Not me — Derek.
He’s been complaining about lower back pain for a while now, and finally it got bad enough that he went to see the doctor. An MRI shows that he has a prolapsed disc in his lower back.
You can see the prolapsed disk below the center of the picture, where the spinal cord is obscured.
He has an appointment next Monday for an epidural, a mixture of anaesthetic and steroids that sometimes help this kind of problem. If that doesn’t help, we’ll have to take it from there. Maybe he should get a rolling backpack to take his books to school. They’re not cool, but might be worthwhile…
Richard, it seems more reasonable to have back problems at 60, but he seems awfully young at 19. Hopefully his age will mean a quick recovery.
Well that doesn’t look like any fun. I am sorry Derek.
Comment by Heather — September 5, 2007 @ 5:51 pm
Our family is getting as bad with backs as they are with migraines and vision problems.
I hope the epidural helps Derek. Cortisone only helped my shoulder for a few months. I tried it twice. But you never know.
Comment by Donna — September 5, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
By the way, that image looks a little bit like Body Worlds!
Comment by Donna — September 5, 2007 @ 6:43 pm
That looks very similar to the MRI’s of my back before surgery. It’s got to hurt, and the older he gets, the more it will bother him. I think I initially injured mine when I was in college.
I feel for you, Derek.
Comment by Richard — September 5, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
What next? This family seems jinxed. I came home early from dinner, because my back was hurting so much. I can blame it on old age, or a change coming in the weather; I sure wish that Mark had been here. My neck was stiff, my back throbbing, my knees aching. Many are complaining–we may get some rain, after all; we hurt enough, and that’s better than any meteorologist.
I’m sorry. Derek, Would it be better than a car if you rode to school in a one dog sled?
Comment by Grandma — September 5, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
That looks worse then my back problems. I hope he has a good bed.
Comment by jocelyn — September 7, 2007 @ 11:57 am
Tell him to get better soon.
Comment by Betty — September 10, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
Derek went in for an epidural today. He said it hurt more than he expected.
He expects to be sore for the next day or so, then hopefully he will start feeling better. The Doctor was hopeful that at his age he might recover completely from this, but on the other hand he was surprised to see this kind of problem at his age, and it increases his risk of having future problems.
Comment by Daryl — September 10, 2007 @ 7:04 pm
Did they spray some of that cold local anesthetic on the site before the needle went in? The cortisone injections I got didn’t hurt as much as I expected. That was in my shoulder joint, though, not the spine. I’m sure that could be pretty uncomfortable.
Hope it does the trick. As everyone says, he’s way too young to start having chronic back pain!
Comment by Donna — September 11, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
It has been four days now; any improvement?
Comment by Grandma — September 14, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Derek, you’re way too young to be suffering like this. I sincerely hope & pray the injections work. Richard’s didn’t hurt afterward so we’re wondering what they did differently with you. He was given a general anesthetic so it didn’t hurt during either. Take care of yourself, please. And if, heaven forbid, you end up needing surgery seriously consider the Texas Back Institute. They are awesome!
Comment by Dianna — September 16, 2007 @ 5:40 pm
Derek’s back felt a little better for a couple of days, but he says that today (one week after the injection) it feels about the same as before.
He is scheduled for another epidural next Monday. I guess the prognosis for the second injection is not too good if there is no improvement with the first.
Dianna I’ve heard elsewhere about the TBI, besides from Richard. It’s supposed to be the best place in the country (world?). I guess if it comes to that we will look into it.
Comment by Daryl — September 17, 2007 @ 10:33 pm