Unfortunately I can relate. Back pain is miserable. Herniated discs were the cost of the job and one of the gifts that keeps on giving. I also had to have C4-7 fused. Only thing you can do is exercise and stay healthy. Keep up the fight
As a chronic spinal sufferer due to an autoimmune disorder as well as spondyloarththritis, I felt your pain as you wrote it. I remembered the sobbing times. May your pain be gone forever, that would make me smile.
And in 2026 you find yourself spineless once again....I believed in you, forgave you and truly thought you were worthy of redemption......now I pitty you for pandering to the most disgusting and dishonest human being on this earth...tsk, tsk, tsk 😑 I hope you get out of this reunification with Trump what you're hoping for....
Buttock pain.... cervical and lumbar... I have that and to a large extent it's driven by my neck. There is recent research coming out about spinal canal perturbation leading to symptoms even when there isn't an associated disc bulge that actually contacts the spinal cord. There can be histamines involved, too. Both of these are associated to CSF velocity as it moves in the spinal column. I am planning to post about this, and in the meantime will follow to see how your diagnosis and surgery outcomes arc have gone.
"Pain management" is like any resource management discipline. It might not even have originally been intended that way, but short term thinking, profit motive (which affects our institutions even when so-called nonprofit, although other cultures' efforts don't descend along that path) , lack of respect for the human experience, and encouragement of a subcultural counterfactual bias towards and against favorites and bogeymen, all coincide to produce one hell of a grinding machine, don't they.
This article totally freaks me out. I have had my C5 fused. They want to redo my C4 and C5 again. I am right for my neck is horrific for my C3 to my C7. My lumbar back isn’t any better. I have bulging disc bone spurs spawning… I have nerve pain Shooting down to my left foot. It burns constantly. My doctors have immediately wanted me to have surgery. Does anything really work?
I know that had to be extremely hard for you, especially as a young man.
I have also gone through every test and procedure you laid out on the literal table. I’m fused from L5-S1 and C4-C7. My pain doc just retired and the new doctor wants to do the spinal implant. Firm NO for me. Now they are screwing with my meds I’ve been on for 20 years. I don’t know what the future holds for me. We’ll just have to see how my story ends.
Medical trauma is so real. And a spinal injury can be especially devastating. I feel for and with anyone who has to be in and out of the hospital this much.
In 2016 after an injury that caused a ruptured disk I slowly succumbed, due to pain, to the fact that I’d need surgery. I got a referral from a family member that was a doctor and away I went. I won’t bore you with all of the details, bad doctor, botched surgery, slowly lost the used of my right leg until one day my leg doesn’t redoing at all. I can’t make my foot move, ties won’t wiggle, I can’t stand up,nothing. I go to a different hospital as an emergency. I end up with my first lumbar fusion. 10 hour surgery to untangle my nerves etc, but afterward, I was able to wiggle my toes. I had to learn to walk again.
I learned I had scoliosis, significant degenerative disc disease. Since then, I’ve had a total of 9 back surgeries, my last being this past May. I relate to you so much. I didn’t expect to have too much in common. You may be younger, but I very much feel how you did…what did I get myself into??
1. The radiofrequency ablation, where your legs shook violently and you cried silently.
2. The surgeon asking if you were in a safe place, and you not understanding the question until later.
3. Waking up from surgery, your hands like fish, reaching for a book you couldn't hold.
These are not just medical details. They are thresholds. They are the moments where you crossed from one version of yourself to another. And you wrote them without melodrama, just weight. That takes restraint. That takes craft x
So sorry for what you went through… and so young… I have chronic back, hip, neck pain .. I’m now retired (early age 53) from a career as bedside ICU RN because of my chronic pain.. I started SI joint cortisol injections after the birth of my daughter at age 34.., Have had multiple similar various injections since; the last being radiofrequency bilateral 3 level injections in my neck last fall. It has helped my chronic neck/ shoulder pain/ spasms but I still require a bucket of medications to manage chronic pain ( total hip replacement left me w/ significant leg length discrepancy contributing to my orthopedic arthritic issues). Have done PT, chiropractor massage etc route… And as you say you measure every long distance car ride or how long a walk is or if there are significant inclines .. my life has changed forever. I can’t lift anything over 10 pounds. I am totally empathetic to your pain and life altering changes because of your pain.
I had a neck injury at 16 and a lower back injury at 18. Neither was tended to. I am almost 70 now, and I need two hips replaced and probably neck surgery. The only things that kept me going were medical massages (they are painful to the point of literally seeing stars and weeping during the treatment), cortisone shots, and pain meds. I only state this to let you know that I really do understand your horrible predicament. I'm sending you healing energy and a big dose of courage (I don't think you need that, but it never hurts). 💖
The sheer accumulation of all those childhood injuries catching up to you at 27 is heavy enough, but reading about the terrifying reality of waking up from a six-hour surgery unable to use your hands is completely harrowing. Waits patiently for part 2 ✨
Unfortunately I can relate. Back pain is miserable. Herniated discs were the cost of the job and one of the gifts that keeps on giving. I also had to have C4-7 fused. Only thing you can do is exercise and stay healthy. Keep up the fight
Wow, this is crazy and sad that you had to deal with that pain at such a young age. I hope it gets better🫶🏼
As a chronic spinal sufferer due to an autoimmune disorder as well as spondyloarththritis, I felt your pain as you wrote it. I remembered the sobbing times. May your pain be gone forever, that would make me smile.
