Well, today was the day. I had mentioned that they got me some valium but the reality is that they waited until this morning to call it in and I didn’t have time to go get it. I had accepted at this point that there would be no valium, and I worked hard on my anxiety to reframe the situation. So I was all ready mentally to just go do this thing. Then I got the call this morning about the valium and just blew it off.
I went in today and was given no headphones nor anything to put over my eyes. It was clear to me that I was just the next number in line and they couldn’t have cared less. I’m sure if I made a fuss they would have accommodated in some way but they certainly weren’t letting me know of my rights, lol. So I just laid down, closed my eyes, and did it. Honestly I wasn’t nervous at all. I’m not sure why, but it wasn’t nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be.
I did open my eyes a few times while in there because I’m stupid like that at times. I just had to see how close the ceiling was and yes, that thing was maybe 6 inches away. My arms were up against the sides. It was a tight squeeze. However it was really cool in the room and there was a nice breeze blowing through the machine and I felt like I could breathe just fine. That’s one of the things that worried me, feeling stuffy and like I couldn’t get enough air.
I found the noise of the machine soothing. The noises changed but they were rhythmic. I counted twice in my head to see if the sounds maybe each went for a certain amount of time. Apparently I waited until the end but the last two both went for about 80 seconds according to my bored and wandering mind.
All in all my anxiety before it was way worse the the actual MRI. It went smoothly. Now I will say that mine was only 15 minutes or so. I could have gone longer and was quite frankly surprised it went by so quick. Went out to a favorite restaurant afterward, and it was a good day. Now tomorrow I find out the results.
You know, echoing **Voyager **above, I had a great time with my first (and so far, only) MRI. I was wildly entertained by the various noises it made. There were stretches where I thought I was back in my youth listening to some cool new industrial album. I wish I could have recorded some of the parts.
As a guy that really enjoys caving, claustrophobia wasn’t an issue. In essence, the whole experience was like a comfy nap in the middle of a caving trip while listening to some cool beats.
Turns out I have a degenerating L4 and L5 disc. L4 is bulging and pressing on the nerves on the right side, causing my issues on the right side. The left side is encroaching. I also have a facet joint on L4 that is deteriorating. I honestly think that’s where most of my pain issues and spasm issues come from. The bad news is that it’s all deteriorating at 42 to a point where I had to leave my business. The good news is that the discs are holding great space between my vertebrae…for now.
Next steps are some injections to try to calm down the nerves and swelling around them. Not much they can do for the facet.
I’m to work on my core, do isometric exercises, losing weight never hurts though I’m almost 6’1 and 206 so not super overweight. There isn’t much more to do.
I could do surgery regarding the discs, probably a fusion, but the doc seemed to think that it seemed like overkill given my position.
We’ll see if the shots help. That would be nice. I stood for a couple hours last night video recording a high school football game for a friend and my back was absolutely killing me after on the drive home. It’s definitely limiting me in a lot of ways. Hopefully I can find some relief even if the pain isn’t excruciating, and maybe even find a way to keep the deterioration at bay. We’ll see.
My spouse had terrible back problems all his life and until you have that or live closely with someone with that it’s hard to understand how problematic it is. I hope you find relief.
I would try everything they tell you to do and hope for the best. You should also look into a medication like Cymbalta that works on nerve pain. It made a huge difference to me, and my back was where your back is now about 10 years ago.
If everything non-surgical doesn’t work, don’t be afraid to at least research surgery. I had a back fusion (L4-L5). Afterwards, I still had lower back pain, but it stopped the loss of function that was developing in my legs.