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| Arriving at Biscuit Club a couple of weeks ago with my new set of wheels |
After my MRI and symptoms were looked over by three or four medical experts, one has finally put the pieces together and presented Rachel and I with a diagnosis.
The head of the Pain Clinic told us - via an impressively lengthy and thorough telephone call - this week that I have osteoarthritis in my lumbar facet joints. Rather than a nerve condition, this is affecting the muscles connecting my spine to my thighs. The pain and weakness in my calves are then a result of referred issues from the weakness in my thighs.
The whole 'slipped disc' aspect was an unfortunate coincidence and is unconnected with my leg problems.
As the doctor explained they don't do "spine replacement surgery", the best treatment I can receive is steroid injections into my lower back. This should (it has a 70 per cent success rate) alleviate my pain and allow me to focus on my rehabilitation.
And this is the part he stressed: if I don't do the exercises and keep limber it's all a waste of time.
The injections are not a permanent fix (which we will come back to in a bit), but at my age the shortest gap between jabs would be about 18 months. The older you get the less time can pass before you can benefit from new injections.
This is the same doctor I saw back in 2017, and the same procedure I'm being offered. The injections worked great then, but now, obviously, my symptoms are far worse. At that time I had really bad back pain, now I can barely walk unaided.
Nevertheless I did my best, and this will now serve as my new baseline going forward. I even managed to walk a short distance unaided and unsupported... although I did look like I'd had way too much to drink as I trudged unsteadily along the carpet, around a chair and back to my starting point.
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| Balance test during my assessment: not very successful. Needs work! |
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