Hello everyone,
Although I have been a member of the Health Boards for a long time and mostly search and read threads today, I need advice. I would like to say "I'm sorry" for those that are suffering through such pain.
My husband started complaining of lower back pain a couple months ago saying it was traveling down his leg. He saw his Primary Care doc who sent him to an Orthopedic. That Ortho did MRIs and I went with him on a Thursday to get the results. The Ortho told him he had herniated disks at L-3, L-4, and L-5, S-1. He recommended the spinal steroid injections. We scheduled them for the following Monday. That night my husband woke me at 5am in major pain and I beleive he may have been having a panic attack as he had trouble breathing and wanted me to call the doctor. I called the doctor (the one that was to do the injections) and he only prescribed more Vicodin. My husband stayed home that Friday, his first day off work due to this pain. That was two weeks yesterday and he hasn't been back to work. The weekend before the injections he could not sit or lay down. He would stand or "rock" back in forth in one place for hours. He moaned, screamed, and cried all night. Monday, on the way to the injections he was barely making the car ride. The procedure went fine but there was no releif - they told us 3-5 days to notice affect and we understood that. I had to go to work after his procedure so my mom who lives 3 miles away brought him to her house to rest until I got off work to pick him up. Monday evening when I arrived he was still in the same place, sitting in the recliner unable to stand or even shift his body. He sat in that chair until he finally came home on crutches that Thursday. We had to help him do everything... EVERYTHING from that chair. Thank God for my mother. The injections obviously did something since he had not sat up for a while. He is still on crutches today not being able to put any weight on his left foot. Says it feels like someone is slicing it open and ripping the skin off the bone. He has been in bed as laying down is the only comfort. When he gets up on crutches to go to the bathroom his foot turns purple. We went to see a Neurosurgeon on Wednesday - I begged them to squeeze him in and they did. He said the L-5 is pushing on the nerve and the S-1 is pushing on it as well. He feels the injections might have further damaged the nerve which would explain the foot pain. He scheduled surgery for next Thursday, outpatient, says he can go home that day and should be back to work in 3 weeks. This is the best Neuro I could find, in the Medical Center in Houston, Texas - famous for some of the best doctors and hospitals. St. Lukes is where this Neuro practices.
I have been reading as much as I can on the subject and am very worried about what I have seen from those that have had no releif. He says my husband has a 1-3% chance of needing fusion surgery at an older age. Says he is not a fan of that surgery and would never do it on a person his age - 32 years old. My husband is such a trooper and feels as if he is a burden on me and apologizes to me because I have to help him but I am just worried he will not get well and be depressed. He is an active person and I know this is really making him feel bad even though he won't say it.
I don't even know what the surgery is called but know he will be taking the pressure off of the nerve. Will he repair the nerve? I don't know. I guess I am looking for those with similar experiences and it seems like a lot are here. Do you all think the surgery at this stage is necessary? I don't know what else he could do to get rid of this horrible pain. I hate that he takes so much Vicodin. Oxycontin is out of the question. I don't want him to live on meds. I don't want to mask the pain, I want to fix it.
Thank you for reading this far.
Jill
Although I have been a member of the Health Boards for a long time and mostly search and read threads today, I need advice. I would like to say "I'm sorry" for those that are suffering through such pain.
My husband started complaining of lower back pain a couple months ago saying it was traveling down his leg. He saw his Primary Care doc who sent him to an Orthopedic. That Ortho did MRIs and I went with him on a Thursday to get the results. The Ortho told him he had herniated disks at L-3, L-4, and L-5, S-1. He recommended the spinal steroid injections. We scheduled them for the following Monday. That night my husband woke me at 5am in major pain and I beleive he may have been having a panic attack as he had trouble breathing and wanted me to call the doctor. I called the doctor (the one that was to do the injections) and he only prescribed more Vicodin. My husband stayed home that Friday, his first day off work due to this pain. That was two weeks yesterday and he hasn't been back to work. The weekend before the injections he could not sit or lay down. He would stand or "rock" back in forth in one place for hours. He moaned, screamed, and cried all night. Monday, on the way to the injections he was barely making the car ride. The procedure went fine but there was no releif - they told us 3-5 days to notice affect and we understood that. I had to go to work after his procedure so my mom who lives 3 miles away brought him to her house to rest until I got off work to pick him up. Monday evening when I arrived he was still in the same place, sitting in the recliner unable to stand or even shift his body. He sat in that chair until he finally came home on crutches that Thursday. We had to help him do everything... EVERYTHING from that chair. Thank God for my mother. The injections obviously did something since he had not sat up for a while. He is still on crutches today not being able to put any weight on his left foot. Says it feels like someone is slicing it open and ripping the skin off the bone. He has been in bed as laying down is the only comfort. When he gets up on crutches to go to the bathroom his foot turns purple. We went to see a Neurosurgeon on Wednesday - I begged them to squeeze him in and they did. He said the L-5 is pushing on the nerve and the S-1 is pushing on it as well. He feels the injections might have further damaged the nerve which would explain the foot pain. He scheduled surgery for next Thursday, outpatient, says he can go home that day and should be back to work in 3 weeks. This is the best Neuro I could find, in the Medical Center in Houston, Texas - famous for some of the best doctors and hospitals. St. Lukes is where this Neuro practices.
I have been reading as much as I can on the subject and am very worried about what I have seen from those that have had no releif. He says my husband has a 1-3% chance of needing fusion surgery at an older age. Says he is not a fan of that surgery and would never do it on a person his age - 32 years old. My husband is such a trooper and feels as if he is a burden on me and apologizes to me because I have to help him but I am just worried he will not get well and be depressed. He is an active person and I know this is really making him feel bad even though he won't say it.
I don't even know what the surgery is called but know he will be taking the pressure off of the nerve. Will he repair the nerve? I don't know. I guess I am looking for those with similar experiences and it seems like a lot are here. Do you all think the surgery at this stage is necessary? I don't know what else he could do to get rid of this horrible pain. I hate that he takes so much Vicodin. Oxycontin is out of the question. I don't want him to live on meds. I don't want to mask the pain, I want to fix it.
Thank you for reading this far.
Jill