The following December I was in a MRI chamber, willing myself not to open my eyes while the machine drummed away, knowing that if I opened my eyes to complete darkness I would freak out and embarrass myself in front of the staff. It occurred to me, a little too late, that I could have sedated myself just with what I had in my home medicine cabinet.
The result: four discs in various stages of herniation and/or degeneration, with the beginnings of spinal stenosis (for those of you new to “spine-speak” that means "marked narrowing of the spinal canal"). I began physical therapy which consisted of traction three times a week to decompress the discs and take the pressure of the nerves that were sending severe bolts of pain down my legs. I also began doing basic Pilates exercises to strengthen the abdominal core which supports the spine.
At the same time and over the next few months, I endured four sets of lumbar epidurals in each disc to reduce the inflammation that was putting pressure on the nerves, and to anesthetize the radiating pain. I attended a yoga class twice a week to augment the twice weekly Pilates sessions I was also doing in physical therapy. And to wrap these therapies all up, I visited a pain management physician who prescribed a combination of drugs to manage the break-through pain.
I was in less pain for the first time I could remember since June 2004, and felt almost normal: I was walking my dogs regularly, still doing Pilates and yoga, and skiing regularly with Bolted Bionic Husband. Due to the Pilates and yoga, I was also in the best physical shape I had been in since college and my body took on a beautiful new shape. I felt like I had put this behind me. I felt that I had recovered.
I was wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment