Hey everyone,
First of all, thanks for praying for Anna Jane and asking about how
things are going. I heard that Jon thanked me for sharing last week,
but being open hasn’t really been a hard thing for me; i think it’s
the most reasonable thing we can do. I guess i feel that if we aren’t
honest about where we are (with others and first with ourselves), then
we can’t move or change. I think that’s why Engage is such a great
place for facilitating open dialog.
If you don’t know, Anna Jane has a bulging disc in her lower back (L5
if your into the anatomical part). When a disc is herniated (or
bulging), it’s moving out from between the vertebrae. This alone
isn’t a big deal, but it usually bulges out the back where the spinal
chord and/or nerves are. The pain, and pretty much all of the
problem, comes when the disc presses up against and pinches the
nerves.
Anna Jane started having some back pain last fall which, so we saw a
chiropractor for a few weeks. He adjusted her, but the pain
continued, so we got an x-ray (which didn’t show any problems) and
went to a physical therapist for a while until her condition was too
complicated for them to help, so they referred her to an orthopedic,
who had her get an MRI which revealed the herniated disc. He then
referred her to an orthopedic surgeon who could give us options. That
appointment was yesterday.
The pain started in the fall as knots in her lower back and general
stiffness that didn’t affect movement much. After the chiropractic
visits, the pain migrated to her hip. This was enough to slow her
down and start inhibiting what she could do. The pain continued to
get worse. By sometime around March, she couldn’t go for a walk
without narcotic pain-killers. Eventually the pain didn’t seem to
directly correlate to movement but would erratically flare up. Much
of the time, it would prevent Anna Jane from sleeping well if it all.
In the meantime, doctors are pushing us from one place to another,
telling us information that we already knew, referring us to people
who “specialize in this kind of thing.” Throughout last week, while
waiting to see the surgeon Anna Jane was feeling nauseous, dizzy, and
weak. We were checking her diet and water in-take, but by Sunday
morning she came in to church and felt like she would pass out.
At the ER last Sunday, they took another MRI and gave her some
steroids to take the inflammation down, which is the only thing that’s
worked so far. She’s mostly out of pain and has been able to go to
the pool to get some exercise. Yesterday, the surgeon prescribed a
decreasing dose of steroids. The disc may adjust itself (which most
of them do), and if it doesn’t, we’ll look at injections to do the
same thing as the steroids. If that isn’t effective, we’ll look into
surgery.
Thanks again for praying for us. It’s been hard to have hope and
trust, but it’s helped us grow.
Daniel
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Daniel; Almost 40 years ago I was in the same dilemma as Anna Jane. I had just started my career, had two kids and a pile of debt, and I couldn’t walk. At that time in Carlisle, when you consulted an Orthopedist it meant instant surgery. I knew enough about herniated discs to understand that a surgical procedure would probably work, but at my age there would be further surgeries for reoccurance, and those subsequent surgeries were less successful. (Ishould emphasize here that this was 40 years ago and medical procedures for this type of problem have certainly changed.) Nevertheless, I decided to avoid surgery if at all possible. I went to a new orthopedist,younger than me, told him my concerns, and he agreed. We embarked on a series of daily exercises(some of which I still perform), saw a Physical Therapist(which was also new to Carlisle at that time), went to a Yoga Retreat for further instruction, saw a Holistic Physician who gave me herbal remedies and tapes to show me how to practice imagery, and had an ergonomic specialist come to my place of work to observe and make suggestions on correcting bad work habits and posture. It took about a year of gradual improvement, but I was able to work during that time and eventually was free of symptoms. My point in going through all this is to encourage you. I give credit to all the remedies that I tried and to all those who guided me through them. But it did take time and a willingness on my part to follow the suggestions received faithfully. This may not be your path to health, but explore all avenues and realize that your role in recovery is very important. Now I think I’m starting to lecture so I’d better shut up. Don’t lose heart…if we can be of any assistance please call. Tom Colestock (PS…during this time period, the Insurance Co. that provided my disability insurance for work, placed an exclusion on my policy excluding back problems. A year later they removed that exclusion. You know when an insurance company does that, you are cured)