Wednesday, April 24, 2013

My Back.

For the last few years I have had some issues with chronic back pain, numbness and tingling in my back and arms. I never went to the doctor (because that's just what I do..or don't do) just assuming it was a mixture of being a bit overweight, sitting at a desk job, having scoliosis and having large breasts. I got really sick with the flu a couple of months ago so while I was at the doctor having that looked at I mentioned my back issues. She decided to schedule me for an x-ray to see what was going on. The Xray showed my scoliosis and possibly some issues with my disks so I went for an MRI. The MRI was only on my neck and just below but what they found was something called a Syrinx Cavity causing a condition called Syringomyelia. So far, the disks in my C-spine are completely desiccated (gone) because of it. My doctor had never heard of it before and did a terrible job of explaining the condition to me, she literally printed out some medical dictionary stuff and told me to go see a neuro-surgeon.

I'll be completely honest. I'm terrified. I don't even want to go see this doctor because of a million what-ifs. I'm somewhat relieved that I know there's something actually wrong and I'm not just in pain because of my weight or posture. But I don't want to go to this doctor.

Nick has been the epitome of support. I can't truly express how much I love him and all that he does to take care of me. He started calling the doctors for me when he realized I was putting it off, making my appointments and faxing in all the diagnoses, he even contacted the Mayo clinic just in case I do need surgery. He got me a massage and offers to schedule me one whenever I want.

So yesterday, finally, all the paperwork was sent in to the neurosurgeons office. They are looking over all the tests now and will call me for an appointment. I really like how the office does things, they read what I've had done already, then decide where to go before ever meeting me. So they don't walk into the appointment blind. I'm anxious but I know no matter what happens I'll be ok :)