Back Problems

Nope, not pictures of big jugs. I'm hoping someone can reassure me.

Some history first.

My wife fell off a horse about 6 years ago (she was 15 or 16 at the time), landed wrong, broke her pelvis (left, high, back; broke the "wing" in that quadrant). Wasn't diagnosed quickly, she developed a bone cist which subsequently disintigrated, leaving a nice big hole where there should be bone. Doctors feared she had bone cancer, but once they got their diagnosis straightened out, they did surgery, performed a bone marrow transplant/implant, and bingo. She had some residual soreness following activity if she hadn't been real active (like in the springtime when she starts running again after not running all winter). Deep muscle rubs and stretching cleared the soreness up.

Until this spring, anyway. Same symptoms, but they have gotten progressively worse. VERY sore near the old incision site, and sore down her leg on the same side. She thought she could be the tough guy and work through it as before, but broke down and went to the doc on Monday. They were really concerned, got her an MRI on Tuesday (yesterday) afternoon. She called this afternoon to find out the results; they asked her to come in. Apparently, its THAT bad.

MRI showed a bone spur at the surgery site (no big surprise there), but not a particularly big one. Big enough to be a pain in the butt (pun), but not big enough to be the root cause. What they suspect is pinched nerves in the last two vertebrae due to disc protrusions resulting in narrowing of the opening through which the nerves pass. They are doing another MRI first thing tomorrow (be there at 6am) to get a better resolution of her lower back, and then they will have a better idea.

From what we've read, the long(er) term, non-band-aid solution is either a surgery to perform a nerve block or surgery to widen the openings the affected nerves pass through.

I suspect my mind is just feeding me all of the worst-case scenarios, and that this probably isn't nearly as worry worthy as I'm making it...

Sorry for the long post. Any thoughts?

There's a whole lot of BAD information out here in teh Intr4w3bz, y0. "Nerve block" would be a good example. And I would think she did not get a "bone marrow transplant." You need to listen to the experts you are paying and not try to second guess them with bad googlez and people on car web sites.

Agreed on all counts, except the bone marrow bit. They definately patched her up with bone marrow (whether artificial or transplanted may be where my wires get crossed).

Its not helping that I haven't been in with her to actually talk to the paid experts yet. Will be doing so in the morning.

Back pain sucks, sorry to hear. I had/have(?) a pretty sizable protrusion of my L1S5 disc which pinched my nerve and pretty much berkeleyed me out of 3+ years of my early 20s. Docs tried everything short of surgery from physical therapy to ultrasound, cupping, acupuncture, trigger point injections and epidurals, nothing worked.

I was on muscle relaxers, anti inflammatory and pain killers just to get out of bed in the morning. It got to a point where that's all they did for me, was see me and refill my prescription and collect their checks while telling me that was my life, that one bad turn could put me in a wheelchair.

I wasn't morbidly obese or otherwise disabled looking and having people wonder why I was useless and fragile or think I was faking was something that killed me inside. Work settled with me and I said berkeley the doctors and berkeley what they wanted me to accept as a life, started working out harder than the PT was having me do, strengthening my back and core, lost some weight and immediately started feeling better. I was no longer waking up, popping pills, going back to sleep till they kicked in and then being able to bear getting out of bed and function.

I kept it up and now I weigh more than I did at my "fattest" but it's muscle and although there are days when I get reminded I have back issues, like when it's the first cold in awhile, I am healthy and strong and able. If I slack on the working out and conditioning then I feel it in my back first, so I don't stay away from the gym long.

Doctors didn't want to operate on me because they felt the scar tissue would leave me exactly where I started off. That's one thing I'm thankful to them for. The meds... well a lot of them were recalled for potential long term health effects (heart) so that's something I have to worry about in the future.

I don't have anything to offer other than that, hopefully the less extreme treatments work for her or whatever they do gives her relief.

There is no artificial bone marrow, John, and transplanting bone marrow is a VERY big deal, and only used in cases of certain blood cancers and involves killing off all the patients existing bone marrow with mega radiation doses. Is that what she had?

DT&B, there is no L1S5 disk. I think you meant L5S1. Glad you're doing better. Back surgery like that should be a last choice kinda thing. Most people just want a magic pill (surgery, etc.) instead of the "hard" route that you took that will actually be much better for them in the long term.

I really wanna hotlink some bewbage, but resisting the urge and hoping ya'll get better.

That's all I have...

In reply to Dr. Hess:

Ah yes, you're correct Dr. Hess, thank you and I agree, I wish I had started on the "hard" route years sooner.

Dr. Hess wrote: ...Back surgery like that should be a last choice kinda thing....

I know very little about this subject, but that is my observation also. Something to be avoided if at all possible.

I'm dealing with a protruding disc in my lower back right now. My Orthopaedist is going to try an epidural first to kill the nerve pain (lots of pain in my back and left leg/hip). If the shot doesn't work, then we'll consider "microsurgery" to cut away the protruding portions of the disc.

I've been asking around and getting mixed feelings on the shot. Some people say it worked wonders, others say it did little or nothing.

Cone Junky, every case is different, so take this with a grain of salt. I have the same sort of deal. Physical therapy has worked real well for me. My back isn't perfect, but it is ten times better than it was. Keep in mind I was a goalie in hockey and lacrosse through college, I have a pretty good threshold of pain, and back pain is the worst thing I've ever encountered. PT took a while, but I haven't gone in for more than a year, I just do the stretches they game me. I'm not totally free of pain, but it is ten times better than before. I recently move a subaru engine block from my truck to my shed, and put a plow blade into the back of the same truck, with no horrible consequences other being a little sore for a couple of days. Had I even looked at that engine block two years ago, my back would have locked up, spasmed to the point where I'd almost pee my pants. So it was a substantial difference from then and now.

I have been struggling with this for years as well. I ruptured 5 discs in my lower back during a downhill mountain bike crash in my younger years. I have been through multiple surgeries and injections and still have sharp shooting pain down my syatic (sp?) nerve down my left leg.

Wish your wife the best in her recovery! They are actually still making great strides in back operations to this day, so all people suffering from issues that have gone unfixed should have hope!

Cone_Junky wrote: I'm dealing with a protruding disc in my lower back right now. My Orthopaedist is going to try an epidural first to kill the nerve pain (lots of pain in my back and left leg/hip). If the shot doesn't work, then we'll consider "microsurgery" to cut away the protruding portions of the disc. I've been asking around and getting mixed feelings on the shot. Some people say it worked wonders, others say it did little or nothing.

In my case, MOST of the time, the shots "dull" the pain for a month or two. Never been completely taken away, Others have more positive results...

A horse fell on me when I was 22 – since then I've had recurring sacroiliac issues and shoulder blade pain. For most of the year after the accident, my ex used to have to help me out of bed, and rolling over would cause me to wake in agony. Most of the time, working out and yoga keeps it in check, but if I sit too long, or let my core get out of shape I'm stiff and sore. My deepest sympathy to back-pain sufferers, I know how awful it is.