Well, Hey There

Hi!  It's me, Amanda. Above is a picture of me, except my hair is far less stringy in real life.  Other than that, it's a pretty accurate likeness.

Here's the deal-e-o:  I am writing this blog to journal my experience as I seek a solution to eliminate my chronic back pain due to spondylolisthesis in my lumbar spine.  I have been obsessed with searching the internet about this condition, but it's tough to find a personal account of someones experience other than those DEPRESSING message boards.  I decided to start this blog to share my experience with others, as well as giving myself a therapeutic outlet.

I don't know how you feel, but I often feel alone in my pain.  I have a loving husband, great friends and patient co-workers, but at the end of the day, I'm the one in this body.  Sometimes I feel lonely in my pain.  Usually talking about my pain makes me feel better, but honestly, who wants to hear about it all of the time?  Even my husband, who has the patience of Job, probably wants me to shut up about it sometimes!  So when I am feeling lonely and in the need of a good spill, I'll try to do it here. 

Here's a little history:

I was diagnosed at age 8 with pretty severe scoliosis.  I have an s-shaped curve, with the most severe being in my thoracic spine.  At it's worst, I had a 54 degree curve.  After bracing for 5 years, I had Harrington rods placed at age 13. 

Fast forward to my teens & 20's and life was my oyster.  I recovered beautifully from scoliosis and didn't even think about my back all that much for years.  It wasn't until I was in my late 20's that chronic back pain started to plague me.  For years, pain was a pest, but it didn't really disrupt my life all that much.

Fast forward again, and now I am 35 years old.  Over the last 2 years, my pain has gotten much, much worse.  The last few months have been really difficult, with my pain really infringing on my quality of life.  I have been diagnosed with Spondylolysis and Spondylolithesis with some degeneration of one of my disks.

Currently, I can't stand for over 3 minutes without feeling "locked up" in low back pain.  We've tried a few spinal blocks, but they did not take.  My first bock worked for about 10 days.  It was a sublime experience!  I was so hopeful about the second block, but it did not work at all.

Three weeks ago, the pain started to go down my left leg and into my foot.  When I went to see the physiatrist last week, he noticed some weakness in my left leg.  Bummer.  If I do any activity, like cleaning the kitchen or a bathroom, I can hardly walk afterwards.  It takes me getting off my feet for a while before I can get up and get going again.  Needless to say--it sucks.  Big time.

Because of the foot pain and weakness, my physiatrist is sending me for a CT Myelogram on tomorrow.  He chose to do a CT Myelogram because I have had back surgery in the past.  Just in case you don't know, doing a myelogram involves a spinal tap (geez!).  I have never had one before, so needless to say, I'm a bit nervous.  I plan on sharing my experience, so if you've got one in your future, my account may help prepare you.

Well, I guess that's all for now.  Please know if you or a loved one is suffering from chronic pain, you're not alone.  I'll be back post myelogram to give you all of the deets.