Cdog
Member
As I've posted many times, I'm a person that has lived with chronic pain (majority of which is nerve damage related) for a couple of decades.
I had my first comparatively minor surgery in 2008, second 2015.
These did little to nothing to relieve pain, but saved the use of my hands/arms. Still have a numb left arm, crazy pains, etc, but they still work.
In the last year or so there's been increasing lower back pain.
In the last 3 months I really started noticing weakness in my right leg. This was accompanied by shooting/stabbing pains that would vary in intensity. Folks I'm guilty of the "walk it off, it'll likely pass on its own" mindset.
I visit my GP every 90 days and I had told him of these increases in and new variations in my pain on my first visit this year. He knows my walk it off personality, but told me to back off on things like yard work and perform exercises/stretches to see if it would indeed get better on it's own.
Recently I went back for my 90 day inspection. I told him the intense pains had eased a bit, but the weakness was spreading. Stairs are a real challenge! He said it's time for an MRI and I quickly agreed.
That was earlier this month. Around the 22nd he got the MRI report and , he called me to tell me that it's bad. He said my lower back was far worse than he could have ever imagined with me still getting around as well as I am. I could hear the urgency in his voice. (Never had a Doctor call me, always been a nurse.)
He said I can't tell you that you must see a specialist, but I strongly urge you to asap. He got me in to see the Doctor that did my 2015 surgery on the 25th.
I wasn't expecting good news, but I wasn't prepared for what I got.
While looking at Xrays taken onsite he was saying things like, that's not good, there's a real problem, ect. Then after looking at the MRI it went downhill.
My wife was with me, glad she was. I can't tell you what all was said because I think my ability to concentrate had shut down.
I need a major procedure. One that is very involved and too much for him and his partner to do in one session. I will need to spend the night and have the procedure finished the next day. I said something about getting my insurance to approve it and he replied, "Don't worry about that. No one will look at this and deny this procedure."
I have no idea what the procedure(s) name is, just that it's not a simple one that will have me back at work the next week.
I told him that I needed time to think and he agreed. I knew at the time that I need and will likely have it done, but I couldn't make myself say, "Let's get the ball rolling."
I'm having a difficult time, thinking about losing my independence. I know it's only temporary, but I'm an independent person that does not want nor will ever be comfortable not doing things myself. I know that if I don't have the procedure that I could lose my independence and more! Timing! Summer coming on and my huge yard that is far from being an easy ride to do. (Dangerous hills and terraces) If it was winter I'd come up with something else to worry about someone else being capable of doing safely.
I won't be bed ridden, just no lifting or bouncing around on the tractor or mower for a minimum of 6 months. I realize that with time the day will come that I will likely have to relinquish what I do now on a permanent basis. Like so many other things in life, you just don't think about it. That day is years away until it ain't.
Ya'll are part of my family and I felt the need to tell someone what my mind and body are battling over. I am grateful. I realize this is small potatoes compared with other diagnosis like cancer. Still it's a big deal for me. Definitely working on my head!
For those of you that take the time and have the ability to endure one of my long rambling post, I thank you.
For those that don't, well I definitely understand that too.
I had my first comparatively minor surgery in 2008, second 2015.
These did little to nothing to relieve pain, but saved the use of my hands/arms. Still have a numb left arm, crazy pains, etc, but they still work.
In the last year or so there's been increasing lower back pain.
In the last 3 months I really started noticing weakness in my right leg. This was accompanied by shooting/stabbing pains that would vary in intensity. Folks I'm guilty of the "walk it off, it'll likely pass on its own" mindset.
I visit my GP every 90 days and I had told him of these increases in and new variations in my pain on my first visit this year. He knows my walk it off personality, but told me to back off on things like yard work and perform exercises/stretches to see if it would indeed get better on it's own.
Recently I went back for my 90 day inspection. I told him the intense pains had eased a bit, but the weakness was spreading. Stairs are a real challenge! He said it's time for an MRI and I quickly agreed.
That was earlier this month. Around the 22nd he got the MRI report and , he called me to tell me that it's bad. He said my lower back was far worse than he could have ever imagined with me still getting around as well as I am. I could hear the urgency in his voice. (Never had a Doctor call me, always been a nurse.)
He said I can't tell you that you must see a specialist, but I strongly urge you to asap. He got me in to see the Doctor that did my 2015 surgery on the 25th.
I wasn't expecting good news, but I wasn't prepared for what I got.
While looking at Xrays taken onsite he was saying things like, that's not good, there's a real problem, ect. Then after looking at the MRI it went downhill.
My wife was with me, glad she was. I can't tell you what all was said because I think my ability to concentrate had shut down.
I need a major procedure. One that is very involved and too much for him and his partner to do in one session. I will need to spend the night and have the procedure finished the next day. I said something about getting my insurance to approve it and he replied, "Don't worry about that. No one will look at this and deny this procedure."
I have no idea what the procedure(s) name is, just that it's not a simple one that will have me back at work the next week.
I told him that I needed time to think and he agreed. I knew at the time that I need and will likely have it done, but I couldn't make myself say, "Let's get the ball rolling."
I'm having a difficult time, thinking about losing my independence. I know it's only temporary, but I'm an independent person that does not want nor will ever be comfortable not doing things myself. I know that if I don't have the procedure that I could lose my independence and more! Timing! Summer coming on and my huge yard that is far from being an easy ride to do. (Dangerous hills and terraces) If it was winter I'd come up with something else to worry about someone else being capable of doing safely.
I won't be bed ridden, just no lifting or bouncing around on the tractor or mower for a minimum of 6 months. I realize that with time the day will come that I will likely have to relinquish what I do now on a permanent basis. Like so many other things in life, you just don't think about it. That day is years away until it ain't.
Ya'll are part of my family and I felt the need to tell someone what my mind and body are battling over. I am grateful. I realize this is small potatoes compared with other diagnosis like cancer. Still it's a big deal for me. Definitely working on my head!
For those of you that take the time and have the ability to endure one of my long rambling post, I thank you.
For those that don't, well I definitely understand that too.
