Bulgy has been cut in half

What a shame I neglected this blog! I think my story might have given some hope to others in a similar situation.

A few years down the track, I am drug free and in a much better place.

About 6 months after the "trigger event" (when bulgy was conceived) I had a couple of epidurals that provided some temporary relief for 6 to 8 weeks.

For the first 2 years I was on a list of different drugs for pain relief and inflammation. I eventually settled in to a routine of daily drugs twice a day. I was also doing very little exercise this entire time so I tried to be careful in what I ate.

I moved to New Zealand (not for reasons related to my back) and started exploring a more permanent fix that would help me live without pain again. After more X-rays and MRIs a specialist recommended I fuse not one but two discs! That concerned me as it seemed extreme, hence I kept getting medical advice. In the end I chose to get a micro discectomy done. Through an inch long cut in my lower back the surgeon removed half of bulgy. It then took 6 months and some light gym work before I started feeling better than I was prior to the operation.

Another 3 to 6 months later I started trying to run. I was a great runner as a teen so it was disappointing to only be able to do a slow 1.5km at first. It hurt my back but my doctor helped me realise I should carefully persevere and be ready to deal with set backs as they came.

After a few months I was doing 5km runs at a casual pace. I then indeed hit a set back! It was a full week of pain and I was back on the drugs. But I quickly came out of it again and actually gained in confidence, reflecting on my doctor's advice.

These days I can comfortably run 10km at 5 mins per km pace and planning to do a half marathon. To this day I still carry my drugs in my work bag as I travel a lot for work and don't ever want to be in massive pain without that safety net. I rarely take any drugs for my back, perhaps once a year?? And more importantly my back pain and frankly my poor outlook is no longer top of mind. Days and weeks go by where I don't think about my back... and that is awesome!

Bulgy is half what he use to be and I'm back to normal, for now...

Bulgy Is Conceived

This is a story about my lower back, specifically my nasty and bulging L4-L5 disc, or "Bulgy" for short. I hope this finds people with a similar problem who are looking for answers. Now, I’m not yet fixed! But I intend on blogging my experiences as my road to recovery continues.

Conception

Bulgy was conceived in late September 2011 (5 months ago), the week before my family were heading to Disneyland. We were shopping and I had my son on my shoulders for a good 30 minutes. My back started to hurt when we got home, and an hour later I could barely stand up. I limped between the couch and bed for the first few days and saw my doc later that week.

My doc prescribed some pain killers (Ibuprofen) and a referral to see a physical therapist. I was in denial, presuming it would get better within a couple of weeks, and my doc seemed to think the same. I still went to Disneyland, but it was a tough day! It was (and still is) a constant aching pain with irregular shoots of pain in my hips, legs and butt.

Bulgy’s First Few Months

During the first few months I continued life as normal while also complaining to every man and his dog. I was positively fun to be around ;-). My muscles were contracting around Bulgy in a defensive move presumably against my lackluster efforts to look after him. Due to severe muscle cramps, for about 3 months I had severe pain in my butt and hips in particular, even worse than my lower back.

My six visits to the physical therapist was, well, slow. Ultrasound and other various techniques (such as McKenzie) helped but did not extinguish the agonizing pain. The goal at this stage was to distress my muscles, coaching them to relax. Through heavy medications for pain and muscle relaxation (including valium!), plus lots of stretching and walking, my muscles eventually dropped their defensive walls and relaxed!

Oh, by the way, I tried a chiropractor once during this time, and he happened to be trained in Active Release Techniques. The session was really great, but later that day my pain levels increased and never dropped again so I decided to not go back.

Don’t forget that at this stage Bulgy was conceived but not yet born and I did not know about him! With some internet research I started to suspect I had a herniated disc and worked the health system to get an XRay and MRI as fast as I could. The MRI was eventually performed in February 2012, four months after conception. My next post is Bulgy's birth, and my realization that Bulgy is here to stay...