I went to the pain doctor today and he spent a lot of time with me going over the MRI of my neck. I have put an arrow by the disc that is herniated....as you can see it is indenting the spinal cord. The doctor showed me exactly where the herniation is and also told me it is a pretty large herniation. There are 2 choices of what I can do. I can have an injection or see the surgeon and have surgery to remove the herniated part of the disc...I'm not sure how it's spelled but it's called a discectomy. I would not need a 3rd neck fusion because this would cause even more stress on the neck. This last herniation is most likely because the 3 levels below it are fused and it put too much stress on this level that 5 years ago was fine.

I sure don't want another surgery so I'm going to try the injections and hope that they help with the pain a little bit. Dr. Grove said that a lot of times the injection will reduce the swelling the neck just enough to reduce the pain. Let's hope that works for me. I am scheduled for a pump refill a week from tomorrow and he will do an injection that day also. I've never had one in my neck and I'm a little nervous. I asked to be sedated and that always helps with the nerves.

He also told me to start taking Lyrica for the neuropathy in my feet since the Pamelor is making me so tired. He has talked to the company that makes Lyrica and he called it a purer drug than many of the drugs used for the same reason. One of the number one reasons for use is peripheral neuropathy which is what I have. I can't wait to try it and start having a little more energy. I started Pamelor just before Christmas and all I've wanted to do since then is sleep.

The herniation in my neck is from the fusion I had in my neck 5 years ago. It is called a "domino effect". It simply means that the fusion has put stress on the other discs in my neck causing two more levels to herniate. The level right above the one that is newly herniated is beginning to go bad too.

I go to a lot of forums and see what other people with similar problems are saying. I read so many times that people go to the doctor's office with back or neck pain and the doctor can't find anything to cause the pain. I know it's frustrating to these people but I would love just one time to hear them say that...I can't find anything wrong.

Tyler was with us all afternoon. We picked him up from school and he was excited about going with us. I gave him the choice of whether to go in to the doctor's office with me or stay in the van with Grandpa Wayne. He wanted to stay with Wayne. I had bought him some things to do at WalMart on the way out of town so they kept him pretty well occupied. I don't think Wayne is used to so much talking though...I'm usually pretty quiet and so tonight he's hibernating by himself and said he doesn't care to do too much talking tonight. I read part of the book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus (or is it the other way around?) Anyway, what Wayne is doing tonight is what the book calls men going into their caves. And, Wayne needs a lot of cave time:) We have both had so much stress with health and what bad health does to our finances that we can't handle a lot of "anything". I sure hope that gets better for both of us in time.
I'm enjoying the quiet tonight too! Tyler couldn't have been any better. He was so good all afternoon! He is such a cute little boy and comes up with such funny things.