HOW LONG CAN BACK PAIN GO ON FOR?!

[mutterley1]

I went to work in Yemen-new factories & their management. My wife was with me and we were 22 & 19 respectivley- hands on job through a Lebanese Polytechnic friend's father. Stage set- I did not do anything out of my normal capabilities- putting 230kg drums vertical from horizontal probably highest 'weight lifting'. On leave/business and came down in B&Q car park with what the A&E told me was sciatica. Having overseas medical cover I went private to The Hampshire near Basingstoke, had MRI'S et al until the Consultant/Surgeon Mr D.Harrison said 'ruptered disc pressing on sciatic nerve, sign here, on the slab, woke up with soreness bt NO sciatica. Mr Harrison told me his handywork should last 10+ years after which ? I had already been put on Dihydrocodene, Tramadol, Diazapam & Oromorph and still remaied on them despite the surgical intervention? All good, back to Yemen, busy as hell on new projects BUT started to notice the creeping pain of Sciatica. From 2005 until 2016 I had 7 surgical iterventions for a variety of spinal problems and my drugs changed (with a new GP) to Morphine tabs, Amatriptylene, Diazapam (26 years on this 'addictive' drug), Gabapentin- did help hugely at max+ dose of 3600mg/day. Stenosis surgery in 2012 stopped my life as I had planned it FOREVER. Surgeon severed the Sciatic nerve, causing irreversable damage to Peronial Nerve giving me no feeling below the left knee (both knees replaced due to pressure upon them) and acute foot drop- foot will not move. No more working in Yemen, onto benefits, no more racing motorbike-my only hobby. The Consultant/Surgeon/Registrar didn't even tell me about this 'foot drop' but when getting out of hospital bed I fell over THEN I knew something was wrong. To date nothing has helped the left foot eve though proceedures exist for repair. Still banging the drugs down my neck even untill this script. 2016 driving to Leeds for my mums funeral. Our son came with us but our daughter has very happy life in Cape Coral, Florida. Anyhow- stopped for WC & Coffee and changed driving shoes for boots whe in front of my eyes the left foot that stopped working turned through 180 degrees so sole of the foot was upright and pointing the sole to the right- still just the same. Pain returned on morning of the funeral. I didn't get there & oly remember waking up in ICU at the LGI hospital (where my mum had been a Matron for 40 years-ironic?) Cosultant gave long story bottom line of which is his nuts/bolts/rods fused my lowest FOUR vertabrae. I am unable to stand upright leaning about 30 degrees forward from the waist. My dead foot drags along with me but the whole thing eroded my once 'mighty' belief in 'self' so I don't go out apart from in the car. Walking with Carbo Fibre ski poles along a river bank I do but the lean puts massive strain on knees and hips + pelvis with the latter 2 now needing surgery AND my drug regime remains unchanged-33 years on Diazapam and 20 years on Morphine tabs and Gabapentin. Some/most days are crap- if its sunny I sit outside and will lie on the grass and plant 'things' along the borders to get local flying wildlife to visit. Compared to the 'go getter' macho factory builder and management is no more and even if I found a job- quite a few people know me- I cannot (a) walk upright and (b) cannot walk more than 50 yards. 10 years ago my wife bought a kennel club Cairn/Westie puppy and he has become so much of my life-he even has 'a nest' in a pine wardrobe. I can't walk him and we are rural so lots of places to take your dog. My wife gets frustrated sometimes when I say that I cant do this, that and the other. As I write this my wife and mum-in-law are in Florida for 20 days and will meet our nearly 2 years old granddaughter whose name with a red heart is tatooed on my chest plus I have a little garden for her with a slate sign telling people its her garden in England- something to connect us. We went to the Florida Keys about 6 months ago )plane fares in Club are covered by our daughters vast'points' collection. I was barely able to do anything PLUS my appearance so they had my blessing to do whatever while I sat, by myself and they went all over the place. I have only been out of hospital for 2 weeks after getting infected mesh in the abdominal wall but took 2 visits of a week each as the 1st one got a large size infection so I had a pump attached to me to help drain out the bad stuff. Nurses at my GP's change dressing daily but should be done soon leaving me with another 'in yer face' type of scar- its just another one for me. Could I do more? Don't know until I try which I will do when my wife is back. Have I given up? Mostly yes due to my strange 'gait' which makes walking very hard and does stop me even if I want to do more. So here I am, tablets and all, trying to come up with a plan for the future. I am not a pessimist or a person who sees only negatives in daily life BUT I cannot walk distance, I look like a 'hunchback and I have gone from ultra positive to ultra negative and I still have work to do on some Court Cases with myself as the 'injured party'. My wife has become more capable- married the girl next door 42 years ago + 5 years together before. So wish me the best with my paperwork as the rest of my problems will never be fixed so I am glad she is in Florida & I get 5 minutes Facetime most days so I can see what I am, by choice, missing! David in Hampshire

[Madlegs1]

What an incredible story.!

You must be an almighty strong character to cope with all of that.

My dodgy ankle pales into utter insignificance compared with your experiences.

I can only sympathise and wish for you to have as pain free a life as possible.

All the best.

[Bevvy]

Interesting story. I understand you have been left with minimal walking. Have you tried any of the variety of walking aids that are available? For example I use a walking stick for extremely short distances. A walking frame slightly longer or when I am feeling especially “wobbly “ but for anything other than pottering I used a mobility scooter. I have 2 scooters. One main one which looks like a motorbike for when I go local shopping and another which is folded up inside my car. All these mean that should I feel well enough I can go out rather than sitting at home all the time.

[jpbuk1204]

Amazing long story and keeps me from not getting the operation to fix my 3 prolapsed discs. 1 in 4 chance of success is as bad as Vegas. I know I will need surgery at one point as pills and jags etc can't keep me going forever but your bravery and drive to keep going amazes me.

[RobbieT]

So much suffering. You have managed to shut me up (at least for the time being!! 😊) regarding my own pain. I can sit, walk & swim in between bouts of intense pain. I am blessed - & you have just reminded me of that. Warmest of regards to you. 💙

[kenster1]

you might not like my answer but my back pain has been going on 20 years and the pain has now spread to just about the rest of my body and certain simple things become a task but the doctors aren`t interested in helping me.

[smile2day]

👍keep on, keeping on going, Best Regards to you, our history is quite similar, back pain and lost identity wise, though I am 8 years through living with chronic pain, I don't say coping any longer 😉 .

All the very best to you and yours, and your granddaughters English garden, it will be at its blooming best right now, hats off to you.