Kipper Banjo-L4/L5 Slipped Disc Diary (abridged version)

[lkeziutyiorizsejl]

Kipper Banjo
The L4/L5 Slipped Disc Diary

1: A little history

Well! Where do I start? I guess my disc problems started about ten years ago; this is when I first developed the symptoms of sciatica. I did the usual thing and ignored it for a couple of weeks thinking it was just a twinge as I’ve always worked in manual and physical jobs and twinges were a bit of a common thing for me. I went to see my local GP who said it was a bit of sciatica and should clear up in couple of weeks, so armed with a prescription for anti inflammatorys I went home and in couple of weeks he was right I was feeling better. Over the next six years I would have ’episodes’ of sciatica and it would always get better on its own. After reading up on the condition now, (oh the power of the tinternet), I am led to believe that it was the disc prolapsing and my own bodies defences were attacking it enough to shrink it and so alleviating the pain after a couple of weeks.

All that was to change and my condition got worse. Fours years ago I started working for a carpet firm and I believe that the carrying of carpets around the warehouse and being on deliveries didn’t help. After about 12 months working there the sciatic pain was there almost constantly but not to such a degree that I couldn’t bear it with the help of paracetemol, I needed to work so I just got on with it. I’d been working there for about 18 months when I took delivery of a wagon load of carpets, off load was a night mare as at the time we had to hand ball them off. If I had to pin point a moment when I knew something was seriously wrong, this was it. The lad pushing the carpets off the back shoved an 8 metre roll out and I got my shoulder under and tucking my fist into my hip to brace it more I took the weight and nothing happened except I was on my knees in excruciating pain. This lasted about ten minutes and I felt fine so didn’t think any more of it, oh boy was that gonna change!

 

[jony]

Kipper Banjo
The L4/L5 Slipped Disc Diary

2: Up To March 2010

After four days the sciatica came for a visit and stayed, don’t get me wrong it manageable pain but pain none the less and I’m not trying to lay the blame on the carpet firm or out like that, I was glad of the job and they were a good company to work for and I was trained in correct handling prcedures, I think all the years of crab potting, labouring for plasterers and being a postie had taken its toll and when I was made redundant at the end of September 2008 I was gutted. It was bitter sweet expirence, I was secretly pleased that I wouldn’t be handling the carpets but I would miss the craic and as I said it was a good company to work for.

I was out of work for three months and I was lucky getting a job part time for the local authority being the caretaker of the local Civic Hall, at the time it was 18.5 hours a week but I job shared with a colleague and we worked 37 hours a week but week on week off, it was and still is split shifts, that’s a chew on but it fits around my life style and when my colleague left my bosses very kindly upped my hours to 26 a week working ten days on and four days off. The job itself is easy enough a little cleaning a setting up furniture for the various groups that hire the venue. All was going well until the run up to Christmas last year, I was managing my pain very well but with it being the Christmas period it was a very busy time for me, with groups having crimbo partys etc, and my mate had finished at the end of September (must be a good month for ending work) so I was working every day until the new year when my new colleague was due to start, great stuff, money in the bank as far I was concerned.

Through November and December the pain was steadily getting worse and causing me to stop in my tracks. The mornings were worse but I’m not one for lying down so I just did the get on with it thing…..

Have mentioned I was over weight? Weighing at 18 stone 11lbs on Boxing Day 2009.

I was sat in the Ship Inn on Boxing Day at Marske playing my banjo and guitar, not at the same time, I’m good but not that good, lol and I was really feeling the pain, out of breath after walking down from home with my instruments and the pain down through my left buttock and down the back of my left leg was almost too much to bear, in fact even after a gallon of liquid painkiller rubbed liberally from the inside it was still there. I said to my mate on the day that that was it! I was going to do something about my weight and get myself to the Docs to sort this leg pain out…. next week after the New Years day banjo session of course :0)

The pain was that bad I went see my GP in the first week of January and she was great and said she would refer me to The James Cook University Hospital, (JCUH) Spinal Injuries Department. I told her of my plans to lose weight and of course she was happy with that and offered me a course at the gym on prescription which I took and she also suggested that when the pain got really bad instead of lying down and suffering I went for walk. This advice has changed my life…. There was a Weight Watchers meeting at my place of work and after much persuasion from Rebecca the leader I joined. I’d done quite well on WW before but I did the WW at Home 2000 computer programme Millennium Edition. I lost 6 stone in the run up to my 40th birthday in 2002, Like a fool I put it all back on and more. Anyway I digress and to cut a long story short, I now weigh 14stones ongoing, I even won an Inspiration WW award in October that chuffed me up a bit. This is all part of my stories jigsaw and will fall into place, promise.

In February I got my appointment at JCUH it was in March……

 

[Ajay A]

Short one this…I was assessed and diagnosed with a herniated disc at L4/L5. for those that don’t know and those that do please forgive me for this little medical interjection, the spine is dived into five areas from the top down:
Cervical spine
Thoracic spine
Lumber spine
Scarum
Coccyx

Each of these areas has number of verytbrae with the discs inbetween them, so my herniation is between the 4th and 5th vertybrae in the Lumber area, hence L4/L5. The jelly like fluid had leaked out of the disc and the resultant bulge was pressing on the sciatic nerve and so causing my grief. I think that’s right, I’m sure someone will put me right if its not :0)

Anyway I don’t do hospitals and after having a very painful anal fistula repaired a few years earlier that was followed by a very, very painful and long recovery, I wasn’t about to go through it again, I’m afraid I’d tarred all operations with the same brush.

So after being offered a MRI Scan and surgery if need be, I declined and opted for some physio, I felt that as my weight was coming down and if I could combine that with physio it may have done the trick. I am not sure wether the physio helped the actual sciatica at the time but learning some pilaté exercises and how to strengthen the ‘core’ muscles certainly has. Because of my determination to lose weight, my newfound hobby of hill walking/rambling and the pilatés I thought I was managing quite well but the pain was getting really steadily worse....

Forgive me, more later I'm off for a lie down now I'm feeling a bit weary and my temp is going up must paracetemol time lol

 

[TSK]

I've just realiised my posts are getting post last first, sorry you'll have to scroll down for the first installment oops

 

[harbersbrent]

Thank-you for sharing this with everyone,well done on the weight too! Have a rest and then I look forward to hearing more.

 

[maria s]

Thanks Cascara,

This morning I feel good, I've slept well from 22.30 untill 03.15 then up for a tinkle then back to bed untill 6am. I've no sciatic pain at all but the area around the wound is getting tight, achey and itchy as I was told it would., I've dropped the cuprofen and codine and I am managing with the paracetemol. Cant wait to get round the block again today, I'm going up the wall and its not 2 days yet..gawd knows what I'll be like after 6-8 weeks. Still, gonna try a Fizzy lager tonight :0)

 

[walking on the moon*]

Hope the lager was good Don't do too much too soon though, how was your weekend?