"Oh my injury - it was just crazy. I threw my back out one Sunday right before Thanksgiving just when I bent over to put my skirt on. It got worse over two days, so I went to the chiropractor 2 days later, thinking that it might help me heal faster. It hurt in a way I'd never felt before. I thought that I'd better have some health care specialist look at it and give me an assessment ASAP. I had a friend give me a refer and tell me that she knew a really great chiropractor. If the chiropractor couldn't assess it, I thought I'd go for the doctor after that.
The chiropractor gave me a quick assessment, asked my symptoms, and was really confident I would feel great after an adjustment. He said "Let's get you on the table and feeling better." So, I said "OK!" But after he treated me, I was in more pain than I have ever experienced in my back before. It was terrifying. I could hardly stand on my own. My first thought was that he would call an ambulance, but he told me to come into the next room and he would try something else. I thought, "Oh good. Maybe it's just out and he'll pop in back in or something." I trusted that he knew what was going on. He did something on my back that he call "opening the disks." After that I could NOT sit up or stand at all on my own. I couldn't even lift my body up an inch off the table. I was so scared I started crying. I thought maybe I would be paralyzed. He lifted me up really really slowly, first to sitting, then pulled me to standing. While he bore my weight, he told me to come into the next room and told me to lay on a table with ice and massage. I couldn't even lay down on my own. I laid there for about an hour, and then he told me to get up, strapped a back brace to me, which allowed me to stand on my own, helped me out to my car and sent me home. I asked him what I should do and he told me that I should just lay down for the night. It was 10 in the morning. I thought he was the spinal specialist so I just told him I'd do whatever he said I should.
In retrospect, I really should have just gone to the emergency room. But, I decided to trust him, and just do what he said, thinking that he knew better than I did about what was wrong. He said my muscles "just didn't have anything to grab on to." and I didn't really understand what that meant, except that my muscles were hurt. I went back for X-rays the next day and he "opened the disc." I left again in more pain than when I had arrived, but he said I was just so messed up that I really needed to be adjusted a few times to make sure I was in alignment so I could heal. He told me to come back a few days later. I said that I thought I needed to leave it alone for a while. So, I waited 9 days, and went back. I was feeling pretty good by that time, and I thought that according to what he'd told me, that this time, I would get adjusted and feel no pain, and then I'd know that I was better. But....I had the same experience as I did the first time. I couldn't move. Instead of even having me ice, he just put the back brace on me and told me to leave. He STILL told me to come back and told me he'd let me in on some exercises and stretches I could do "next time." So, then I knew he not only did not care at all about me getting well, but also really didn't have any idea what he was doing. I got the impression that he wanted to rush me out so he could see other patients and because he really didn't know what was wrong with me. But since he still told me to come back I thought "OK - this guy thinks he's going to get a steady income out of me, even though he's the one who HURT me!!"
So, I didn't go back after that. I thought at the time that I had a sprained wrist (I'll explain that later) and severely pulled muscles in my back. I thought that they would get better if I just rested and had Scott help me with the kids more.
It seemed to heal up after about 8 weeks. Never quite the same though...like I couldn't do back bends anymore...I always had a sharp pinch. I would try periodically to do very gentle back extensions, very low range of motion and no weight, just to increase my muscle strength, but I would wake up the next morning with my back locked up. Basically, I was OK if I avoided back extensions and exercising too much. (No running! :( ) I thought I was pretty much out of the woods until I went to Orlando with my husband and kids. I really really hurt after taking the kids out to Beach Club at Disney World. The next week I saw a spinal specialist and he said that the symptoms of my original injury were classic for a ruptured (torn) disc, but that it should heal up in 6 weeks. Again, I felt somewhat better after a few weeks, and again started getting worse. The doctor did an MRI, said I had reinjured it, needed to stop Physical Therapy and stop lifting my kids or anything, stop bending over, and try not to do any one thing...sitting, standing, or walking for too long. I'm now in my 6th week of recovery without having lifted my kids. I still hurt. I hope that as time goes by, it will get better. My back will certainly never be the same, but it's really supposed to be OK without surgery...uh....soon I guess. :)
This has been particularly difficult because at the same time the chiropractor adjusted my back he also asked if I had other pain. I mentioned that my right wrist had been a little uncomfortable when I did yoga or pushups, which I hadn't had before. He adjusted my wrist. It didn't really hurt right off, but after I could walk the next day again, and I felt well enough to try to lift my kids, I noticed that I couldn't use my right hand anymore. I had a lot of pain when I tried to lift or mix or do anything with a lot of weight on my hand. It was like a bad sprain. I thought, "Oh, great. He sprained my wrist too." but thought that it was just sprained and would get better, so I didn't see a doctor right away. It didn't get better though, and during our Christmas in Utah, I made an appointment to see the doctor right away for the very next day after we got home - both for my back and wrist and also because my knees had begun to hurt.
Long story short, after an MRI and several referrals, the doctor told me that my scapholunate ligament was ruptured (torn) in my right hand, and that it was a really bad injury because there is not a good surgery for it, and left alone, it will get arthritic. Even still, he thought no surgery was the best option, even though I would have to avoid putting much pressure on it, because it would really contribute to more injury. To me that meant, no yoga, no canyoneering, no pushups, and avoiding anything that hurt at the time...like lifting my kids with my hand or using a can opener. All sorts of things. I got a second opinion, and he was more positive. He said that even though the ligament was torn, it was still attached and that the bones were still held together. Same restrictions though for now, and with the hope that maybe over time it might actually heal.
So, anyway, it's been a hard year, but I know it could be much worse, and I am still hopeful that over time, I will get better. I'm just so impatient!! :)
Here's my huge update. :) I suppose I will post this on my blog since I've had a few people asking me what happened.
We like Cleveland a lot. It's nice to come here and get away from the norm for a while. We'll be back in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
Thanks for caring!
Katie
