Ruptured Disc - Part 2

Here is the image of the two lower discs for comparison. You can see that the large ovoide, the disc, in these images is seperate from the smaller ovoid below it, the spinal cord.

They said it was a 10 x 20 mm rupture; about half inch by 1 inch. Here is the MRI image of the ruptured disc; it is the L3-L4 disc. Counting up from the tailbone the vertabrae are named S1 then L1 through L4 (L stands for lumbar), then the next set starts which I not familiar with. See the next picture for reference.



As you can see from the previous images, the disc is really crowding the spinal cord. In these images you can see it from the side. The black stripe up the middle is the spinal cord. The discs are dark and the vertabrae are lighter. The bulge with the blue arrow pointing to it on the 4th image over is the part of the rupture that was really pinching the nerve that went to my right leg.



Hopefully that is pretty clear. I had a little bit of trouble trying to figure out what was what the first couple times, but if you study it for a little bit and know a little bit about the structure of the spine, you can figure it out pretty easily.

Well, long story longer... I ended up having surgery the next day after seeing the neural surgeon. It took about one and a half hours and I hated waking up from the anesthesia; like not having control of your senses. It is actually what I imagined being really drunk was like from how they portray it in the movies; I havn't experienced that kind of drunk. It makes sense why people I have seen come out of surgery are out-of-it; I can understand now.

It was 12 days after that fateful lunch when I left the hospital and I was able to be pretty much pain free and only on ibuprofen for keeping the surgical swelling down. I was flat on my back resting for another two weeks, but I was able to get up and around from time to time. I didn't get bored though, since I had my Star Wars books to read. I almost finished every one I had at the time. I should figure out how many books I read during that time; I will post it when I figure it out. I did get a little stir crazy by the end of the second week after surgery; but by that time I had gone for two checkups at the doctor's and had taken some short errand runs with my wife to the store to stretch my legs.

I ended up going back to work after 3 weeks and did a month of physical therapy to start my recovery off. It turned out that I recovered pretty quick and after 2 and a half months, I really felt like I was back to my old self, physically. I felt a lot more solid and not like I really had to be totally conscious about my back all the time; not twisting, no lifting, etc.

It has been almost 4 months to the day now and I am doing quite well. I still have to be careful not to lift things too heavy or lift incorrectly and bending over alot or working out in the yard for a couple hours makes me sore for the next day. I wouldn't want to have to go through it again, but I am doing well now; dispite the rupture disc and surgery.

Ruptured Disc

Well, I guess it is time for an update on my life. The most impressive thing that has happened over the last 4 months, and something I have been dealing with and coping for the same amount of time, is a ruptured disc in my lower back.

It happened June 2, 2006. I was home for lunch after being at a chiropractic appointment that morning. I was being treated for a low back strain that I had gotten the weekend before; and was feeling quite a bit better, with just residual muscle pain from my back being out of sorts for the week.

Well, that all changed when I went to set my plate of food down on the table and my back decided to give way. It was like my back back bent in a place it wasn't supposed to, about 6-8 inches above my waist, where peoples backs normally don't bend like that. Anywho... it was the worst pain that I had ever felt in my life, including breaking arms, slamming fingers in doors, droping heavy things on my toes, or even what I remember of almost amputating my toes with a shovel when I was a small child. I could barely breathe, the pain was so intense, and my first thought, was; "Oh, crap. That's not good".

Well, long story short, I ended up in the ER that night. I was given pain drugs and told to stay on my back for the weekend and go see my primary doctor on Monday, which I did. My doctor had me on my back for a week to see if it would resolve itself, and when I was still in pain while on the pain drugs the following Friday, I was scheduled get an MRI on my back that day and to see a Neural Surgeon on Monday.

It took the Neural Surgeon about 5 minutes to show me the ruptured disc about 4 vertibae above my tailbone and explain to me that it was one of the biggest ones he had seen. My options were to wait and see if the ruptured disc corrected itself or correct it with surgery, which was his recommendation. There was a very small chance a rupture of that size would correct itself.

Gotta go for now... to be continued... with pictures.

Thanks for the support

well, I guess this is the reason a lot of people like these blogs. They get supportive comments from people, maybe even people they don't even know. I was surprised to find that people had even replyed to my frustration at starting this blog. Anywho... I guess it is time to give it a try again.