and pleasant right now...
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Doctor Visit #1
I hobbled into the clinic, filled out the forms as best I could. My doctor at the clinic did a few tests to see what the matter could be. After bending me in various ways, some of them painful, the doctor said that I had a "Herniated Disc". This meant that I had to stay down for awhile, and take some massive amounts of medicine, which were Skelaxin, a muscle relaxant, Methylprednisone (Medpack), steroids to reduce inflammation, and Ultram for the pain. I went home for 3 days after that. If I ever had doubts about modern medicine, they evaporated after I took my first dose of medicine. My pain went completely away while I was on the medicine. I didn't take it as easy as I should have - I helped to clean the house, mowed the lawn, and took the kids to the park. I had a potential allergic reaction after the first day - but I think it may have just been sunburnt skin making me itch. They didn't take any chances and changed my painkiller to Hydrocodone, better known as Vicodin.
By Monday, the Medpack was gone, my new prescription of Hydrocone was relieving all pain, Physical Therapy was fantastic, and I felt on top of the world. As I let me painkillers run out, I continued doing my exercises, and saw the doctor for what I thought would be the last time.
By Monday, the Medpack was gone, my new prescription of Hydrocone was relieving all pain, Physical Therapy was fantastic, and I felt on top of the world. As I let me painkillers run out, I continued doing my exercises, and saw the doctor for what I thought would be the last time.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Ouch, my back
The Fourth of July is one of the few holidays that I have the freedom to enjoy – there’s no pressure, and you get to relieve lots of stress and tension in the form of aiming bottle rockets at your fellow man.
After a weeklong gauntlet of firing off bottlerockets, real rockets, fountains, tanks, and roosters, I finally spent the night inside. Around July 7th, I started noticing a pain in my lower back. This pain was not too severe. What felt weird, was that this pain was accompanied by phantom pain in my legs. I would feel this pinprick-electric shock sensation in a specific spot on one of my legs – for example, behind my left knee, or half way down my right calf – and the pain would just disappear.
I went on an MS-150 Prep bike ride – I rode my first half-century (52 miles), and did so at a reasonable speed. Impressive for me, but in the back of my mind, I could tell something just wasn’t quite right.
I ignored it the best I could. I spent the next 2 weeks using every OTC painkillers I could lay my hands on to stop the pain. On July 18th, I had a hard time walking. When walking, I had to walk with a shuffle. If I placed my left leg in front of my hips, my entire leg would shut down. I went to see the doctor that day.
After a weeklong gauntlet of firing off bottlerockets, real rockets, fountains, tanks, and roosters, I finally spent the night inside. Around July 7th, I started noticing a pain in my lower back. This pain was not too severe. What felt weird, was that this pain was accompanied by phantom pain in my legs. I would feel this pinprick-electric shock sensation in a specific spot on one of my legs – for example, behind my left knee, or half way down my right calf – and the pain would just disappear.
I went on an MS-150 Prep bike ride – I rode my first half-century (52 miles), and did so at a reasonable speed. Impressive for me, but in the back of my mind, I could tell something just wasn’t quite right.
I ignored it the best I could. I spent the next 2 weeks using every OTC painkillers I could lay my hands on to stop the pain. On July 18th, I had a hard time walking. When walking, I had to walk with a shuffle. If I placed my left leg in front of my hips, my entire leg would shut down. I went to see the doctor that day.
Welcome
Hi, welcome to my blog.
I have created this in order to try and sort out some of the things that are going on in my life.
Some of the topics covered will be my family, Notre Dame Football, my health (especially my back), and bike riding.
I don't expect anybody to get much out of this - if you do, consider that a bonus.
I have created this in order to try and sort out some of the things that are going on in my life.
Some of the topics covered will be my family, Notre Dame Football, my health (especially my back), and bike riding.
I don't expect anybody to get much out of this - if you do, consider that a bonus.
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