Medical Update

I had an MRI on Monday. I have to say it was really quite pleasant. It was large bore MRI, which basically means it has a larger tube than the traditional MRI and while it wasn't open on the sides, it has a shorter magnet so that the top of my head wasn't in the tube and if I looked up towards my forehead I could actually see the room behind me.

Of course now I know that claustrophobia ISN'T my problem with MRI's. It's my inability to lay still for more than 14 seconds.

Seriously the moment they slid me in and told me not to move, my nose started to tickle. Then I had to cough. Then my eye started to tear. Then my ear started to itch. Then my back started to hurt. Luckily they gave me headphones so I concentrated on the music and looked at the inside of the tube and started to DRIFT OFF TO SLEEP. Yes, it's true. I am so tired that I can actually sleep while Muszak is playing in my ears and the loud jack-hammer clanking of the magnets surrounds me.

Once I realized I was starting to fall asleep I startled myself awake, forgetting the whole DON'T MOVE aspect of the test. Thankfully my movement didn't interefere with the pictures they were taking. Otherwise we would have had to start the whole no movement thing all over again.

And so now, I have a diagnosis.

I have several herniated disks at L4, L5 and S1 (that's the bottom of the Lumbar region and the top of the sciatic region) with annular tears and lots of goopy stuff running into the tears, that is causing inflammation and nerve compression, and making it very difficult for me to walk. I haven't been injured in the recent past, so it's likely this is a combination of picking up two babies for the past 5 plus years coupled with selling the BMW and its lumbar support seat. :)

The next step is to see a neurosurgeon, which I'll do on Oct. 28.

I'm not sure if I'll have PT or surgery or find a cure that requires the eating of chocolate and ice cream, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now I'm just happy that I have a funky cane and it's taking me where I need to go -- and hopefully one day soon I won't need it any more.

So now that you're all up to speed on my back/leg issue, I'll treat you to a cute pictures of Hannah and Liz from our library tour in March. Tally, you may recognize the bottom picture!