Friday!

Thank goodness it is Friday, the end of the week and the last working day of the year. Get out at 2pm, but then have to drive about an hour to pick up something for work. That's not too fun. But afterwards I get to go home and take it easy for three days, which is something my body needs desparately. I need to stabilize my spine so hopefully I can get the pain levels down a bit. I'm just having a very difficult time these days.

This weekend one of my "to do" items is to update this site. I have been tinkering with the layout of my new blog (www.thirtysomethingblog.blogspot.com), a site where I talk about everything and not just my spine issues. I would like to do the same with this site as well, so I figure if I grab my laptop and rest on the couch for awhile it will give me something to do and help keep my mind off the pain. My goal is to make this a site where people can come and find links for spine/health resources. You know, make the site more than just me talking about how much pain I'm in.

See you around this weekend.

Almost there

I made it through the Christmas season (barely); now I just need to make it until 2pm on Friday when I get off work and officially have the time between then and Tuesday at 8am to rest my poor spine.

My trip to Iowa was unfortunately a series of painful events. Five people crunched into a small car for over 7 hours in total. When I was not in a car I was usually sitting on a folding chair, standing, or on the floor - all which crushed my spine. Through it all I was unfortunately drugged on Lyrica, Vicadin and Excedrin (to help keep me awake and to help with my headaches). I can't remember much, which makes all of those efforts seem like a big waste of energy and time. Hopefully next year will be better.

I have yet to hear on an available date for my surgery yet; will probably be next week before I know. I am still trying to figure out how I'm going to break this to my bosses, and what exactly I want to get out of my meeting with them next Tuesday.

A year ago today my Grandpa G. passed away from Leukemia. One of the last things he expressed to me was how worried he was about me and my back pain - I think he would be thrilled knowing there is hope around the corner.

Merry Christmas! (early)

Merry Christmas to all out in blogger land. Yes, it's a few days early but I am leaving for Iowa tomorrow to spend my typical Christmas Eve at my grandparents farm. My grandpa passed away a few days after Christmas last year, so it will definitely be different without his happy and warm presence. My grandma is wonderful and I look forward to spending time with her and the other 30 members of the family at the farm. We'll fly back Christmas day to our home, where we are hosting Christmas dinner for my parents, brother and his girlfriend. Then we head to my parents house for the gift opening. My parents are moving to a new house the day after, so it will be our last Christmas there. Very busy holiday!

Earlier this week I was a physical and mental mess - the pain was too much. Managed to make it through work days but not much else. Today I'm off work and doing all of the things I should have done this week, like cooking, wrapping gifts and packing. Hopefully my back will be kind to me for the next few days. I still have not told my employer about my pending surgery (yet to be scheduled). I am waiting until 2007 to tell them, when the partners are all back in the office. I am going to be prepared this time, as I've been through this before. After talking with my husband last night I am going to try and shoot for a February surgery. I can't describe in words how nervous I am. But for now I will focus on Christmas. All the best!

Two options: surgery or...surgery

Went to the new ortho doc, Dr. McC on Thursday and was presented with two options for my back. A major fusion or a partial fusion. I'm going to go with the partial but it's a matter of when. I have not told anyone at work yet, as I need to determine how I am going to approach it. Quite frankly, I am worried that if I tell them I will eventually be "weeded out" and replaced. I do a good job and have several letters of appreciation from the group as well as three years of good job performance reviews. However, this is a small group. And I don't trust who I work with. And given the horrible job market here in Ohio, I cannot afford to be without a job. There are a lot of other factors as well that I do not want to get into here, but basically this could get messy.

The surgery will take two hours. They will put in pedicle screws and also take some of my hip bone to help stimulate healing and growth for the pedicles and pars, both which are fractured, at the L5 level. They will go through the back, unlike the ADR where they go through the front. I'll be in the hospital 3-4 days. No driving for 3-4 weeks, but could be back to work at two weeks depending on my employer's flexibility to work with me.

I'm not thrilled about another surgery but I do not have a choice. It could be worse, so I won't complain.

In the meantime I have Christmas to get ready for. Still need to buy gifts AND wrap them. Lots to do around here, so I bid you a happy Sunday.

