Share your feelings, frustrations. Teach others about yours, learn about theirs. |
Yes, it's been ages since I've been here, a couple years, actually. For that I apologize. Interestingly enough, the subject of this forum is also the reason I'm back. In those intervening two years, I've developed a pinched nerve in my back. When it gets irritated, it sends sharp pains down one or both of my legs, which makes walking extremely painful, which results in my being forced to take very short steps to consistently try to minimize the length of time I'm putting weight on the leg that hurts. If it's only one leg that hurts, using my cane helps; I can put my weight onto the cane when taking a step with that leg. But if they both hurt, the cane isn't as much help, for obvious reasons. My doctor gave me one of those strong steroid prescriptions where you take it over a period of a week or so but it stays in your system a good bit of time after that. That worked for about a month, then the pain started coming back. He said if it gets to be a major issue he would have them do an MRI to see what's going on. That's fine, but if he then suggests having back surgery, he's in for a surprise. I won't do that. Too much risk. I may have to fight through the pain, but at least right now I can walk. All I'd need is a slip of the knife and I'd be in a wheelchair. I won't take that chance, especially since I turn 70 this August. We'll have to see what the future brings. |