Crazy Couple of Months

Thursday June 12, 2014

I have been battling back problems for years, however, losing some weight and being more active with swimming, yoga, and walking has been a big help. In February, I started noticing more discomfort, but I ignored it because it seemed to get better with walking. Then after three days of Awesome Con in DC it took a turn for the worse. I was only comfortable when I walked and even then my right leg and hip would get very tired on me.

I decided after visiting my new nephew in Louisville I would get it checked out. Apparently, my body was tired of me ignoring it's warning signs. An hour into my drive home I began having excrutiating nerve pain in my right leg. That is not the kind of pain you can ignore. I managed to get home, made an appointment with my chiropractor, but beyond the wish for pain medications that I wasn't allergic to, I didn't think too much of it. I figured I'd go to my appointment, maybe get a massage and all would be well.

A few hours after I returned home I began losing feeling in my right leg. By the next morning I was numb from my hip to my toes. My chiropractor sent me to get an MRI and from there they sent me to the emergency room. I was admitted and shipped to DC for surgery. Apparently, I had three herniated, bulging discs. One of the discs had calcified and when it herniated it broke off pieces of the disc which then settled against my sciatic nerve.

Luckily, the good doctors found some pain medication that didn't make me break out in hives and were able to remove all the pieces of the disc that was putting pressure on my nerve. It's been a month now of slow recovery, but I've started physical therapy and that's going well. I still don't have complete feeling in my leg, but there are signs of progress. 

All of this has slowed down my writing progress considerably. And I've gone back to my day job this week, which has taken a toll on my energy as well, but as I've told my husband I'm a tough broad and I hope to get back to finishing all of my current projects. There are quite a few. :D

I want to thank everyone who has sent me well wishes, warm thoughts and prayers. They were all appreciated.