Maybe I should title this post " twist in the tale ! First of all I would like to thank all the kind people who wished me well on my first chemo for recurrence on the 15aug. All went well and I had to go to the city for a funeral 3days later so I stayed a week. I returned last Thu and now had a niggling pain in my back. On Sat morning at 5am I woke to go to the toilet. As I got out of bed the most excruciating pain shot through my lower back. I could only move by shuffling and sliding my feet across the floor. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was 11 as I have never experienced a pain like it. I took my temp which was normal and rang the night nurse. She checked with the Doctor on duty who suggested that it might be a rare reaction to chemo. As my temp was normal he advised to take the full dose of Tramadol and add codeine to the mix and see them on Mon. I was quite ill with worry as each time the pain killers wore off the pain returned.
I went to the hospital and was seen by a very nice Doctor I had never met before. I dreaded what he was going to say. Then he just said " you have a herniated disc ! I was stunned and delighted at the same time. I had been waiting to hear some dreadful news. He said that I just deal with it with pain killers and physio. I would have danced out the door if I didnt have this terrible pain . One of my friends said I must be the only person in the world who is delighted to have a herniated disc !
I cast my mind back to last week and then I remembered that when I went to put my bins out in Dublin last week the side of my house was blocked by a wrought iron garden seat. Probably put there by one of my neighbours who is a key holder. Like an idiot I then proceeded to drag it into the garden. Here was my answer except the bad pain only came when I returned here to my late mothers house. That is the twist in the tale or " my tail !
Perhaps the euphoria will field down when I realise that the awful pain is stillthere . Meanwhile I was able to forget the word Cancer for at least 24 hours ! Thanks again
XXX
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IrishMollyO
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I was on such a high that it wasn't cancer related that I didn't sleep very well last night and ended up writing my post in the small hours . Of course the pain could have something to do with it ! Thanks for your reply . You are up early too
What a relief......of sorts. You really must rest. I had a herniated disc at the beginning of 2015. I was just flipping a duvet in a cover to get rid if the bumps and my legs gave way in pain. You need to let all the inflammation around the disc settle. Can take a while and I got sciatica too. God I'm whincing at the memory. I got completely better but it took a couple of months. Good luck. I hope they gave you anti inflammatory tablets as well as pain killers. Xx
Spoke to my CNS as I want to delay my chemo for at least a week. She said anti inflammatory tabs are a no no during chemo but they will get the palliative nurses to come up with something else.
I had NHS physio as well and I didnt wait too long. Really got me back on track. He prescribed some tablets that usually epileptic patients have that stops the brain recognising the pain. I believe that was more for the sciatica and i have to admit I was not happy taking them and only did so for a week. However, If you can get physio I would say jump at it. Groan!!! x
Very funny. I nearly jumped with joy yesterday except for the pain ! Seriously though those tablets sound good . I am in Ireland so may have to get private physio. Thanks again
Thanks for your very quick reply . I am almost trying not to face the fact that this painful condition will be going on at the same time as my chemo. A double whammy so to speak and all because I did something very stupid. I have 2 neighbours either side of me who are key holders of my house and keep an eye on it . They probably did it but I cant really complain as they are good neighbours and will not realise the consequences . One is a policeman and the other is an eccentric teacher !
As the Doctor was probably an oncologist I am sure he only prescribes for Cancer and chemo. I will talk to my GP about the anti inflammatory tabsv as he will have to refer me to a physio.
Thanks again for your reply. Did you do exercise and physio by the way ?
I used to be a police officer and now I'm a teacher. Lol. Don't think I'm eccentric. Haha. We all push ourselves and carry move things we did before. It's the breathlessness afterwards that scares me. I won't be patronising and say lesson learnt cos like the rest of us we want to be as we were and will still push it. . Good luck again xxx
So sorry you had this painful experience, Molly, and hope the pain eases. But you're right, it's a special feeling discovering something isn't cancer. In fact, there should be a special word for that, I think! All the best x
I like that . Oncoland is a good word ! It's really wierd how I feel. I am on a kind of high after being told the pain has nothing to do with Cancer and at same time temporarily forgetting I am back on treatment ! I also forget of course that this pain is going to last about the same length of time as chemo. Didn't Rod Stewart sing a song that starts " wake up Molly " ! Thanks for your reply
O MollyO no matter what is thrown at you ,you are still smiling. Thankfully I have no bad back problems just the usual pains and aches that OC brings, but I did paper my bedroom a few weeks ago and the osteoarthritis has flared up in my hands again but getting ultrasound injections in them in 2 weeks. Hopefully your bad back won't hold up your chemo to much as unfortunately the amount of time sitting around waiting and having chemo won't be very comfortable for you. Take care and once again no matter how much you are hurting your posts always make me smile. Kittie
Thanks Kittie. I had a another wierd day with gremlins attacking me from all sides. My house alarm co rang me from Dublin to tell me that although I had no burglars my alarm system would only last another 48 hours as now on batteries due to a power cut earlier ! I had gone back to bed as not much sleep last night . Lots more gremlins too many to mention. I had to go back out to a special anniversary Mass and only just got in. Managed to get a key holder eventually . Will go to bed soon before more of these creatures attack me. Hope you didn't have such a dramatic day.
XXX
That really sounds awful I am so sorry you must be in a lot of pain, hopefully the physio will help. I have it at the moment and traction and it is slow but coming along, Note to self, no pulling pushing or dragging at any time, Sending you a big hug
You are so right Suzuki. If I had not been stupid enough to drag a really heavy garden seat across the grass then I would not have this added psin in the back
Yes KM. The wierd thing is I wanted to hug the Dr when he told me that that I had this herniated disc which I never heard of before ! Today reality has set in when it dawned on me that I would have to live with this side by side with chemo . Ah well. I have learned a hard lesson. Beware of heavy garden seats !
XXX
That's sounds sore!!! But so pleased it wasn't cancer. Hope you feel more comfortable soon take care xx
Hi Dx. I'm trying to be philosophical and say to myself " it could be worse ! " . But then I remember that it will change everything as I now have to find a physio through my GP and i can't think when I will get the time . Wish me luck z,
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