Thanks. I have had three back surgeries for ruptured discs in my back.
The last surgery they did a fusion and were able to fuse two of them. They left the third because they were only able to do two at a time.
They said that the fusion won't always take.
They hope that it will but there is no guarantee.
They take out the discs that are ruptured out between the vertbraes and put it metal screws to hold them and hope the bones fuse together.
If it doesn't then you have no cushion between the vertibraes because the discs are gone and the bones didn't fuse together to take the pressure off.
Kind of hard to explain.
The fusion didn't work for me, after all I went through. They went through my abdomen to operate on my spine for the fusion.
I had such a terrible time with the recovery, blood loss required a trasfusion (had banked my own blood, who knows if they really use it though) and then had an infection while in the hospital.
Before I had the first surgery the disc that was ruptured was compressing my sciatic nerve, the doctors kept giving me the brush off until I lost all use of my leg.
I went to a neurologist who had me admitted to the hospital immediately for what he called dropped foot.
My foot flopped around like it was made of rubber, I dragged my leg behind me and I was literally crying in pain in his office.
I had lost all use of my leg.
They had a neurosurgeon that was on staff at the hospital come in and see me, he ordered an MRI and found that it was a huge herniation.
Mind you this was the same doctor I had seen months before and he told me no biggie.
He says I needed immediate surgery or I will never walk with two legs again.
He told me they would put my bad leg in a brace and give me those arm braces to walk with or crutches.
I had the surgery and he said it was the largest herniation he had ever seen in his career and he didn't know how I could stand it.
Uh, I couldn't, hence the crying and not being able to walk.
So then he says that due to the damage, I may never gain the use of that leg back again even with the surgery.
So I went home with a walker. I had physical therapy but no one acted too hopeful.
It stunk not being able to drive either. My right leg.
I got sick of the whole thing and forced myself to do more.
I fell a few times for doing too much and got yelled at by my family. But I gained the use of my leg back eventually.
I had a bunch of young kids at that point and there was no way I wasn't going to be able to do for them.
All the doctors were surprised. My parents actually ran into the surgeon one day and he asked how I was and they said, well she is still pretty lame, her limp is pretty bad.
So he says, oh she will probably be like this for the rest of her life, she is lucky to walk at all.
So he was surprised to see how far I had come when he saw me last.
So I can't really feel much in my foot so when I am walking and don't put it down completely flat and I can't feel it to adjust it, like everyone else,it rolls and I twist my ankle or fall.
Like if I step on uneven ground, I am not always aware of it.
Don't know if I explained that right.
I can't wear high heels ever again.I can't feel my foot enough to balance, and the last time I tried they hurt much worse than I remember, and I got a terrible back ache from them.
So I won't try that again.
If I do too much I limp, which is pretty much all the time being a mom right? haha
The thing is I am so use to it that I don't even notice it until someone asks me if I hurt my foot or something.
I have pain every day and its just a part of my life now, but sometimes it gets bad like this.
My leg throbs if I over do it , or sometimes even for just no particular reason.
So the last few days my back has been so bad that I can't even sleep at night. It feels so deep in my back that no matter how much heat/ice or rubbing you do it just doesn't reach it.
I haven't done anything extreme to irritate it, and I have been staying active, because even sitting around too much will make it worse. So I don't know what the deal is this week.I usually know what I can and can't do and try not to push it.
Surprisingly one of the worse things for me is standing in one spot, like waiting in line. I can walk around for hours but I can't stand in line for 10 minutes without my back aching.Just like with cooking, standing in one spot.
I have chairs at my counters so I will sit when I need to while I am prepping dinners.
All I know is I am so tired all day because I can't get any relief and sleep at night.I need sleep
You are right about the weather, it does affect your bones. I am always worse when its cold and rainy.
