The back problems continue.
The MRI scan I had a few weeks ago showed up a large broad-based central disc protrusion just above the base of my spine. My GP suggested I see a specialist as I may need an operation to correct this. Being that this whole thing has been going on 9 months now, I decided to pay for a private consultation to speed up the process (rather than waiting another few weeks for one on the NHS). It cost £150, which isn’t cheap, and I certainly couldn’t afford to pay for a private op… but at least I could get a quick answer.
So on Tuesday I drove to the poshest hospital I’ve ever seen. So posh they have three guys waving you into your parking space. So posh the lifts look like they belong in a 5 star hotel. So posh the second there weren’t enough chairs to seat everybody in the waiting area, a member of staff rushed off to find extra chairs. So posh I was seen, within 5 minutes, by a doctor who made Doug Ross look like Jonathan Ross. I felt pretty out of place in my Incredible Hulk T-shirt, I can tell you.
It was all very thorough. All very professional. But at the end of the day, I’m no nearer any kind of solution.
“We could operate, but we’d be operating mainly to deal with the pain in your leg. It wouldn’t have any effect on the pain in your back.”
The pain in my leg is caused by the misplaced disc pressing on my sciatic nerve. But it’s a pain that comes and goes. It’s a secondary by-product of the main problem, and if I just had the pain in my leg, I’d happily deal with it by taking a couple of anti-inflammatories every time it flared up. The main problem, the one that causes me the most discomfort, the one that prevents me from standing still for more than two or three minutes without pain, the one that's seriously curtailing my gigging life – that’s the problem in my back. But no operation can solve that. All I can do is wait for my spine to become used to the new position of the disc, and over time that pain should then subside.
On the one hand I’m disappointed. I really hoped there might be a clear-cut solution. On the other hand, I’m relieved. I didn’t want an operation – even a 5% risk is too much, and much as I hate my job I’d feel bad having to take up to 6 weeks off work, as though I was letting down my colleagues. But I’m not ready to give up just yet. There are still other things I can try…
Next stop… chiropracty.
(Sceptics, leave your comments at the door.)
