Just checking in since I've been missing in action. I was at a conference most of last week and decided not to bring my laptop at the last moment. It spared my back.
I'm still dealing with significant sciatic pain. Turns out I've herniated a disc. What does this have to do with a jelly donut? Good question. You see, if you think of a spinal disc like a jelly donut cushioning your vertebrae, a herniation is when the tough outer dough layer gets a crack and some jelly oozes out. And that jelly is what has my sciatic nerve on high alert. Anyway, I'm seeing a specialist today. Fingers crossed that I can get back to normal life and activities soon. Sigh.
Anyway, I do have a pants reveal for the 4th of July planned. So, please stay tuned.
Update 7/3: Thanks for all the tea and sympathy. Mostly good news from the specialist yesterday! Turns out it is unlikely that I "did something" to cause this - my back is simply aging and my L4 and L5 are, apparently, stale donuts which will someday be arthritic. He's not too worried that my recovery seems slow, but I should expect significant improvement in the next 4-6 weeks. So, he prescribed steroids to bring down the inflammation and "retail therapy" for the psychological side effects. Best of all, he wants me to get back into my regular activities asap so that I don't decondition and because the activity will boost blood flow and alleviate pain (I had already noticed that the pain is less when I'm active). So, I went for a short, slow run last night with no adverse side effects or increased pain. It felt good to do something normal!
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| Anatomically correct jelly donut |
I'm still dealing with significant sciatic pain. Turns out I've herniated a disc. What does this have to do with a jelly donut? Good question. You see, if you think of a spinal disc like a jelly donut cushioning your vertebrae, a herniation is when the tough outer dough layer gets a crack and some jelly oozes out. And that jelly is what has my sciatic nerve on high alert. Anyway, I'm seeing a specialist today. Fingers crossed that I can get back to normal life and activities soon. Sigh.
Anyway, I do have a pants reveal for the 4th of July planned. So, please stay tuned.
Update 7/3: Thanks for all the tea and sympathy. Mostly good news from the specialist yesterday! Turns out it is unlikely that I "did something" to cause this - my back is simply aging and my L4 and L5 are, apparently, stale donuts which will someday be arthritic. He's not too worried that my recovery seems slow, but I should expect significant improvement in the next 4-6 weeks. So, he prescribed steroids to bring down the inflammation and "retail therapy" for the psychological side effects. Best of all, he wants me to get back into my regular activities asap so that I don't decondition and because the activity will boost blood flow and alleviate pain (I had already noticed that the pain is less when I'm active). So, I went for a short, slow run last night with no adverse side effects or increased pain. It felt good to do something normal!
