'Left paracentral disc extrusion at L5-S1 which contacts the left S1 nerve root in the lateral recess, also with subligamentous extension of disc material along the dorsal aspect of S1.'
Oh, boy! It's always good to get an extension, right?
So what this means in something approaching English (per my GP) is that I have a disc at the L5/S1 disc space (I always seem to have disc space problems) that is sticking out and running into the S1 nerve root on the left side where the S1 exits the spine. And, as I could have guessed by the prickling in my thumb toes, the S1 provides sensation to the left foot. Of which I am annoyingly lacking on the left side of same.
Sigh.
So, what's next? Again, per the doc, since this doesn't seem to be just temporary swelling (any swelling associated with whatever caused this got knocked out pretty quickly by the steroids), I need to contact the spine clinic for an appointment to look at "either a trial of an injection or surgical treatment for this," oh gosh, oh golly, oh wow.
Meanwhile, I need to work on "good core strengthening" to stabilize my spine. The doc's recommendation is "water walking 20-30 minutes 2-3x a week." Well, heck, if I could walk on water, I probably wouldn't be having … oh, wait, you mean walking in the water. Um, right. That's logistically a non-trivial thing. So we'll see what we can brainstorm.
So … that's the state of the back and sciatica and all that good stuff. More thrilling excess of unwanted medical information to come as it happens!
(On the bright side, whatever I did to screw up my right thumb on 4 July is almost completely better. Man, when the warranty expires, everything starts going to hell.)
Ugh, that doesn't sound fun….no matter how cool a pic you post along with your story 🙂
Hope it works out for you and you won't need surgery.
Hmm. Harlan and Farley Stillwell are dead. Maybe try Extremis? Or TAHITI?
That sucks. Hopefully, you won't need surgery. Not sure if it's the same thing but my mom had problems with her discs and had to have injections every 4-6 months. As long as she got them when she needed, everything was fine.
+Marty Shaw Well, that's certainly … encouraging … (whimpers)
That illustration just gives me the willies… And not one of the cool willies like Wil Wheaton. Hope they can resolve it without drastic means!