And in 2026 you find yourself spineless once again....I believed in you, forgave you and truly thought you were worthy of redemption......now I pitty you for pandering to the most disgusting and dishonest human being on this earth...tsk, tsk, tsk 😑 I hope you get out of this reunification with Trump what you're hoping for....
Buttock pain.... cervical and lumbar... I have that and to a large extent it's driven by my neck. There is recent research coming out about spinal canal perturbation leading to symptoms even when there isn't an associated disc bulge that actually contacts the spinal cord. There can be histamines involved, too. Both of these are associated to CSF velocity as it moves in the spinal column. I am planning to post about this, and in the meantime will follow to see how your diagnosis and surgery outcomes arc have gone.
"Pain management" is like any resource management discipline. It might not even have originally been intended that way, but short term thinking, profit motive (which affects our institutions even when so-called nonprofit, although other cultures' efforts don't descend along that path) , lack of respect for the human experience, and encouragement of a subcultural counterfactual bias towards and against favorites and bogeymen, all coincide to produce one hell of a grinding machine, don't they.
This article totally freaks me out. I have had my C5 fused. They want to redo my C4 and C5 again. I am right for my neck is horrific for my C3 to my C7. My lumbar back isn’t any better. I have bulging disc bone spurs spawning… I have nerve pain Shooting down to my left foot. It burns constantly. My doctors have immediately wanted me to have surgery. Does anything really work?
😢❤️
I know that had to be extremely hard for you, especially as a young man.
I have also gone through every test and procedure you laid out on the literal table. I’m fused from L5-S1 and C4-C7. My pain doc just retired and the new doctor wants to do the spinal implant. Firm NO for me. Now they are screwing with my meds I’ve been on for 20 years. I don’t know what the future holds for me. We’ll just have to see how my story ends.
Medical trauma is so real. And a spinal injury can be especially devastating. I feel for and with anyone who has to be in and out of the hospital this much.
In 2016 after an injury that caused a ruptured disk I slowly succumbed, due to pain, to the fact that I’d need surgery. I got a referral from a family member that was a doctor and away I went. I won’t bore you with all of the details, bad doctor, botched surgery, slowly lost the used of my right leg until one day my leg doesn’t redoing at all. I can’t make my foot move, ties won’t wiggle, I can’t stand up,nothing. I go to a different hospital as an emergency. I end up with my first lumbar fusion. 10 hour surgery to untangle my nerves etc, but afterward, I was able to wiggle my toes. I had to learn to walk again.
I learned I had scoliosis, significant degenerative disc disease. Since then, I’ve had a total of 9 back surgeries, my last being this past May. I relate to you so much. I didn’t expect to have too much in common. You may be younger, but I very much feel how you did…what did I get myself into??
3 moments I can't stop thinking about:
1. The radiofrequency ablation, where your legs shook violently and you cried silently.
2. The surgeon asking if you were in a safe place, and you not understanding the question until later.
3. Waking up from surgery, your hands like fish, reaching for a book you couldn't hold.
These are not just medical details. They are thresholds. They are the moments where you crossed from one version of yourself to another. And you wrote them without melodrama, just weight. That takes restraint. That takes craft x
So sorry for what you went through… and so young… I have chronic back, hip, neck pain .. I’m now retired (early age 53) from a career as bedside ICU RN because of my chronic pain.. I started SI joint cortisol injections after the birth of my daughter at age 34.., Have had multiple similar various injections since; the last being radiofrequency bilateral 3 level injections in my neck last fall. It has helped my chronic neck/ shoulder pain/ spasms but I still require a bucket of medications to manage chronic pain ( total hip replacement left me w/ significant leg length discrepancy contributing to my orthopedic arthritic issues). Have done PT, chiropractor massage etc route… And as you say you measure every long distance car ride or how long a walk is or if there are significant inclines .. my life has changed forever. I can’t lift anything over 10 pounds. I am totally empathetic to your pain and life altering changes because of your pain.
Back surgery: 25% get better-25% Get worse, and 50% see no change.
I had a neck injury at 16 and a lower back injury at 18. Neither was tended to. I am almost 70 now, and I need two hips replaced and probably neck surgery. The only things that kept me going were medical massages (they are painful to the point of literally seeing stars and weeping during the treatment), cortisone shots, and pain meds. I only state this to let you know that I really do understand your horrible predicament. I'm sending you healing energy and a big dose of courage (I don't think you need that, but it never hurts). 💖
The sheer accumulation of all those childhood injuries catching up to you at 27 is heavy enough, but reading about the terrifying reality of waking up from a six-hour surgery unable to use your hands is completely harrowing. Waits patiently for part 2 ✨
Good lord. I am so sorry. Related to this line so much: Like a good soldier raised by Boomers in the 90s, I kept my mouth shut.