after 7 long painful years of yelling at my dr, He FINALLY said ok, we will get an mri on your lumbaer spine region and see what is going on. I am pain free in the water, and stay in for more that two hours three time a week. I went down to Lynwood on the mainland, and had to look for it. Fouind it right away. went in crawled into the tube and layed there for 45 minutes while they took 4 sheets of pictures.
I went on line to see if any there look like mine, and there are some. So Now I am going to yell for surgery to get this crap fixed! I have sat on my ever widening ass for 7 years, and I am tired of this. THere is something pinching my sciatic neverv and now it runs clear down my leg into my ankle and big toes. ARRRRRGGGHHH Really hard to walk when your legs wont move! I NEED to get out and walk.. every day! 3 miles everyday, i Need to hike along a sandy beach. I need to hike trough the high mountain forest. I need to just get away for awhile. So next week I take the films back to him and then start the nexdt step. This pain is horrible. SHould have heard me yelling as I waas pushing the mower this afternoon! OOPS@
12 comments:
That does sound nasty - the Doctor can't feel it. I had sciatica once a few years back, fortunately I had massage from an osteaopath which did the trick. My back hurts in the mornings - walking does help a lot.
How long do you have to wait? I hope you can get out walking properly soon and we will see all the lovely pics you take along the way.
I used to have lower back pain for a few years, but I got physical therapy and the exercise and strengthening of muscles helped me. I hope that you don't need surgery.
Hope you get something sorted out for it soon, Mary Lou. Back pain is not fun.
good luck with this. Doctors need to learn to listen.
Goodness...I'm surprised that you are just now getting an MRI. When my back problems started in Sept. 2007, I first went in for x-rays and then for an MRI. And I don't have health insurance, so I don't get any medical tests that aren't necessary. My pain was HORRIBLE...these were necessary! Anyway, my back pain was/is caused by 3 bulging discs in the lower lumbar region. I also have arthritis and degenerative disc disease. Surgery is not recommended. (I couldn't afford that!)Physical therapy (traction) saved my life. I have to be careful, but I am doing very well. BTW, the day before the back pain started, I mowed my grass. I will never push a mower again and I really don't think you should be doing that either! Be careful and take care, Mary Lou!
unfortunately, no one else will push this mower for me. I have to do it myself. And up here the grass grows until it is over knee high, and then it goes to seed and MORE grass grows. Thinking about digging it all up and paving it! (I wish!)
I have heard of others experiencing what you are for that pain and you are right to yell until they take care of it because without exercise the rest of your body can't be healthy either. Good luck with some viable solutions
I'm 65 and after years of increasing back pain with symptoms that varied all the time, even after epidurals, acupuncture and PT. I couldn't walk for more than 5 min. without pain. I told my primary physician last fall that I wanted an MRI, which I had shortly there after. She sent me to a neurosurgeon who said "I think we can do something for you." In my case, L5 moved back and forth which accounted for the varying symptoms, including sciatica. L4 was beginning to deteriorate from degenerative arthritis, which we are all prone to. What I had done was a spinal fusion of L4, L5 and S1, using 6 titanium screws and rods which were covered up by powdered bone to form the fusion. I was in the hospital for 3 days and wore a back brace, except when I was lying down for at least 2+ months. The symptoms I had before are gone. I'm doing PT now and trying to do a lot of walking now that winter's over to loosen up muscles I did not use for a long time.
The downside of this is the cost if you don't have insurance or Medicare. (I had insurance through my husband as my surgery was done before my 65th birthday.) If you live alone and have something like this done it can be very difficult because bending is a no-no. MY physical therapist still says "No" to vacuuming, so my husband gets to do all that. You don't realize until you have something like this done, how often you drop things on the floor.
Anyway, I wish you good luck and hope that the MRI will give you some answers. Oh yes, if it's a surgical thing, see a neurosurgeon-not an orthopedic surgeon. (I'm a retired RN, so surgery was the last thing I wanted to do.)
I wish I could send Zach to mow for you! Take care sweet lady and don't mow for too long at a time.
I have been in physical therapy/massage/chiropractic therapy for over a year and they can't get my sciatic fixed. Apparently from a previous year of inactivity, the muscles in y hip/back/leg have tightened up--surgery wouldn't do a dang thing for me. I do strengthening exercises and more stretching, but they don't seem to help either.
It is hard to walk very far--urts like the devil down my leg, into my thigh, my hip. I am going to the Outer Banks next month and I just want to be able to walk the beach, bend over and pick up shells!
Hope you have success!
ML-Yes, I'm the same VT crone who posted on your blog yesterday about my back surgery experiences. I'm also the one who had posted on tellingsecrets.blogspot.com, which is Elizabeth Kaeton's blog. She happens to be a dear friend of many years from when I lived in NJ, before my husband and I retired to VT in '06.(We're also Facebook friends.) I don't have my own blog but I check out a lot of blogs on line, especially by reading the comments section. If someone like you or Judemiller1 makes an interesting comment to the posting, I'll click on their (your) name to see if you've got your own blog. If I like what the blogger has to say I keep it in my favorite column. If the person only blogs say once a month or less, than I don' keep it. I check the blogs I like every couple of days to read, although I don't comment all that much. (In the case of your blog I chose to comment about your back because we are near the same age and you are going through similar experiences to mine prior to my surgery. I had also posted a comment back when your brother was dying, since I'm also a former hospice nurse.)
Anyway, I do hope you can get some answers soon. Also for Judemiller1, may I suggest that you get a second opinion from another doctor.
Hi I had a similar problem and was lucky enough to find an excellent physiotherapist who is also qualified in 'rebalance' pilates and this has been the solution to my problem but perhaps my disc problem wasn't as advanced as yours although I did have sciatic pain in both legs as well as severe lower back pain.
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