In all seriousness, though... I'm not a radiologist, but this doesn't look normal to me:





I think we may finally have an explanation for why my back went to **** again after climbing in and out of Chiburbian's ground-scraping NB several times last weekend, which is a repeat of the episode that plagued me from Sep - Nov of last year.

 

Back pain sucks.

I also discovered that since my surgery, I have shrunk by almost an inch. They told me I would, but I never thought it'd be that much.

 

What was the procedure they did on you?

 

I'm legitimately sorry... It's not THAT low though? I raised it up about 3/4" from where it was.

 

 

I love puddles pity party
The girl in the middle is Robyn Adele Anderson...I love this video too

 

One of my favorites:

 

Right side Lumbosacral Radiculopathy and Lumbar Laminectomy at S1. Herniated disc removal (partial) and enlargement of the opening for the nerve exit on the right side.

Recovery was 1 month before I returned to work, one year before pains disappeared.

 

Yowsa...

In my case, the pain is centralized in the lumbar region, and is extremely sharp- not dull or achy. It radiates into the left hip, but only occasionally into the left leg itself (and then, only into the thigh, rarely the lower leg, and never the foot), and I've not experienced any numbness or loss of muscle control, which is atypical for sciatica from what I understand.

It's also not constant. Some event sets it off, it hangs around for a month or two (with anti-inflammatory and muscle-relaxants) and then dissipates until the next episode.

Anyway, this is the image series that really caught my attention:





Note frame IM: 10. Some **** is fucked up down there. On the one hand, I'm displeased by this. On the other hand, I'm hopeful that we now have a diagnosis which allows us to move forward, rather than just "here's a prescription for more narcotics, and do some PT."

 

Anytime you have pain radiating into the butt or leg, that is sciatica. Mine went all the way to my foot, and was constant. You probably have a ruptured/slipped disc, and it impinges (presses) on the nerve. Nerves don't like that, and signal their displeasure by causing pain. Modern laser surgery can help correct this, by removing minor disc eruptions. My surgery was originally supposed to be laparoscopic, but it was determined that the laminectomy (cutting away part of the vertebra) necessitated a more invasive procedure. Part of that was because the nerve was so swollen that just removing the disc bulge wasn't enough.

In the images above, you can clearly see the discs at S1 and S2 are displaced. Those dark blobs outside the spinal column are the culprit. That is not supposed to be like that. Hate to say it, but you are probably looking at some form of surgery to fix.

Even now, if I over do it (lifting/bending), I get some sciatica. It tells me to back off and be more careful. Fortunately, I no longer have to take anything stronger than acetaminophen. There was a time where I was popping Vicodin faster than Dr. House.

 

Ah, don't be sorry. I'm just turning into a rickety old man.

EDIT: And sorry I kinda cut out on you early, but I was in serious ******* agony towards the end. I cried in the car on the way home. (Hoisting those last two wheels, the ones with rubber on them, up onto the trunklid felt like I was being stabbed. And I've been stabbed, so I can speak to this from experience.)

For what it's worth, I finally understand your username. Chi-'burbian. With emphasis on the "burb" part.

 

I was going to ask about that, when I read the "1 month before I returned to work" part. I'm hoping for an endoscopic / laparoscopic solution here. I've only had open surgery once (to put my right hand back together), and it sucked majorly. By comparison, I walked the mile home from the hospital 18 hours after my appendectomy last year. Granted, it was a hard mile, but it was more gratifying than the 8-10 which I jogged every day at the time.


S2? I'm looking at the L4-L5 and L5-S1 regions.

But yeah, that's my takeaway as well. The coloration of those two discs in the image kinda concerns me- not sure why the density is so much different from the rest.



Aaah, great show.



I don't know why, but acetaminophen has never really done anything for me. Aspirin works well on stuff like headaches, but even the hydrocodon they've been giving me doesn't do much to take the edge off this one. I use it sparingly (still on the same bottle I got the last time, in October 2016) so I can't imagine that tolerance is an issue...



Also, it just now occurs to me that I posted an image last year which contained my full mailing address, and I still haven't received any ponies by mail.



Anyway, off to work. The Non-Union Electrical Fairy has some **** to get done this weekend while no one is around.

 

Would squatting help in your daily routine?

 

Yes, you are correct. I was copy & pasting from my records, and forgot to change it. The color difference is due to the fact that they are somewhat desiccated. This happens over time, especially when the discs have been damaged. The "juice" leaks out and is absorbed by the body. Mine were black/dark in my MRI as well.


