The magic is over.
Right after my surgery I was pain free but no longer. I have pain in my leg when walking and after standing up from a sitting position.
I am still better off than I was, but it is getting worse everyday. By the time I had my surgery I was in constant pain, but months before I was only in pain when I did certain things, like now. So I’m worried that I am headed down the same path.
The pain with walking started on Monday and it took me until Thursday to get up the gumption to call the doctor. They confirmed what I had expected. The pain could be caused by one of two things. Either more disc material has leaked out and is pushing on my nerve again or the nerve is simply inflamed from all the trauma.
The answer is to take steroids, a powerful anti-inflammatory. An MRI would show the cause or lack of cause, but my guess is it is too expensive. An MRI runs in the neighborhood of $1000, while the steroids cost $10. I guess the steroids are harmless enough that it’s okay to take them even if the problem won’t be fixed by them. If I have disc material pushing on the nerve, steroids won’t help. I presume that an MRI would then be in order. But that is only a guess, because I failed to ask the question that I was thinking when I was on the phone with the nurse.
I am, of course, worried that I may have to have surgery again. But on the other hand, I now know that surgery isn’t terribly hard. So I am resigned to continue living with the restrictions this puts on me.
I’m not excited about taking steroids, but is its only for seven days, so I don’t think there is much harm in it. At least I hope not. At this point I am trusting in my doctor.
I have heard that it is a common phenomenon for people to take a backseat to their health care and I find it interesting how I let my questions go and just do what they tell me. There is something about the doctor patient relationship that makes it difficult to step back and ask all the questions or even remember them.
I also just don’t have that much time. Even as I am writing this, I am getting ready to go work on Reporting story and my Missourian shift and when I was talking to the nurse yesterday I was driving to an interview. Fortunately I had time to pull over and give the call my attention. I don’t know how I would have talked, driven and navigated my directions through a strange town all at the same time.
I guess that sums it up. I am probably lucky to be busy, because it means I don’t have time to do too much worrying.
