(no subject)
So I had an appointment with the neurologist today in the latest bid to figure out what the hell is wrong with my back.
Highlights:
"Gee, I have no idea why you're in pain on your left side. Now, if it were the right side, I can see the problem right here . . ." Sorry, no luck, doc. I *know* I have nerve damage on the right side from the surgery. I have a patch the size of my hand on my right thigh where the nerves are dead and I can't feel touch. My right leg is slightly weaker than the left on a good day (on a bad day the pain in the left makes it weaker). But no, my pain is definitely only on the left side. So much for that theory.
"Your back is like nothing I've ever seen before". Yes, I'm special, I know this. The doctor who did my surgery advanced his career quite nicely by writing a well-received paper about the oddness that is my spine. Not that I'm complaining, he did a great job. The top ten spinal surgeons in a country put ideas in a hat and drew them to decide how they were going to do my surgery, because no one had ever seen a case quite like this before. My poor parents went through hell. No one wants their daughter making medical history, too many things could go wrong. I was very very lucky.
"You have remarkable range of motion for a fusion case" See the last sentence above. Ditto. The physical therapist I went to tried to argue with me that I couldn't possibly have a fusion because no one with a fusion could bend as far as I can. Trust me, I have a fusion. I'm just very lucky.
"Let's try this" Sure thing, doc. Whatever you say. I'll try just about anything at this point. I'm grateful that I can walk, really. So many things could have gone wrong that didn't. I can walk, I can run and dance and hop about. I can skip and twirl. I'm grateful, really. I just wish I could do so without constant pain. Is that too much to ask?
The "this" above being Lyrica. Nice name for a medicine, yes? Lyrica is a nerve pain medication. Since what I am experiencing is definitely nerve pain, despite the fact that we can't determine the cause, we're hoping Lyrica will help. It is still symptom management. We are no closer to finding the root cause of my pain, and the next logical step involves spinal injections, so I'm not really looking forward to that. I may be stuck with simply treating the symptoms for the rest of my life. We'll see.
Highlights:
"Gee, I have no idea why you're in pain on your left side. Now, if it were the right side, I can see the problem right here . . ." Sorry, no luck, doc. I *know* I have nerve damage on the right side from the surgery. I have a patch the size of my hand on my right thigh where the nerves are dead and I can't feel touch. My right leg is slightly weaker than the left on a good day (on a bad day the pain in the left makes it weaker). But no, my pain is definitely only on the left side. So much for that theory.
"Your back is like nothing I've ever seen before". Yes, I'm special, I know this. The doctor who did my surgery advanced his career quite nicely by writing a well-received paper about the oddness that is my spine. Not that I'm complaining, he did a great job. The top ten spinal surgeons in a country put ideas in a hat and drew them to decide how they were going to do my surgery, because no one had ever seen a case quite like this before. My poor parents went through hell. No one wants their daughter making medical history, too many things could go wrong. I was very very lucky.
"You have remarkable range of motion for a fusion case" See the last sentence above. Ditto. The physical therapist I went to tried to argue with me that I couldn't possibly have a fusion because no one with a fusion could bend as far as I can. Trust me, I have a fusion. I'm just very lucky.
"Let's try this" Sure thing, doc. Whatever you say. I'll try just about anything at this point. I'm grateful that I can walk, really. So many things could have gone wrong that didn't. I can walk, I can run and dance and hop about. I can skip and twirl. I'm grateful, really. I just wish I could do so without constant pain. Is that too much to ask?
The "this" above being Lyrica. Nice name for a medicine, yes? Lyrica is a nerve pain medication. Since what I am experiencing is definitely nerve pain, despite the fact that we can't determine the cause, we're hoping Lyrica will help. It is still symptom management. We are no closer to finding the root cause of my pain, and the next logical step involves spinal injections, so I'm not really looking forward to that. I may be stuck with simply treating the symptoms for the rest of my life. We'll see.