Some Answers - Finally

Hello. Yes, I've been avoiding my blog for quite some time, but I have had little news to report on the ADR front. Since May I have had three epidural injections and a radiofrequency ablation at the S1/L5 and L4/L5 level. I have been put on Lyrica for the nerve pain in my low back and legs, and am now taking 450mg a day. It's made my mind a bit foggy and I don't have the memory I once had, but my husband tells me it's probably due to the fact I turned 30 in May. What a funny guy - one of the reasons I love him so. I've been taking small doses of Vicadin on and off, depending on the pain. Unfortunately the last month has brought a lot of increased pain, probably because the results of the ablation are wearing off.

The biggest change has been the course I have been taking for diagnosis of this pain I have been having since the surgery. I tried the Cleveland Clinic back in May with little results; basically the orthopedic surgeon, who I was referred to by one of my bosses since the doc was a personal friend, wrote me off. Didn't want to accept me as a patient, thought I was fine with the docs I was already with. Well, another boss referred me to the head of the pain management department at the Cleveland Clinic. I'll call this doc Dr. M. I have only had two consults with him, but at the first one he recommended an MRI, since I had not had one since the surgery. He then wanted another ortho surgeon at the Clinic to look at the MRI, so I set up an appt with him.

Dr. McC (abbrev.), the new ortho doc, not only looked at the MRI results (which showed the other discs in my spine were ok), but ALSO looked through my patient file with all of the scans and reports that have taken place since 2003, which I had brought with me. And guess what he found - a pedicle fracture at the L5 level, most likely caused by the disc. And he found this by looking at CT scans from October 2005. Scans which three ortho surgeons were to actually look at, but obviously didn't look at all or closely enough. And the wonderful radiologist at Akron General, who did the report on the scans, missed it as well. Dr. McC asked if he could keep my records and films so he could go over them in more detail, and I set up an appt with him for this Thursday.

To my surprise, he called me last Thursday at work. Yes, a doctor that I have only seen once called me personally. He gave me the news that he and another doc looked through my films and scans, and not only do I have one pedicle fracture, but I have two. Both pedicles are fractured at the L5 level. More than likely this is the main cause of the pain.

What's next? Had another CT on Monday so they can see how the fractures have progressed. I see Dr. McC tomorrow, where we will talk treatments. Originally he told me I was probably looking at a fusion, but during our call last week he told me there may be other treatments available depending on the CT results. He also told me they would try to save the artificial disc at all cost - in other words, he will do his best to keep me from having a fusion.

I'm thrilled that I finally have an answer as to why I have the pain I do; and it makes sense, as I did have about two months after the surgery where I felt great and then one day in July it just all started going downhill. I'm also angry that I've gone through an additional 14 months of pain just because other docs did not do their job and actually look at the CT film. The pain has been very difficult lately, and given that my work and personal life is so overloaded with stuff to do I'm feeling very overwhelmed. I have realized that I am only one person and I need to ask for more help than what I am use to. I also need to prioritize, and maybe not do all of those little things that are on my list but probably do not need to be taken care of. Of course that is difficult to do when it is the Christmas season and you have all of the cookie exchanges and parties and events to attend. I can't wait until it's over!

This is about my life before and after ADR. Obviously ADR has been successful for many people out there, but in my case I believe I was not the ideal candidate for it. I have learned after the surgery that I have arthritis in the facet joints in my low and mid back, which is not helped by ADR; it is helped by fusion. A discography was not done before the surgery, even though I asked and was told it was not needed. However, that might have shown that my pain was coming more from the facet joints and less from the disc they removed. The disc they put in was about twice the size of a typical disc they put in other individuals. With the extra height putting more strain on my spine and the arthitic facet joints, is this why I'm left with two pedicle fractures? My guess is yes.

I will try to be better about giving updates. I've come to realize that this blog should not just be about the big events in my life regarding ADR. After all, I'm dealing with the effects of this surgery every day. And no matter how much I hate to admit it, it affects my life greatly every day. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful support team - my wonderful husband, parents, brother, friends and co-workers. I could never make it through all of this alone, and I am eternally grateful to each of them.