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Thursday, June 25, 2009

High-Ho, Heigh-Ho, Its Back On Drugs I Go

I went to the doctor about my back this morning. I’ve had a nagging pain for the last many months in and around the spot where I ruptured the disk a few years ago. Over the last couple of months, though, the pain has gotten worse. I’d been doing pretty well, tolerating it as much as possible and not letting it slow me down too much, but then Tuesday evening I started having muscle spasms. Seeing as how I’m the only human in my household, having nearly incapacitating spasms is just not a good thing. On the upside, though, I’m sure someone from work would start to worry when I didn’t show up the next day...

At any rate, the doctor confirmed that the problem is that stupid ruptured disk again, and I very likely have a pinched nerve on the left side (because of the disk and the inflammation). He said that the reason I also have pain on the right side is because the muscles have stiffened up so much that they’re actually inflaming the nerves on that side. Sigh. For now, we’re going to try a non-invasive option – oral steroids. I’ve got a week of prednisone to take, and if there’s no significant improvement, I’m to call the doc next Wednesday. He’s hoping the prednisone will at least help the problem on the right side, if not so much on the left. If there’s no improvement, he’ll send me to someone for a round of epidural shots. I’d prefer to avoid that, if possible, but we’ll just have to see what happens. Doc also gave me hydrocodone to help me get through the next few days, which I definitely appreciate. I took my first hydrocodone right after lunch, and my back already feels so much better. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: drugs are your friend.

3 comments:

John Van said...

"On the upside, though, I’m sure someone from work would start to worry when I didn’t show up the next day..."

Optimistic aren't we? ;)

German Shepherd Mom said...

Just remembering the day I was two hours late to work and Dave and Chris each called and emailed me, wanting to make sure I was okay - they both forgot I'd told them the day before that I'd be in late....

Anonymous said...

You just take care of yourself and we'll all hope the meds work...going under the knife is NOT a good option....shots aren't all that great but definitely preferable to the knife. GO MEDS GO!!! Love, Mom