Back To The Back

It's about time for a quick update on Scott's back.

Remember when we went to the surgeon and he said Scott had arthritis?

Well, we went and got a second opinion. The second surgeon said "Arthritis? Really? Ridiculous. I don't think so." Pretty much the same reaction I had. However, this surgeon did also say that Scott is not a surgical candidate, but this one actually explained why.

I was so angry at the first surgeon. He said something like "Everyone has bulging discs. Everyone has back pain. You'll have to deal with it." I wanted to smack him...anyway. I didn't, which is good, because you smack a doctor and you end up in prison, and I don't think I'd like it in there. No yarn allowed. Anyway, all he said was "There's nothing I can do surgically." No explanation. The second surgeon told us more. She said that based on the MRIs we brought in, the bulge is small enough that shaving it would actually leave just as much scar tissue as what they shaved off, and so overall would do us no good. She also said that back pain isn't really what they treat; it's more like leg pain and numbness, like what you get from the bulging disc pushing on the spinal cord, and Scott hadn't had any before this weekend.

Here's the catch:

The last MRI Scott had was in March. And this past weekend, he fell down the stairs. He tripped on a Buster toy in the dark. I was up in bed and I just heard a giant THUD and then a "Errrrghhhhhuuuhhhhh." I raced downstairs to find my poor Scott lying facedown on the floor, groaning. "Want me to help you up?", I said. "No, I think I'll just lie here. It'll be easier", he replied. Slightly amusing, except the searing pain part.

So Friday night was when he fell, and all weekend long he was barely able to stand and had to spend the entire weekend lying flat on his back. Thank heaven he can hook up his computer to the big screen TV and that we have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, because the poor thing would have gone crazy if he hadn't been able to at least kill zombies.

The Monday after the fall we went back in to see the doctor who's been giving Scott his injections, and he saw how much pain Scott was in, and based on what the surgeon said and how Scott was feeling (which included a new symptom, slight muscle weakness, numbness, and shooting pain down his left leg), wanted to get another MRI to see what had changed to put him in this much pain. Scott didn't want an MRI, since we haven't paid off the last one yet, so the doctor put him on a MEGA steroid pack to see what would happen. It seems to have helped, but he's still miserable. He can't function like this. The painkillers bring his pain back down to a 2 or 3 most of the time, but sometimes the pain breaks through.

I'm not really sure where we go from here. I suppose as soon as he finishes his steroids we'll call the doctor back and let him know how it worked, and then maybe we can try another injection into a different space in his spine. I feel like we're out of options, and only one of our doctors is willing to try anything. Blargh.

EGADS, this is killing me. And Scott. Can't forget him...