Back Pain - Again

Yesterday I got a shot. I was able to walk around and pretty much function - cook dinner - check on the kids outside - and then the lidocaine wore off. Now I'm back to intermittently laying on the air mattress or the bed and minimizing walking and standing.

Last week I may have mentioned that I was pretty much not functioning. I lay on the air mattress and got up as little as possible. Because it hurt. Because tingling and pain ran down my leg and on occasion I had numbness in my foot. So Friday I had an MRI done in the morning and by noon I had a call that the result was a herniated disc between L5 and S1.

So I set up an appointment with a pain specialist doctor to hopefully give me some kind of shot yesterday. And he did. Just not the shot I expected to get.

Yesterday was great. Hopeful. Maybe I will be functioning again soon. And the lidocaine was supposed to wear off and the steroid will kick in slowly, so maybe all hope is not lost. But -

The pain doctor annoyed me.

He didn't let me finish a sentence. He didn't read my history or ask what had been going on. He wanted to know where it hurt right then, and said that was my SI joint, not a herniated disc. And pretty much stuck with that no matter what. He asked if I exercise. Ha! I tried to tell him I'd been running until the pain and he cut in - doesn't think running is the right exercise for me. He wanted me to ride a bike. I tried to tell him I can't even sit on a bike without excruciating pain. He cut in to tell me what kind of bike he meant. Whatever. He ended it with I should get on the elliptical trainer - even though I don't have access to one - that would be good for me. And I should start exercising as soon as my pain is gone.

Great.

That's what I plan to do.

I read online yesterday that the shot in the SI joint is as much a diagnostic test as anything. That if it helps the pain, then the SI joint is blamed for it. Yesterday I took all the pain meds I was allowed to take so that I could drive Alan to school and myself to the doctor. So I didn't have the tingling down the leg. But the pain doc said the pain med I'd taken wouldn't have taken the tingling out of my leg. Okay. I give up.

Tomorrow I think I have a follow-up with the orthopedic doc who referred me to the pain guy. Can't wait to hear what he has to say. At least I think he'll listen to me. Without an annoying grin.