A Timeline
Saturday, March 16th, Sunday, March 17th — I went to get of bed Saturday morning and was greeted with that oh-so-familiar twinge of "something's not quite right." I walked around a bit in the hopes that I was just too sore from being a lazy bum and sleeping in. I jumped in the shower in the hopes of shaving my legs and knew it was less "something's not quite right" and a bit more "something is wrong." I spent the weekend in bed. It was unbearable getting in and out, having to turn over. I used up many spoons, a few forks, and was eyeing up the knives.
Monday, March 18th — I emailed my surgeon with the subject line: "Another Disc Bites The Dust?" and outlined what had happened over the weekend along with my fears/suspicions. I wanted him to hear it from me just in case the receptionists garbled the message. I asked for a prescription for an MRI without an appointment because I knew an x-ray would be useless and that all he'd do at the appointment would be to schedule me for an MRI. It's not my first rodeo.
Wednesday, March 20th to March 22nd — About six hours in a sedan on I-95 to Fayetteville, NC to be among family for my cousin's promotion the next day. Had to take 3 stops to get up and walk around. But it sucks cause I can only take Tylenol (NSAIDs aren't good for my stomach, opioids and driving don't mid) and it doesn't do shit. I'm glad to be among family for a momentous occasion.
Wednesday, March 27th — MRI time or as I like to call it "Napping with Magnets." Get the CD right away.
Thursday, March 28th — Got the MRI report much quicker than expected.
Tuesday April 9th — Follow-up with my spine surgeon.
A Side Note
I don't know about everyone else with chronic issues, but do you ever feel like the world sees you as a hypochondriac?
I always worry that when I say that I'm in pain or that something is wrong, that I won't be believed. Some of that fear is personal to my life and the rest is just society and how it treats people who say they're in pain. I feel like for every ailment, I need definitive proof. And even when I have proof, I feel like I need to become an expert on what it means.
Results
I'm not going to post the exact wording because it's all jargon.
Imagine discs are jelly donuts. There's the pastry (the annulus fibrosis), the jelly (nucleus pulposus), and the glaze covering it all (the lamella).
L1-L2: That's one healthy looking donut.
L2-L3: This donut is newly misshapen, and it's hanging off the plate and interfering with a very important back straw.
L3-L4: Your pastry is a bit misshapen and dried out, as is the plate it is resting on.
L4-L5: Your pastry is a bit misshapen and dried out, and hanging off the plate. Also your plate and its lid are a bit messed up.
L5-S1: Very surgery, much shiny. Ugh, but we still have some issues with the pastry and rogue jelly.
Bonus round:
Wee bit of scoliosis!
You have a 4-cm ovarian cyst!
Wee bit of scoliosis!
You have a 4-cm ovarian cyst!
Interpretation
I'm trying not to get ahead of myself regarding what this all means. More conservative treatment? Go ahead with the next surgery (artificial discs!)? Sign up for an adamantium spine?
OR just hope that with time that my spine will get its shit together (this has not been the case thus far).
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