Chapter 17 - Can I get a back transplant please?

So an update on my back... the saga continues....!

I am experiencing very bad back pain again... this time in my mid back - if I lie on my back or sit in a chair or have anything pushing on my mid spine, it is very painful. And it also hurts when I breathe in and out deeply. I have no idea where this latest pain is coming from (although I feel ok at the moment as I have taken lots of pain killers!)

I finally got the results of my CT scan translated into english... and the results are worse than first thought… In vertebrae L3 - L4 there is a central disc protrusion but no signs of a prolapsed disc. There is a fracture / break in both L3 neural arches (Spondylolysis) and a tiny forward movement of L3 (Spondylolisthesis). In vertebrae L4 - L5 and L5 – S1 there are no signs of a prolapsed disc but there is a slight disc protrusion in both areas. I have been quite upset about the whole thing really... especially that it has happened during my time here. We have not been able to do some of the things we had planned like go on hikes and things. Birna has been really good though about it all – and very supportive.

So anyway… I went to see a Specialist today. After lots of poking and prodding (which hurt so much it made me cry), the Specialist said that he didn´t think my lower back problems had anything to do with the pain in my mid back. He wasn´t sure what was causing the pain but when he pushed the right side of my mid back it was extremely painful. He sent me off to get blood tests and an ultrasound - he wants to investigate my kidneys and other organs to rule out possible cists etc that may be putting pressure on my spine. I really don´t think he is on the right track but I guess we have to start somewhere. I just think my back is all out of place and I need a good physio to put it back into place, but the Specialist will not refer me to a physio until he knows what the problem is.

In the meantime, I am not going to work for the next few days. I´ll keep resting and take lots of pain killers and see how I feel in a few days. I think maybe lots of white wine (to wash down the pain killers of course) will also help to soothe my aching body! (Then in a few weeks, I will be an alcoholic addicted to pain killers!) I go back to the Specialist on Wednesday for the results. I really hope that I will be able to claim back some of these medical expenses from my travel insurance as this is an expensive exercise! But I guess you can´t put a price on health – you have to do what you have to do. And I keep thinking…. Things could be worse… I could be a total cripple who can´t even walk. So I guess I am pretty lucky if I think of it that way.