 Although not strictly about my back, it is related. I have this thing of ‘having a go’. It is easy to say, “no I can’t” and then miss out on things that I might have managed, or end up too frightened to do anything, so I toddled off to Cyprus at the end of the school holidays. It was fun and hard but I managed with the help of my ever-patient kind husband. On the way back we went to Thessaloniki for a few days and spent much time floating in the sea. When I returned home I saw an orthopaedic surgeon, MT and he managed to prod in all the pertinent places (not in a good way) and wondered if it ‘smarted a little’. He put my MRI on screen and asked if anyone had mentioned that I have Bertolotti’s Syndrome. This is a lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LSTV). There, information you didn’t know you needed. No-one had. Back in the day the first ever surgeon said I had a tether and SJ said I had a high bit. Well, I am so special I even have an extra disc in my sacrum but that in itself doesn’t cause an issue. The problem continues to be from nerve damage. What to do eh? Obviously, I went back to Cyprus. We arrived on the Wednesday and took our grandsons away for the night on the Friday. All was good until 4am when I got up for the loo. On the way back my leg gave way and I reached out for the bed that wasn’t there and crash landed on my hand. It hurt. A lot. It didn’t stop hurting and so we ended up at the hospital. Examined and x-rayed the casualty doctor thought it was probably not broken and I excitedly sent texts to my daughter and husband while laughing with relief at the drama. I was a happy bunny until the orthopaedic surgeon, CP, arrived and said it was fractured. Now I was a sad bunny in a cast and not allowed to swim. I was a bit woe is me what with my casted arm in a sling and using a walking stick with my good arm because of dodgy legs. What the hell - relieved I’m not a dog or I’d have been sent to the farm. When we returned after a week to see CP we had a coffee near the clinic and there was a patient from the hospital over the road (yes other side of road) with drip in situ, IV bag hanging on pole, drinking coffee and having a fag. Straight into the centre of the Venn. If this means nothing please see previous blog post. Back home now for a while before, you’ve guessed it, Cyprus for Christmas. This will be the last trip because they have been posted to RAF Scampton. It doesn’t have quite the same ring as Cyprus but despite lack of sun and sea it will be brilliant and a whole new adventure. And Red Arrows! Red Arrows photo by Owen Kemp on Unsplash
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Back Story
Here you will find the up and down tales of my back and related problems. I specialise in pain management and having been a patient I have a deeper insight into the difficulties chronic pain can cause. Archives
November 2017
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