Tag: pain

Since last time (and this) I figured it was time for an update.

I saw the pain management doctor (who gave me the injections) and he said I needed to have part of my spine widened since the injections did not work. The “spine hole widening” is a surgical procedure, so he suggested I see a surgeon. So I did.

The surgeon looked at my MRI and said “You’ve got a senovial cyst!” So yeah, there is a cyst on my spine pressing against the nerve that runs down my right leg, hence the terrible horrible pain in my right leg.

If you want to get technical I need a Laminotomy which is the opening of the space around the nerve, in this case by removing the cyst. (A Laminectomy on the other hand, is removal of part of the spine. Luckily a Laminotomy is a somewhat less invasive procedure.)

It seems plenty of (older) people get these cysts but never even know it because they do not cause any pain. Lucky me!

Other fun things from the diagnosis: “severe lumbar spinal canal stenosis” and “multilevel cervical spondylosis neural foraminal narrowing” and of course “degenerative disc disease” for good measure.

So the good news is I am scheduled for surgery. The bad news is I need to wait for three months after the injection, which would mean the first week of July. The other bad news is that due to my work schedule I can’t take off for the surgery until the last week of July. So as I am typing this it’s over 70 days until my surgery.

The surgery could get moved up if I start to lose control of my bladder and bowel, so that’s fun.

Otherwise I figure I’ve already gone over 120 days in pain, what’s another 70 or so. Are there days I wake up (in pain) and scream in agony? Yes. But hopefully we’ve got a solution to this nightmare.

Fingers Crossed and all that!

I awake
3am, 4am, maybe 5am
it’s not enough
the pain begins
will it be a few hours
or all day
I never know
time disappears
so many hours
in pain
lost time
a lost year

I take the pills
it was 1, then 2, the 3
four… five…
and it’s still not enough
to dull the pain
the pain
persists

so much I want to do
so much I cannot do
while the pain is in command

sometimes I feel alright
but it doesn’t last
the pain returns
each morning
or it creeps up
anytime
during the day
when unexpected
when unwanted

a broken man
waiting to be fixed
fighting against time
fighting against the pain
sadness visits
darkness lurks
but we keep going

what else can we do?

~

See the previous post… Done? Okay!

I waited three weeks. Well, technically I waited 20 days, but on that 20th day I had the exact same excruciating and debilitating pain I had before the injections. And since the injections I’ve not had a day without pain.

Some days were definitely better! Almost… normal. Minor pain, mild discomfort, but I could mostly go about my daily routine, which starts with an hour (to a few hours) of pain, then mostly pain-free the rest of the day.

I say “mostly pain-free” because certain things still caused pain, like putting on socks and shoes, or driving, so there’s something lurking still, waiting to hurt me.

Some days were worse, and I noticed that again, the pain was shifting. Upper leg, hip, buttock area… not just ankle and lower leg. AND! I started getting pain in my left leg, which was never affected. A few nights I could not walk or go upstairs without a heap of pain. As if my legs just… didn’t work.

So on that 20th day, I emailed my doctor’s office, told them all this, and said I will not make it to July for the “13 weeks later” follow-up appointment. So I’ll be seeing them next week. Fingers crossed!

See the previous post… Done? Okay!

The past three weeks (not two) have been crap. Pain every day, every night. I’ve been taking Gabapentin, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and using a heating pad quite a bit. On a good day I’d have 6 to 8 hours of pain and on a bad day 12+ hours.

But the day has come! My procedure was a few days ago. Since I was sedated I really don’t remember much about it. They inserted two needles into my back and injected steroids into my spine. (Fun!) The next day I felt good. Really good. But they do warn it can take days or a week or more to start being pain-free.

Two days after the injections I had quite a bit of pain in the morning, which is normal, but it wasn’t at the same level as it was earlier in the week before the injections. It faded later in the day, so that was good.

So if you’re keeping track I’ve been in pain (in various ways) since November. It’s shifted, changed, and mutated since then. From the back to the butt to the hip to the leg and ankle.

I cannot wait to get back to my old life of working full-time, going on bike rides, not lying on a heating pad in pain, etc. I hope, hope, hope we’re nearly there.

Just a quick update since the last post…

Hey, funny story. And by “funny” I mean tragic. I got through a consultation (in great pain, since I was off my medication) and got an actual appointment to get an injection. Actually, two injections. They said that they would need to go in through both sides instead of through the back.

So I was in the hospital, and Nurse Tara was prepping me for the procedure, going through all sorts of questions and then at the end of the questions Dana mentioned my finger.

I noticed the previous night that my right index finger was a bit swollen and reddish. Guess what… I had an infection!

Nurse Tara said “Okay, hold on” and left. Another nurse came in, took a look at my finger, then left. And then the doctor came in, took a look, and told me we needed to reschedule.

Fuuuuuuuu…

Yeah, so we canceled the procedure to be on the safe side, as doing a procedure while I potentially has a blood infection was a bad idea. They told me to go to urgent care and get some antibiotics and come back in two weeks.

I’ve been in pain for two months, so I figured two more weeks would be, well… not okay, but whatever. I had no choice.

I’ve been on antibiotics a few days now, finger is looking good, and hopefully within two weeks we’ll have anther update.

Update: The “two weeks” is now three weeks due to rescheduling. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point.

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