I recently had back surgery on a herniated disk. The bummer of it….I don’t have a good story for how I hurt myself. I’m just getting old….one day at a time. I knew I was hurt, but didn’t recognize how bad things really were. Over the next 16 weeks, the sciatic pain caused by the herniation continued to increase to a point I it took about 3 hours to fully stand up in the morning. Pain would shoot from my hip to my foot like I was being shocked. Eventually, I started falling down. I was in bad shape. I ended up getting an MRI and discovered the herniation. We tried meds delivered through an epidural into the disk to help inflammation and pain. This was supposed to give the body some relief to heal itself. I got 9 days of “better” and the pain returned. I saw numerous docs and used both traditional and untraditional methods to find relief.
For the first time in my life I started feeling hopeless. I tend to be a pretty optimistic individual, but I was beaten down and done. With good counsel, we elected for surgery. I woke up from surgery and knew the stabbing pressure was gone.
I am now 7 weeks out and recovering. There is still some lingering nerve pain. This pain might go away in time. It might not. But either way, I’m better. And I’m grateful; Grateful for wise counsel, great doctors, pain meds without addictions, an understanding and supportive wife, a team of amazing coworkers that covered my awesome guests while I was out of work, and the grace of God. I live with a newfound compassion for people who struggle with chronic pain. Before experiencing this issue, I “thought” I had compassion and understanding. I had no idea. What did I learn? I learned I need to be present and enjoy every moment. I want to truly listen to people. And I want to love while I have the amazing opportunity. Thanks for reading. Love each other out there!
Matt Fine 