Personal Update: Today’s hospital appointment

Personal Update

Hello 🙂

I thought I’d write a quick post to update how things are with my back at the moment. Those of you who follow my blog may know that I’ve been suffering with leg numbess for a while now. I worked it out and it’s been almost a year now that I’ve had numbness down my right leg. I’m not getting any pain, it’s just numb which is weird.

I have been waiting for MONTHS now for an appointment at the hospital where I had my original scoliosis surgery (in Oswestry, Shropshire). Whilst waiting, I have had physio which to be honest was a waste of time. The physio was lovely but she didn’t really know what to do with me (a common problem). She thought it was probably a problem below my fusion (L3/L4) but without a scan of some kind, she didn’t know how to treat it.

In the meantime, I’ve been carrying on like normal doing my running, gym etc as I’m not sure what else I can do. It’s not causing any pain or stopping me from doing anything. It’s just a bit irritating really.

Anyway, today my eagerly awaited appointment arrived and I headed to Oswestry. To be honest, I was really nervous going back there. I thought it might bring back all those memories of my surgery 7 years ago. But they’ve done it all up and it looks completely different, which probably helped.

My appointment was at 2pm and, as with past appointments, I expected to be waiting hours and for it to take all afternoon. In the end, it was possibly the quickest appointment I have ever had. And after months of waiting, it was a bit of an anti-climax. The Dr I saw was nice enough (he was in my surgeon’s team – it’s rare to see the main man himself!) He asked me a few questions, asked me to do a few movements and then said I’ll need an MRI scan to find out what’s causing the issue. The whole appointment took less than 5 minutes!

He said it could be wear and tear below my fusion which can happen years after scoliosis surgery, but he said it’s odd that I have no pain. To be honest, I really think it’s wear and tear because of all the stuff I do. The problem with spinal fusion is the lower spine gets more pressure put onto it and the discs wear out quicker.  I’m really worried that this is what is causing the issue and that I’ll be told I can’t do all the exercise that I love so much. If they tell me this I’ll be really upset. I did ask him about running and he said that if it’s not causing pain then it shouldn’t be a problem.

I’m just feeling a little fed up, as at the moment I’m in limbo. I’m worrying that I have caused the issue by doing too much at the gym. I suppose it’s good that they are looking into it though and all I can do is wait for the MRI scan and I’ll know more. It’s just a shame I had to wait almost a year to be told I need an MRI scan.. the damage is probably already done by now and my other fear is that the numbness will be permanent.

To be honest I didn’t think I’d be back at Oswestry again so soon after my surgery, but I guess the thing with scoliosis is that it is a chronic condition. It’s a condition that you can never really escape from, you just have to learn to live with it and even after surgery it’s not over.

I’m determined to stay positive though. If I can get through the scoliosis surgery, I can get through anything!

Louise X

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