Back Amongst the Living

Well, after a little more than four weeks, I think I see some light at the end of the tunnel. For the past two days, I've had no pain at all. After finishing the first steroid pack, the pain did start to return a bit. Since my appointment with my spine specialist isn't until Wednesday, my doctor decided to put me on another steroid pack to get me through the weekend just in case the pain came back to its full intensity. After two days of being on the new steroid pack, the pain has disappeared. Thank the Lord.

I did get back the results from the MRI I had earlier in the week. It showed that the L3 disk fragmented and was resting on a nerve.....so a piece of the disk broke off and found a new home on the nerve. That's why there was no position I could put myself in to get any kind of relief. After reading the MRI report, my doctor said he didn't know how I had made it through the past three weeks and I think this is why he opted for the second steroid pack. Whatever his reasoning, I'm happy he did because it's such a relief to wake up in the morning with no pain. I feel so sorry now for all those people in the world who live in pain every day with no relief in sight.

But, I'm not out of the woods yet as I have to see what has to be done to fix this. My doctor wants me to see a neurosurgeon which I will do after seeing my spine specialist on Wednesday. One thing I did learn throughout this entire ordeal is never to self-medicate myself again. During a two week period, I think I went through three bottles of Motrin and two bottles of Extra Strength Excedrin. By the time I went to the emergency room last week, between all the drugs I was on and all the pain I was in, my blood pressure was at 210....I don't know what the bottom number was but I do know that they immediately put me on blood pressure medication which I'm still on. I never even knew your blood pressure could get that high. And Aunt Margie, if you're reading this, please don't relate this part to my mother because it will elevate her blood pressure. lol

So in my new found painfree life what have I done? I walked my dog yesterday and today while listening to my Ipod. It was like old times. I made dinner last night which I haven't done in a month. I also made Michael chocolate chip cookies to bring with him on his car ride to Newport, Rhode Island where he went for the weekend. Simple things but things that brought much satisfaction and joy.

I also wanted to mention that Bryan, better known by blog readers as FSIL (Favorite Son In Law), asked me not to blog while I was in pain because it was just too sad to read.

So, all I can say is thank you for the past two days.