Saturday, July 21, 2012

Sciatica, Disk Herniation and Fibromyalgia

     It has been almost a month now since I last blogged. There are so many words in my head, so many things I want to share but that is not possible.

     I finally managed to see my doctor. I was admitted to hospital and found out I did have muscle injury near my left shin bone. However after a series of ultrasound therapies on my leg, I still have stabbing pain in my leg especially when I was lying down in the hospital bed. That was weird. I should not be having any pain when my legs were not moving. My kind doctor advised that I should do an MRI on my lumbar spine just in case. True enough, my L5/S1 has disk herniation. Most often, people called that 'slipped disc'. My leg was experiencing sciatica pain. The bulging disc was pushing on my nerves that were connected to my left leg near my shin. That was the culprit! In fact both of my discs were bulging. Doctor said that God is good to me to only allow pain on one side. Thank God for that.

     All these years, I always had backache and sometimes it was so bad that I could not even lie on my back. Little did I know all these accumulative 'pains' would lead to a condition like now. I also have fibromyalgia syndrome so I have many overlapping symptoms which masked the nerve impingement pain that I felt. Fibromyalgia did intensified my pain.

    I have never wanted to take medications to treat my fibromyalgia as I wanted to deal with it naturally. In fact, I was improving naturally due to lifestyle changes and more prayers. However, doctor advised that it is best now to take Lyrica to help with the 'crazy' nerve signals that fibro is sending. It has been making me very sleepy and drowsy. I feel blur and my head just need to plop on the bed every now and then.

    As of yesterday, I have cut down my dosage of Lyrica. I have to admit that my fibromyalgia pain is lessening. I do not feel much pain in my legs anymore but my back seems to be hurting more. That is still bearable. I thank God for many friends who visited me and helped me throughout these days of 'sick leave' and bed rest at home. Big thanks to my mother who flew in to nurse me. I feel like a grandmother now.

     I guess the whole experience has been very interesting. I have not slept in the hospital since I was six and it was 'enlightening' to have two different old ladies being admitted and discharged right next to my bed through out the duration of my stay. Perhaps I shall blog about them on a new post entirely. I have been pushed around in the wheelchairs, even in the malls and I must admit that it was quite fun. The best part was seeing how people react to me on wheelchairs. I know now how a handicapped feels like. I felt pampered to have so many people taking care of me especially when I was hospitalized. I also kept thinking of the many millions of poor people who could never afford medications or a visit to the doctor. I am very saddened by this. 

      Right now, I have finished a set of physio-therapies and am undergoing another set of interferential therapy and traction with hot pack. They really helped a lot. I am improving day by day thanks to all these technology plus lots of tender loving care from above and around me. I would be going back to work in a week. I pray the extra pressure of walking and everything would not urge sciatica to recur on me.

      I have to be extra careful now with everything that I do. I guess I took my lumbar spine for granted. I am going to miss all the kickboxing that I had always wanted to resume and a lot more fun activities that I have to avoid. There's always a bright side to everything. I guess and hope I'll be more compassionate to elderly people with aches and pains far worse than mine.

Praise the Lord for His mercy and healing!

p/s: Many people around me has never heard of fibromyalgia..it is so rare in Malaysia..I wonder if there are more people like me.

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