Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Is this 2005?

The reason I ask is, in 2005 I had this constant nagging pain in my left leg. It actually started in 2003, but I didn't have a chance to get it diagnosed until 2005. It turned out that I had spinal stenosis, where the space in your vertebrae slowly closes over time, eventually putting non-stop pressure on all of your nerves running down each leg. On top of that, I had 2 herniated discs.....

After months of waiting for MRI's and CT scans, I was booked for back surgery in March 2005.
Everything has been great ever since. No back pain, no leg pain, I regained the ability to walk long distances again, and eventually play baseball and run again.

About two weeks ago, this all changed. I don't remember hurting or twisting my back, the pain just suddenly re-appeared again, shooting down my left leg. I don't think I would hesitate to have surgery again, the only concern that I have is that the Surgeon who fixed my back the first time has since stopped doing back surgeries. I spoke with a doctor on my ward the other day, and he has booked me in for an MRI to see what's going on. In the meantime, I'll try physiotherapy and other topical pain relievers, hoping that my MRI gets done sooner than the last one, and that my back can (hopefully) get fixed once and for all.

I find it ironic that I work on an Orthopedics ward, dealing with back surgeries, knee surgeries, broken arms and legs, and every nurse I work with has back/leg problems of their own. Suddenly working in a clinic doesn't sound so bad.

On a lighter note, I have one last week of holidays approaching soon, and hope to do some more hunting and watch some football games. I might have a chance to head to Denver after all with my dad. If that's not sweet enough, it would be a Monday night game versus Tennessee. I can picture it now - me with no shirt on, painted head to toe in blue and orange paint (Denver's colours) with a sign reading "I came all the way from Winnipeg to be on Monday Night Football"
Beautiful, isn't it? Is it a coincidence that I share a birthday with John Madden?

2 comments:

Rock Chef said...

Maybe that is the nature of the medical profession - you lot have bad backs, the psychiatric nurses are all nutters...

If you do get on TV, I want pictures!

krista said...

I'm sorry to hear your back hurts again, Chris. I'm sure they'll be able to fix it and you'll be better than new! Good Luck with it all!