Back Update: MRI, X-Rays, Neurosurgeon and Physical Therapy

It’s been two weeks since I went to the emergency room with excruciating back pain. It took a minute to get all the pieces aligned, but last week I ended up with three separate appointments regarding my back. Last week was a bit of a roller coaster with lots of information, both good and bad, coming at me at a rapid pace. Here’s a quick summary of those appointments, where I am now, and what the plan is moving forward.

01. ANOTHER MRI

Last weekend, I had a second MRI scan, this time to scan the thoracic portion (middle third) of my spine. My entire body was inside the MRI machine both times so I’m not why they don’t scan your entire back while they have you in there, but they don’t.

The results of the MRI were simultaneous sent to me and my doctor so I got to read the news first hand. And while the previous scan seemed to be a “best guess” as to what was causing my pain, this one was a bit more certain. I have two herniated discs (one ruptured, one bulging) in the middle of my back.

02. A VISIT WITH THE NEUROSURGEON

My next stop was a meeting with a local neurosurgeon, who performed four more X-rays on my back and went over the results of them and then MRI scans with me. The herniated discs are definitely the problem. After a brief discussion, his plan is to initially treat my chronic back pain with medicine and physical therapy. If that doesn’t work, the next step will involve steroid injections into my back (essentially an epidural). Surgery would only be performed as a last resort. It was described to me as an invasive procedure which would involve removing parts of my spine, trimming the herniated discs, and then reassembling my back — a procedure that would be followed with month(s) of recovery. Everyone involved is hoping we don’t get to that. The neurosurgeon’s partying words were I should avoid doing anything that might hurt my back worse.

03. PHYSICAL THERAPY

I was apprehensive about attending physical therapy, as I didn’t want to do anything that might injure my back further. In fact, the neurosurgeon insisted that I get “manual” treatments only (no machines). I went into the PT thinking it would be the least helpful part of this process, and it turned out to be one of the best parts. The physical therapist I was assigned, Mark, explained to me that a surgeon’s goal would be to keep my spine straight through internal means like metal rods. His goal, he said, was to help me keep my spine straight through external means, like correcting my posture and a few simple exercises. Mark explained some things about bulging discs and my spine that no one else had up to this point.

04. HERE WE ARE

The neurosurgeon put me on Gabapentin (daily) and a muscle relaxer (as needed). I had to buy a larger pill box from Amazon, one with three compartments per day… yay.

The good news is, between the medicine, the exercises, and finding new ways to move (or more importantly, not move), I haven’t had one of those crippling back spasms in about a week. The muscle pain is always there, but varies between and one and a three out of ten on the pain scale throughout the day — not perfect, but manageable. I’m still ramping up on some of my meds, and I hope as I continue the exercises, things will get better. I will be following my neurosurgeon and avoiding activities that could hurt my back further (I’m glad I got away from collecting arcade cabinets). If things stay the same as they are I’ll survive, and if they get better I wouldn’t complain. :)