I'm working on it. There are others ahead of you, and do you have any idea how long it takes to make a My Little Pony Trojan Horse?

 

Welcome to old age. For irritated and inflamed nerves, I have always found that naproxen sodium (Aleve) works best.

 

Often people with nerve pain will be given gabapentin. It was originally developed as an epileptic drug, but they found it doesn't work so well for that. But it is very common for sciatica.

Unfortunately, side effects include "mood swings". I found that when I was on it, I became overly emotional* and slightly irrational. In other words, it makes you a woman.

Anyway, be forewarned.



* our family watched "Frozen", and I cried like a little girl. Wife thought it was funny.

 

No, but this guy does:



Postage might be a tad excessive...


At the risk of interjecting politics into the Random thread, Pinkie Pie seems to be a common theme here.






Haven't tried that. I've been trying to stay away from the hydrocodon (haven't taken any in 3 days) as it screws with my head. I shall pick up a bottle.



I'll admit that I wept at the beginning of Up.

And when Han Solo died. And again when Rey found Luke.

And during the "well, this is it" scene in Toy Story 3.

And a couple of times during Battlestar Galactica.

I'm a softie for good drama...

 

Joe, given your height and build, L4 - L5 problems are more common than you would think.
One caveat to such problems is a healthy, active lifestyle.

And, it's a misleading caveat.
An active lifestyle keeps muscle groups in decent shape and they help the body maintain good posture, among other things.
Assisting the skeletal structure in this fashion helps conceal a number of back and especially lower back problems.
In other words, you live a happy life, without ever knowing there are certain problems with your "frame".

Then, there comes a time when you may be overworked, fallen weak for some reason, or stressed where you neglect yourself, or are no longer able to maintain a healthy level of activity to keep decent muscle tone.

BAM. you wake up with back pain one day.

It was an important client meeting for me. Heads of a major pharmaceutical company.
We shook hands, I took one step back to sit down, and suddenly there were a dozen rusty swords stuck in my body.
I was frozen in a semi standing, getting ready to sit down position, and they carried me that way.
A decent shot of muscle relaxant unraveled me at the hospital.

It was almost exactly a year to the day since I had stopped exercising. By exercising, I mean skiing regularly in two disciplines, rock climbing, mountain biking and playing soccer in the city league.

Anyway... Next week or so was pure hell. I kept falling for no reason - my left leg would just cease to exist - I would just fall on my face.
Pain was excrutiating at times. Like hot, burning oil running in my veins.

They gave me pain killers. Hell, they gave me killers. They were of pretty little use.

I saw two specialists. They both said "Surgery, now!"

So I had an emergency back surgery.
Turns out, I was just living merrily with a herniated disc. No big deal.
It became a big deal when the herniated disc ruptured and the torn bit slid down to the next vertebrae and lodged itself in the bundle of nerves coming out of it.
Random short circuit circus.

Not properly active anymore, my muscles had lost their tone, and no longer played their supportive role.
The rest was a domino effect with my body weight pounding on the herniated disc.

Surgery took a couple hours. I do not remember being wheeled back to my room.
I do remember the surgeon walking in the room after I woke up. He told me to get up and pack. Without help.
I did. It was a great feeling.

I went home and took it easy for four days, watching TV and movies, eating pizza and drinking tea.
Then I booked a ski trip.
My surgeon was delighted to hear about my ski trip.

I was skiing the black diamond stuff on Uludağ on the 21st day after my surgery.
That is where I cried. No one was around.

And, I never looked back.
Have the damn surgery. It gives you your life back.



Edit:

Sorry, this is a picture thread..

 

I hear you.

When I lived in NYC, I didn't own a car and commuted by foot. Worked my way up to 8-10 miles a day, at about a 70% jog / 30% walk pace. Best shape I've ever been in my whole life.

Now that I'm in Chicago, I drive to work every day. My work day is about 3-4 hours at a desk, and 4-5 hours on my feet walking, climbing stairs, working inside racks, etc. At 6'2" and 185 lbs, I'm hardly obese, but I'm definitely not in marathon trim anymore. That may well be the explanation for why this has suddenly started to happen to me again, after nearly 3 years without a single episode.



My next doc appt is this coming Friday. He's not a specialist, but now that I've got the MRI I'm going to ask for a referral to the Chicago Back Institute, which rather conveniently is only a few miles from here at Swedish Covenant Hospital.

While I dread the idea of the convalescent period, if the docs there say "surgery," then I'm 100% on-board. I just want this to stop.





I want to be able to do this again:



(Without the sparkles, obviously. Also, that's the last pony meme, I promise.)

 

Waffles.