So, its been a while since my last post. I ended up back to the GP to see if she would send me for a MRI or at least to a spinal surgeon to get to the bottom of why my back pain and nerve pain has come out of nowhere. She reluctantly sent me for a Spinal X-ray of my sacroiliac joints and lumbar spine...that was this morning and guess what!? I now have yet another diagnosis... one im sure none of us were expecting!!
Isthmic Spondylolisthesis and Spondylolysis (congential spon″dĭ-lo-lis-the'sis): is the displacement of vertebral disc from the spinal column caused by a lesion/fracture of the pars interarticularis. At this stage im Grade 1 which is 0-25% forward slippage, so conservative treatment options only and unlikely to result in need for spinal surgery.
Isthmic Spondylolisthesis and Spondylolysis (congential spon″dĭ-lo-lis-the'sis): is the displacement of vertebral disc from the spinal column caused by a lesion/fracture of the pars interarticularis. At this stage im Grade 1 which is 0-25% forward slippage, so conservative treatment options only and unlikely to result in need for spinal surgery.
This link above will give you the jist, but long story short one of my vertebra sits 5mm forward at L5/S1 which will explain long history of lower back pain and a whole lot of other things! Like why ive never been a runner, hated exercise, have weak legs and never liked sleeping on my back and wake up with pain in my back. Its interesting as once GP left a message on my voicemail, DH googled it straight away and I ticked every box on the symptom list! why wasnt this something everyone thought of? surely they could have googled my symptoms.
Biggest issue now is that its most likely to be causing my sciatic issues in my leg even tho my GP didnt seem to think so, we had a really tense conversation about it as she was happy enough for me just to 'deal with it' and live on paracetomol which only masks the pain, I still feel it through that but im unable to take Anti-Inflammatories due to my Renal Agenesis, so that leaves Codeine and Tramadol. Neither of which I want. So off to a Spinal Surgeon I go, again, not something the GP was keen to do either but grumpily I advised her that im not the doctor here and I need a treatment plan, I cannot continue to work without getting some form of treatment, If the Spinal Surgeon decides not to do an MRI and its just something I have to deal with via nerve meds and physio, so be it, but im not going to just be fobbed off. One of the symptoms of my condition is that butt and leg muscles are tight, so here is hoping treatment is just as simple as a bit of physiotherapy to reduce the compression on my nerve and i'd be happy with that.
So, again, the chronicles continue. I'm elated we now know what is going on and its not that serious (yet...), again I know my body and I know when something isn't right enough to do something about it. Its my dear friend that keeps me battling, she was always so supportive when I first started this journey however she wasn't listened to in hers and her time on this earth was cut short as a result. I vowed to be my own advocate and trust my gut. Thanks hun, you and I would of really have a laugh at this one, who would of thought id end up with another one on my list and another specialist/surgeon. LOL! Now that i've been referred privately to a Spinal Surgeon its going to be a bit of a wait I think. In the meantime ill be chatting with my Osteo, I don't think ill be going back there unless she can do something magical to help in the meantime.
I will of course do a more detailed post when I know more, I might even update this post... its going to end up a book so I have to keep all my info in one place.
Biggest issue now is that its most likely to be causing my sciatic issues in my leg even tho my GP didnt seem to think so, we had a really tense conversation about it as she was happy enough for me just to 'deal with it' and live on paracetomol which only masks the pain, I still feel it through that but im unable to take Anti-Inflammatories due to my Renal Agenesis, so that leaves Codeine and Tramadol. Neither of which I want. So off to a Spinal Surgeon I go, again, not something the GP was keen to do either but grumpily I advised her that im not the doctor here and I need a treatment plan, I cannot continue to work without getting some form of treatment, If the Spinal Surgeon decides not to do an MRI and its just something I have to deal with via nerve meds and physio, so be it, but im not going to just be fobbed off. One of the symptoms of my condition is that butt and leg muscles are tight, so here is hoping treatment is just as simple as a bit of physiotherapy to reduce the compression on my nerve and i'd be happy with that.
So, again, the chronicles continue. I'm elated we now know what is going on and its not that serious (yet...), again I know my body and I know when something isn't right enough to do something about it. Its my dear friend that keeps me battling, she was always so supportive when I first started this journey however she wasn't listened to in hers and her time on this earth was cut short as a result. I vowed to be my own advocate and trust my gut. Thanks hun, you and I would of really have a laugh at this one, who would of thought id end up with another one on my list and another specialist/surgeon. LOL! Now that i've been referred privately to a Spinal Surgeon its going to be a bit of a wait I think. In the meantime ill be chatting with my Osteo, I don't think ill be going back there unless she can do something magical to help in the meantime.
I will of course do a more detailed post when I know more, I might even update this post... its going to end up a book so I have to keep all my info in one place.
Also, In the meantime we will be embarking on a new journey which we'll probably also document here, the hunt for a surrogate! its going to take a while here in NZ (if we find one at all), ECART ethics committee deems you must know the person or spend 6 months getting to know them before you get approval. We might proceed with a cycle and freeze some embryos just in case yet. everything is very up in the air right now but we are not rushing ourselves with any decisions, there is lots to look into first. This diagnosis though has really decided for us as NO way I will ever be able to carry a pregnancy. Its a shame, but i'm not going to let it define me... as Lada Gaga says, "Don't hide yourself in regret, Just love yourself and you're set, I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way".
