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The end of the back pain

Rosie — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:23:55 +0000

After consulting a spine and pain management specialist, I was set up for an epidural shot this past Wednesday. I had been told not to expect an overnight miracle so I was anticipating pain for days after the shot was given. I had to arrive at the hospital half an hour before the procedure. There I was told exactly what would happen in a few minutes. I was wheeled into the operating room and the doctor injected a dye in my back which showed him the exact spot of the pain when he took an x-ray. That was where he injected the epidural. To be honest, I was expecting a lot of pain with that shot, but I didn’t feel a thing. I was then put into another room for the next 20 minutes to have my blood pressure monitored. After that I was given a paper telling me of limitations and what I may experience. I felt a little achy in my upper thighs while walking, but other than that I just felt tired.

Alex was waiting for me since I had been told I wouldn’t be able to drive for 5 hours after the procedure. When we got home I got the ice pack out and used that on my back, resting comfortably for 20 minutes. Then I took a nap! Felt much better upon waking and just went about the rest of the day as though nothing major had happened. I was still aching a bit when I went to bed, but when I got up the next morning I felt great. While I have to be careful about lifting things, I must admit this was a blessing for me to have that epidural. I have to do some back strengthening exercises, mild ones, for the next 4 weeks, but they are simple and don’t take a lot of time to do. I have to call the dr. next Wednesday to let him know how I am doing.

This whole health issue starting from the first hospital visit and ending with the epidural has taught me that I needed to fight to get better. No one should have to go to any length to find a doctor to help cure the problem. For me it was bouncing from the GI doctor to the rhumetologist, then the spine doctor. I wish I could have just had the spine doctor while in the hospital. Would have saved a lot of time and money. Lesson learned: fight for the end result when you know there is something wrong with your body. Don’t take the first doctor’s diagnosis seriously if you are still having the problem.

MRI

Rosie — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:47:46 +0000

I had an MRI done this morning to find out why I am still having lower back pain. This test was ordered by the rheumatologist. This is a rather large machine that makes an awful lot of noise when in use. You lie on a metal “bed”, then your body is slid into the machine, rather like being the hot dog in the roll. Then the technician starts the machine. Noise and more noise. Of course, they give you earplugs, but those don’t seem to help much at all. The noise is a bunch of clicking, beeping and what reminded me of a jack hammer sound. Needless to say for the rest of the day I have had a nasty headache.

MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Non painful, an MRI uses radio waves and powerful magnets linked to a computer to create very clear and detailed pictures of your internal organs and tissues without using radiation. Hundreds of pictures are taken very quickly. These will show the differences between normal and diseased tissues and enable your doctor to to give a better diagnosis as to your particular problem. These conditions include cancer, hear and vascular disease, breat diseases, stroke, join and musculoskeletal disorders. An MRI takes a body part, slices it in the computer, and creates hundreads of photos of hundreds of different slices, giving your doctor a more intricate view of your body. Your doctor gets a report within 2 to 3 days after the MRI, giving the ability to determine your diagnosis.

It was a rather interesting experience. I am looking forward to learning what my doctor determines from the results of the MRI.

Diagnosis Unknown

Rosie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:47:01 +0000

It’s been almost a month since I was admitted to the hospital and I am no further in finding the reason for my pain. The pain has now radiated to the other side of my lower back resulting in having pain in both the kidney areas. I have tried doing online research only to learn of more things that could possibly be wrong. There are some I have doubts about. Since I have my follow up appointment with the Upper GI doctor this Thursday, I will be adding to this particular blog when I know more details.

I’m finding it overly frustrating not to know what is wrong and even more so not to be able to do something about it. I am too young to have to stress over this whole issue. Tendencies to cry more often are appearing, sometimes when I least expect it. Doing the research helped to a point, but I am not about to diagnose myself. I have a list of questions for the doctor and hopefully will get some answers. I did manage to lose another 3 lbs. which is a good thing for me since I have been a bit overweight these past few years. Losing weight will also help with the diabetes.

If anyone has ever had any problems with their kidneys or lower back pain I would like to discuss this subject with them. Please do not be afraid to put a comment on any of my blogs. I only want to be able to help someone else down the line when they come up with something they don’t understand. Helping one another is the best way to keep ourselves happy, sane and healthy.