I had a great first year of college. I did well in all of my classes, made a lot of friends, and frankly can't wait to go back in September. That being said, I was excited to come home for the summer. I was excited to work and make some money, to see all of my friends from home, to hit the beach as much as possible, and overall just to have a really great summer.
That excitement lasted for all of a day. The day I moved home from college, I started feeling a weird pain in my back.
I found that doing certain things really made my back ache, and I found myself restricted from doing a lot of what I had planned to do. After a week of literally not being able to sit down on a couch, I started going to the chiropractor assuming it was a back pain similar to one I experienced last year. He did stimulation therapy on my lower back and then would adjust me.
After about a week and half of feeling the exact same pain despite going to the chiropractor a few times, I was sent for X-Rays, which showed that there was nothing wrong. A few days passed, and I still showed no signs of improvement, so I was sent for an MRI.
Boy, was that a fun experience. If you've never been claustrophobic before, this might change that.
The MRI finally was able to tell me what was wrong. I had two bulging disks, L4 and L5 to be exact, which were narrowing the space around the sciatic nerve on the right side of my body. This explained the back pain, the shooting pain down my right leg, and the numbness I felt in my butt.
From here, I met with a Pain Management doctor and I also met with a neurologist. I actually just had my first Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection into my back, which essentially just places pain medication right into the spot in my back that is giving me the pain. The procedure won't show results for a week or two, but if it works, I will feel relief from the pain in my back and leg, and might just be able to get back to my normal life.
So far this summer, I have done nothing. I have been home for almost two months, and unfortunately, this back pain has restricted me from doing everything I had planned to do. I haven't been to the beach or the pool yet. I haven't been able to do anything with my friends. I can only sit in certain chairs, so I can't go to the movies, or restaurants, or my friends' houses. I haven't been able to sit on my own couch since I got home, and that is absolutely torturous. I hope that this injection provides some relief, and I'm scheduled for a second one in a month. I'm really writing this article for two reasons:
1. To let people know why it seems like I've done absolutely nothing so far this summer.
2. To show others that sometimes things don't go as planned, but you'll survive.
I totally wish that this pain never began, and that I didn't have to deal with any of this. But at the same time, I'm glad it only began when I came home from school, because had this begun at college, I wouldn't have known what to do.
Right now, I'm focusing on trying to deal with this pain. Like I said, I won't know for up to two weeks if this injection had any effect or not, so until then I'll stick to my normal routines of Aleve and Tylenol. I'll be starting physical therapy to strengthen my muscles.
Hopefully, I feel some relief soon. Because all I want to do is lay on the beach and tan, swim in the pool, go to Splish Splash, hang out with my friends, go on the boat, and just do things that everybody does over the summer. For the friends I appear to be blowing off, I really don't mean it. I want to get together as much as you all do, but I currently can't physically do what I want to do. This isn't about me being antisocial or lazy, it's about me being in pain.
Am I thrilled about how my summer is going so far? No, not at all. But am I dealing with it? Yes, I have to. I have a great family and group of friends who want to see me get better. Sometimes things don't go as planned, but if everything always went as planned, what would life really be like?
