The Back Story Continues

[Matildathecat]

This is the support thread for all sufferers of back pain. Everyone most welcome to join.

Here's our first thread

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/1871592-The-Back-Story

My story long and grim but basically had failed surgery for disc prolapse, then further failed surgery to attempt to salvage the situation. I have nerve root damage and severe scarring around the nerve at L5 which won't get better. I'm 48, can't work, take a lot of drugs and have a blue badge. Currently battling several different agencies for ill health retirement and other benefits.

But I'm ok, having some fun despite the pain and have made some lovely friends on here.

Please post and include your story if you'd like to. No niggles too small, this is strictly non competitive!

Good luck tomorrow Maizie, hope it goes really REALLY well for you, hopefully you will stay in hospital exactly the right amount of time for you. Look forward to your updates and remember it will hurt a bit more at first but it is all for the future good so be gentle with yourself.

Pavlov I hope you are feeling a bit better soon, I know you don't want it to be RA because why the hell would you but if the symptoms seem to fit then go and push for referral, you can get in ahead of the bones being damaged and you could find that a lot of your crap symptoms can be allayed. I thought your last post about reducing drugs was brilliant particularly where you said I was right

Long old day here, I am treating myself to a glass of wine in bed with the electric blanket on . Spent the day visiting DH's mam and dad 2 and a bit hours away with lots of side trips to make it more fun for the DS' and other faffy bits. This time last year my wonderful, amazing, perfect in laws lived right here by us but Bil, at the age of 33, had a catastrophic head injury and now lives in a big hospital where they can look after him properly. He used to be a beautiful clever man with two degrees and a great job, lots of friends, who rode hundreds of miles on his bike for fun. My boys worship him, he was the best sort of 'fun uncle' who really cared for them and was very close to them all. Now, well on a good day he can control his thumbs enough to do a thumbs up, that's the extent of his communication with the world. If that doesn't put it into perspective for me then nothing will. I will take pain and stupid muscles because if I had one perfect wish it would be him better and back to the old version. I would live a world of pain for that. Sorry, this is such a downer, I just have to remember that I have so much, there are a million and one worse things in the world and one of them happened to a man I love like a brother. Urgh, wine, tramadol, sleep sleep sleep. This is such a self indulgent post but it's been a day and a half and I am glad it's over and we are home safe.

Malt & co., my manicure fans. This ones for us: Take a look at this video on YouTube:

Mine look like I've been using my fingers as tampons.
Sorry for awful analogy
I've been eating frozen cherries. Nails, fingers and cuticles a stained dark red.
Until I can drive, there's no way I can improve the nail situation. I like a place that does them for £23. Clear n white gel powder. Why oh why am I talking drivel n boring you? I'm fantasising about the day I'll b able to go n get them done.

thanks for the lovely thoughts, cowmop, pavlov matilda and like, sure all will be fine tomorrow and yes, hoping for at least one night in to secure good pain management.

goodness it is so true all that pavlov says- i titrated the Amy upwards and though it was gradual maybe not enough as got lots of side effects but the pressure was on to relieve pain. pavlov you have put it all very eloquently.
DS is still in a terrible amount of pain periodically and am using all this pain strategy to try to maintain equilibrium for him also, and minimise the bad bits. He just doesnt know what to do with himself when waiting for meds to kick in. He is very close to dh so he will look after him fabulously until it passes. Gp didnt give a time-frame unfortunately.
cowmop think we are all "sisters of morphine" eh? Sounds like it is effective for you, that is really great. regarding nightwear i hope i can get my pj's on over the hip- or i'll be stuck in t-shirt or hospital gown until i get out.
Best wishes to you all, leaves an array of delicious cakes baked with spelt for all to dig into- for everyone as imaginary cake is calorie-free!
made apple and raspberry crumble with spelt and oat crumble topping- it was delish! sweet dreams to you all- hope you dont wake at 4 again goodness xxxxx better go, have to scrub myself with hibi scrub - fun!

goodness they do gel nails at toni and guy- prob ££ though. Cherries sound lovely apart from the undesirable effect on your fingers- that is a doozy of an analogy, for sure! hmm bet apple and cherry crumble would rock too. next spelt attempt will prob be sticky toffee (have leftover dates).
oh just realised i forgot to thank lost for your kind words as well. That situation with your bil sounds terribly sad- and I know how things have made me take stock and think- it could be worse and make you feel the value of life. Don't feel self-indulgant, sharing is needed sometimes. Hope you have a good tramadol fuelled sleep xx

Yay. I slept until about 6.30/7
I'm lost. Caught a bit about crumble (deserts) but my head inline a washing machine when I read. Anyone able to give an exec summary of hopes n fears for today? Anyone imminently having anything done / have a problem? Or is everyone clenching their teeth and bearing up until the weekend.

In bed
Feel sick n headache despite being on all these meds incl paracetamol and ibroprofen
Big or overdoing it?
Don't think I've overdone it
Sitting to teach one child at a time for three- five hours a day in my own dining room.
Today stood in garage for not even 1 hour while someone organised garage for me
Woose or what!

