Joe’s BodyBlog

Yesterday I had my follow up to my last epidural injection, and the news was not good, mixed is the best adjective I could give it. My strength is returning, but I am "presenting" differently on my symptoms. My pain is different and my muscle tightness is a cause for concern. When I got the epidural injections the Doctor was treating me specifically for the disk at L5/S1 since those symptoms were worse and my MRI showed more "inflammation" in that area (as much as can be seen on a MRI), so he focused on that. Now I am symptomatic with issues in the L5/L4 region. The steroids were supposed to help both disk areas, but since my primary complaints told them to focus on the L5/S1 disks that is what they did. I was told that the injection site makes a difference on which disk they treat, which makes sense. So now since I am in pain everyday, my back is always in spasm and my symptoms are different they want to take a different course of action with me. I am going to do a Nerve study, they are little concerned that I might have some damage in the L5/L4 region of my nerves since my back and hamstrings will not relax!

My Doctor told me he was encouraged by my strength returning and I should be commended on working hard for that. Which was encouraging to say the least. But he also said he wants to get my records to a neurosurgeon for a consult, not for surgery per se, but to make sure we are treating my back properly.  That to me said that I have picked the right Doctor since he isn’t afraid to get help to take proper care of me. Of course since I drink with this guy at the NHL Hockey games he knows me on a personal level and understands I have a deep appreciation for "second opinions" and that I am an informed patient, what else would I expect.

He also gave me a Tens machine. It is meant to help reduce the spasms in my back by shocking the muscles. I can also use it on my hip and hamstrings to help them loosen up as well. Damn thing cost $800, so I am not sure if my insurance is going to cover it, so I haven’t opened it yet, in case I have to return it. But $800 for that thing is better then surgery… I will have to wait and see. I also got a script for Muscle relaxers so that I can help my body chemically… which I don’t like to do, but I am desperate to change what is going on.

So now here is all I am doing to treat this issue. Chiropractic Care to loosen the muscles in the lower back, Acupuncture, Massage Therapy, Stretching, Yoga, Pilates, Working out, eating right and clean and taking medication, using an Inversion table at least daily, if not 2 times a day.

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to get some other opinions. I am seriously looking into Spinal Decompression, but I just don’t have the cash since insurance doesn’t cover it. Although I found another DC that says some of the decompression treatments (or aspects of it) are covered lowering my over all out of pocket expense. Heck I might just have to start waiting tables again as a second job, just to pay for my back getting healthy. It wouldn’t be so bad to do it, I have worked 2 jobs most of my life, but it would suck to have all of that money being spent before I make it. I am also going to a neurosurgeon on my own to get an opinion. I want a completely fresh perspective on what I should be doing. I trust my Doctor, but this is my health and I am not improving, so it is time to look at everything as a whole to make sure I am taking the best care of myself that I can.

As an ex athlete who has had many injuries and is still recovering from them, I figured out something about myself the other day. I have a need for competition. Big or small it doesn’t really matter, I need to compete. If it is against myself, time or other people I just like to compete. I miss it. It motivates me and helps me to bring out my best qualities. How did I realize this tidbit about myself, it was from a conversation I had with my wife. With my back slowly healing I told her I wanted to run in a 5k sometime soon, just to do it, not really for time or anything, but just because my body has been through some much in the form of injuries I thought running in a 5k might help me to feel like I have accomplished a goal. Her response was , You should do it, and I will too, so I can beat you! Well that was it, the challenge was on. By the way, she will most likely beat me, but that isn’t what matters to me. I want to do well for myself. 3.1 miles is not a long race, but a respectable time is what I am looking for. Right now, since I have just started training, I am not sure what that respectable time will be, or should be, but in a few weeks I should be able to figure that out. Of course my back is a concern, but my doctor feels I can do this, so I am just working myself in slowly. Road running is a lot different then running on the tread mill. Your body can take a pounding, so I want to get myself into it the right way. The race is Labor Day weekend so I have plenty of time to train and get myself back into it. Lookout…

So I have been getting into the gym enough to feel like I am getting into a good groove. I am not as sore after each workout and I am upping the weight on some of my reps. That feels awesome after everything I have been through with the latest of my injuries! I am hitting the Cardio hard as well. I want to take advantage of the weight I have lost to lose more fat! I haven’t done all of my measurements in a while, but I am going to do that this weekend to start tracking everything. I am a little afraid that my BF won’t be a good number because of how I lost the weight (stress!!!), but I can’t do anythign about that now, except eat clean and lift!

I like the fact that I feel like my day isn’t complete unless I go to the gym or do some sort of workout. That means that my mind and body are back where I need them to be! yeah for me. My back still hurts everyday, but I think it is because my bed is too soft. I can’t afford to replace it right now, but I have others I can sleep on at home, it is just not my preferred place to sleep, I would have to sleep away from the wife… .

Speaking of the wife, she is doing P90X and man she is loving it, and I am loving the results she is getting. She wasn’t doing very well on getting her protein intact to where it needed to be, plus she has a tendency to eat lots of carbs, so she wasn’t losing a lot of fat even though she was getting stronger. But now that she has tweaked her diet she is losing fat and looking fantastic. (Yes I am bragging!). I tell her how good she looks and how proud I am of her for her hard work. She inspires me to make sure I don’t miss a workout!