Maizie, I really hope today's going well as can possibly be.

goodness what meds have you cut down/stopped, and how much buy, since when. It could be withdrawing from some of the meds. Drink lots of water.

Working 3-5 hours plus all the unavoidable stuff family life involves sounds a lot for someone recovering from major surgery. Try to rest as much as possible and what pavlov said. Hope you feel better soon.

Hoping maizie's surgery has gone smoothly. Speaking of surgery, any news on scone?

Having a very reasonable day despite worrying I have too much planned. Hope there's no payback tomorrow because it's my reunion and I'm really looking foward to it. Will rest this evening.

Ooooh, rest up Matilda. No good looking glam if you're feeling grotty.
Bet you'll look
Fab. Always a bit nerve wracking seeing people at reunions/ after a long time apart.
Don't fall for the image everyone will give - bet they'll be looking their understated most glam, too!

So, life's surreal.
Seems like it can continue without me. Felt sick and was comfortingly bitter sweet to see that the children's favourite desert had been made and that the Friday night candles had still been lit.

Friends are experiencing troubling times, too. Suddenly, our selfish carefree, stressful lives now seem oh so much more complicated.

Got the CT (chest) results back. Consultant/surgeon called. Cancer-free. Just some things that may well be scar tissue from previous chest infections. But a repeat will be taken in 3 months to see whether they're growing. GROWING?
Scar tissue can grow?
Why is it that questions always pop into my mind AFTER I've put the phone down, having said something inane like "Oh, that's great."

I waited a week for that call (having called to speak to him no less than four times).
All good.
I think?

Life's more complicated nowadays. I get the feeling that it may now always be the case. No different for me than for anyone else. It's just that I'm always waiting now. Things happened to other people, before. Small percentage risks don't reassure me any longer. I've been that 0.01%

Please excise depressing ramble. I wish it would all just be "Absolutely fine. Clear. Great."

And I'm sick of feeling like I'm sitting with a bowling ball and rudder up my arse.

Depressing rant over. Sorry.

Please move along.
Nothing to see here.
Hope you're all ok and have a pain-free sleep-filled night. Xxx

Hi everyone. pavlov hope you are feeling better from your virus, I think I am turning into a bit of a hypochondriac as the smallest ache now makes me worry I am developing a new sort of really bad back. Dh said he is the same as he was diagnosed with diabetes last year.

losty so sorry to read about your bil but hope your half term has been good.

goodness maybe you are overdoing it a bit. Can you have a rest day tomorrow. Just plan to relax all day and not feel guilty.

matilda good luck for the reunion. You'll look stylish with your new outfit, nails and bag.

maisie hope you are doing ok. Let us know when you get home. That spelt cake was delish, I will send you some virtual chocs in return, Pavlov said once the cherry liqueurs are good for bad backs and i have tested them a few times now, they do seem to help a bit so how about a box of those.

maizie hope your surgery went ok and you are feeling comfy with the right pain meds. matilda enjoy your re union. I have seen matilda For Real. I dare say she would look good in a binbag so with her fancy new nails and bag she is gonna look fab!

live the horrid viral pains have reduced! I have snot and sneezes but, never thought I would day this! quite pleased as it means it is just a cold viral type thing! How about you? I have found, with bugs, the inflammatory markers that make you feel shit all over make my back feel worse, as it's already inflamed so made much worse. I was told that was the reason by a wonderfully knowledgable back sufferer here on mn, but can't remember who, not sure if they post on this thread, if so, great info!

Ok. Three more words. Beautiful Days Tickets

Yay for tickets Pavlov. Something to look forward to. That is interesting about the pain you already have getting worse due to inflammation when you have a virus. It even made my leg pain worse which has gone off almost entirely now. I guess the inflamed area started to press on the nerve again.

Going back to what you said before about not wanting the Dr to think you are being a hypochondriac in asking whether your pain could be caused by R.A I think that is different to worrying over small symptoms as Drs sometimes diagnose things by a process of elimination themselves so it wouldn't hurt to test to make sure it isn't that. It sounds like your GP is quite nice, so you could probably just say you were talking to an RA sufferer about your symptoms and they spotted the similarity. However maybe the similarity is caused by the conditions both involving inflammation of similar areas and affecting your nerves and joints. I think there are quite a few conditions like this.

Even though RA is still a bad thing to have today at least it can be treated. I remember reading about a woman who had this condition years ago and was virtually paralyzed, which was really sad.

Anyway not sure if that was very helpful, but hope you are feeling better from the virus enough to enjoy your weekend a bit, even if its a lazy one.

Morning everyone, just thought I'd pop back and let you know how I'm getting on seeing as I've had such great advice here

Went back to the Dr on Monday who said again that it could be "anything". Asked about an X-ray and he said they don't rush to X-ray with back pain. Gave me some solpadol 30/500 and said he would fax an urgent referral for physio.

So I'm waiting for that to come through and hope it helps.

I'm getting really worried now though that is something sinister. I have sharp shooting pains in the side my thigh and my groin, sometimes down to my knee. When I wake up I can barely move at all, it's horrible.

I've had some kind of virus too so been in bed since Thursday lunchtime but seem to just have a cold now, same as Pavlov - hope you're feeling better soon!

Morning all, blimey getting ready for a reunion is hard work! Have stayed in bed then eaten toast in order to swallow the sr tramadol. Hoping it doesn't send me funny. As groomed as a groomed thing hoping I look as though there's been no effort at all .

Actually, typing this I have had a Good Idea. A business that prepares people for reunions! OMG, it would surely be a big success.

Just been reading that inflammation causes literally every kind of illness you really don't want. Am stocking up on turmeric ASAP.

sublime, you have been suffering for ages, haven't you. No, you really don't want to be 'rushing' into an X-ray. drugs and physio as all gps seem to have on offer. pavlov has written very informatively about Care Pathways that gps are supposed to follow.

goodness it is a bit sad to see the world doing fine without us. Don't worry, you'll soon be back to your normal self. Re your scan, please try not to worry. losty will back me up here: when you do any investigations you see other random stuff. It's called incidental findings. If we were all scanned there you'll be heaps of 'unusual' findings. We just don't normally know about the. It happens all the time. Of course, it's difficult for the doctors to totally ignore hence the repeat scan. Actually my dad had a repeat scan for a very similar scenario just this week.

Thinking of you all. Have a great day.

Ps pavlov, what a nice compliment. Thankyou.

LOVE your reunion business brain storm.

matilda that is a great business idea! Even though it is really interesting to see how everyone is doing it is a bit scary. It would be good for family events also, where you only see certain relatives every few years.
I'm sure you will have a nice time once you get over that initial scary bit.

Matilda, my cancerous tumour was an 'incidental finding'. Lol-ish-not-really. Hence slight apprehension with these minor queries n checks nowadays.

I really think you should post a reunion styled pic here (or PM). Am dying to c how fab u look. They'll think you're glam and grinny every day!

Hi everyone, thank you for all the kind thoughts and words for me. I read but didnt post last night as was very wobbly from anaesthetic and bucket of ther drugs and no sleep.
I didn't stay the night, got picked up at 8 ish by my dad but they have given me oxycodone 5(g? or mg cant remember) x28 to get through first bit and some dihydracodeine 30, still have all my usual ones and 2 types of laxatives. I was a bit worried about leaving but they have given me a good set of meds i hope. They did give me morphine pills in the day and i asked the nurse why the switch as they had suited me very well, no sickness, she said not sure, not because any diff in strength and some docs give one, some give other- she reckoned he just gave everyone that eve the same thing for ease and coz the morphine makes some people sick. I can take 1 every hour or 2 evry 2 hrs but havent neede to every time yet. They do seem to work fine. I am aware that I might have alot of anaestetic in my system still so I might need them more in a few days when it wears of fully.
I can fully weight bear if I want but use the crutches all the time to take a bit- the physio came to see me yesterday afternoon and was really happy with me, have exercises to do 3-5 times a day. They do make it hurt after so scheduling meds for afterwards. The op was a success- only found a little tear and the rest of the jint is in very good condition. the surgeon was plesed with it all and on balance I am amazed this all happened yesterday, woke up with hardly any pain.
The worst bit was coming home sitting in the car as it was best part of 2 hrs to mine and then back to Surbiton. Felt great after some meds and stayed up a bit late and couldnt get comfy, felt very odd with weird sensation over skin and in stomach but finally slept about 4-7, got up had banana and tea and pils and slept another 3 hrs- about to have a nap now so u can see a pattern.
Everyone at the hospital was amazing- partic the student nurse, (young boy of 18) and the nurse, they were so friendly and caring, everyone all day ws brill- feel i should send a card to say thanks. i filled in a patirnt feedback form and sang their praises. Sam got me about 5 cups of tea! that can deffo affect good healing though! even the food was nice!
anyway this has become a bit of an indulgent wittering on but hope you all had a good night last night- hope yu had another one like thursday night goodness, that was much preferable to waking at 4 i bet. I got more crumble at my mums' and my sis has made gf carrot cake as she is also avoiding wheat too. pavlov woohoo about the tickets- you deserve to have some fun! I am going to see Russell Kane live standup in April 17, it's fab to have things to look forward to.
Hope the sun is out where you all are- it's lovely when it is, could we be on our way to spring now? My poor ds is s bit worse today, i miss them alot, dh is going to ask pharmacist if anything else to help him. they had a bad night too- waking at 3 and 5 but they did sleep in a bit after.
Eating soup on my lap lying in put-up bed in living room ( and gonna watch "Bridesmaids" and graham norton later. Hugs to all and some chocolate gf cake slices

That's great maizie sounds like the op went well, I really hope it works for you. The news that it was only a small tear and that the joint looks healthy is positive. Keep taking the drugs and doing the exercises very gently for now, don't want to strain it.

Poor little DS I hope there is something they can do for him. Does steam help? I was advised to try a steam bath to help clear the tubes when I had an inner ear infection. My mum suggested avoiding dairy products as apparently they increase mucus production, but I didn't try it myself.

and for you a box of cherry liqueurs for mummy and dairy free chocolate bear for ds

These ones seem healthy virtual choc bears

losty I have to send you a daffodil too hope you are eating a big bowl of cawl this evening and some welshcakes yum