Well over the past month things have been up and down.. Mostly down. My back while starting to improve took a bad turn. I ended up getting another Epidural Injection, but guess what No Improvement! Lucky me. I have found that working out does improve the way I feel. So when I go for my next check up I am telling the Doc, I am done with injections. My stress level has come done a little bit, but not that much, so I am sure that is affecting everything. My weight has stabilized since I last posted, I am at 185, and this is all due to the stress I had been under. I lost 12-15 lbs originally, now it is 11, but I am trying to maintain the loss, even though I know it wasn’t done properly, so in order to do that I have to diet well, (eat clean etc) and keep on my workouts. Being consistent in both will help me reach my goals.

So last week I posted how much this back injury has set me back, but I have to admit, I feel really good getting back to the gym. Yes I am weak, but I am taking it slow, using light weight (no free weights right now, Dr’s orders!) and high reps just to get the kinks worked out. So far so good. The bad stress in my life hasn’t changed, so my weight is continuing to drop, I lost 2 more pounds. I realize this is muscle that I am losing, but I am hoping that by me getting back into the gym and making sure I eat correctly I can fix my body a little. I mean I needed to lose the weight, but not in an unhealthy manner as this. Do I mind that I am 186lbs, no, but since I lost 10 lbs over the past 3 weeks… that is not healthy. My appetite is not really good, the stress has caused my  stomach to have all sorts of issues, and eating has been harder. I am hoping that by working out and beating the stress my stomach will calm down so I can get back on track.

Man it is amazing how injuries can derail you. This back injury has been so bad I am very, very weak. My two days back working out have been just basic stuff; Abs and Core work, stretching, Cardio, but man does it stink when you are done and you can feel your body shaking because it is so weak. I have a long way to go, but lots of time to get there, so slow will be the pace. It just sucks to be in the position in the first place. But I am determined to get myself back on track.

Monday I got my second epidural injection. I am mad at myself for waiting as long as I did to get this help. I could have been months ahead of the game if I had let the Doctor give it to me back in December when he originally suggested it. I am feeling so much better. The pain is almost completely gone,  I am sleeping better and I wake up ready to go!  I got cleared to go back to the gym, but I am very weak so I am going to be moving very slowly towards my goals. Initially, I need to concentrate on my core strength to help my back. But I also need to work the rest of my body. I am looking forward to this but I know it is going to be tough. Now, the stress… amazing what stress can do to a person. The last two plus weeks I have been under a lot of personal stress, something bad happened in my life that really is hurting me and from it I lost eight pounds! Of course this is not a good way to lose weight, but since I realize what happened, why it happened and what I can do about it, I can hopefully take corrective action to not lose anymore muscle. But I have to admit, I am happy to be below 190 for the first time since about 6-8 years ago… I am now 188.

Things are getting so much better now. The pain is going down dramatically, my flexibility and ROM are coming back. I ran into my doctor the other day at the hockey game (GO Carolina Hurricanes!) and I asked him about my golf trip this week (if it was ok for me to do it since I forgot to ask before). He said yes but, I will probably be in pain most of the time. I just need to make sure I stretch first before playing and get myself as limber as possible. Plus, I have some pain killers handy! It is a good thing I have my second shot on Monday of next week, so if I cause any inflammation by golfing, I can reduce it with the shot. .

After this shot within a few days, I can go back to the gym. YEAH! I just have to take it real slow. So I am looking forward to that day when I can return to the gym.

So far the past week plus has been really good. I am felling much better and I am starting to get my ROM back. My stretching is improving and I have been given the green light to start SLOWLY working out again. So I am very happy. I get my second shot on the 24th so as far as I am concerned it can’t come quick enough…

I also got my Inversion Table last week and start using that right away. I firmly believe that the table is helping me to push my rehab for my back. It is deeply stretching my lower back and hips, combined with my Yoga, Pilates and stretching and I am feeling much better!

I am going to start some light cardio and full body work over the next week and continue that for a few weeks. I do not want to regress. I have goals to meet!

So I went back to my doctor yesterday and we came to realization that I was putting off the inevitable, it was time to do an epidural spinal injection or steroids and pain medication. I had put this off for months but I had to admit I was ready for some medical intervention. We did my exam and strength tests and I was actually worse than I was two months ago. The writing was clear I needed so help. So at 8:00 am this morning I had it done. My right leg is numb, mostly in my foot, but that will go away over the next couple of hours. I don’t have any pain in my back or leg anymore which is part of what I needed. Of course I had a crappy night last night, my back from mid traps down to my buttocks was spasming all night and into the morning, but not anymore…

So we will see if the inflammation goes down allows me the chance to move forward with my recovery from this issue. My doctor feels that I should consider Spinal Decompression before ever talking about surgery, but he is hoping from his clinical experience that I won’t have to go down that road. He has down thousands of these injections for people worse off than I am and they have all done very well. The fact that I don’t have any nerve impingement with my disks is a huge benefit. For the next couple of weeks, I am to take it easy but still stretch and work my back. Cardio and Yoga are fine. They just don’t want me lifting heavy or even at all just yet. I am not about to push this, but I still need to work… Someday very soon my blog will be filled with progress, not whining …