It's been a really bad few months in terms of pain levels and so on. The miserable "summer" and the prospect of an equally squibby winter has exacerbated things. But I have at least had one positive result and I'm gonna be spending my time working on that...
After 25 years, this has finally happened, so from that point of view I'm very happy. Anything, anything at all, that will develop muscular support for my pelvic area is a good thing in my book. So it's a relief indeed to finally be sent for one-to-one Pilates.
I tried Pilates a couple of times in the past. The first was at a private class which went far too fast for me, and wasn't tailoured to my needs. The other time was through Tallaght Hospital and was a total disaster... We were on to Pilates Balls after only a few weeks and I instantly started getting Sciatic Pain in my legs.
This time it's through the Physio dept of Cork University Hospital and the pace will be even slower than an Irish Slugs 'n' Snails Union-organized "Official Go-Slow". So slow that for the first 2 weeks the only thing I'm allowed do is to tighten two teeny muscles to 50% for a count of 10, 5-10 times. That's it.
Once I get control of those muscles, and when I start adding to the complexity of the movements, I'll develop a really strong "girdle" around my midrift which will really help support my low back. I'm really looking forward to the results - it'll be a great help in coping with general "achy" pain.
It won't I'm 90% sure of, help me cope with the acute pain I feel when I jig my hips left and right while lying flat or standing straight. This is the very thing that I was hoping that the orthopedic guy I was to see, would help me with.
Unfortunately, the X-Ray technician who was to take images with me in positions that would show what the surgeons in England found, interpreted the orthopedic consultant's instructions differently to what I was expecting.
Instead of standing and leaning into a pain-point, she had me lying on my side and lifting my knees into positions that didn't hurt at all.
The result was that Mr Doran, the ortho consultant, found no fault at all with the previous surgeries I'd had at S1-L5. The thing was, I wanted him to look at L3-L5...
According to the MRI I had last Feb, and the recent X-Rays, I'm structurally sound. The Fusion is good, with good distribution of new Bonal Mass. No new breaks around the original operation site.
So the best thing Mr Doran can do is to bring me in for some more Facet Joint Injections which he himself will do in order to ensure that the anesthetic goes into the exact spot. No delegating the procedure to anesthesiologists for Mr Doran, oh no - this consultant wants to be sure the drugs are delivered to the right spot.
I'll be interested to see if this will stop the "jiggle pain" - which even I am finding to be very acute, and very severe. It'd be great if it did, cos then Mr Doran would know exactly what's going on. He admits to being at a loss. But then again, he shouldn't be surprised. The same x-ray 'artefacts' are hampering his view of my spine just as they have hindered all the others who have tried and failed to help me be free of pain. At least he's going to do the injections himself - rather than leaving it to a specialist from another disipline, or worse, to a trainee doctor from another discipline...
Hopefully I'll not have to wait too long more for a date with the needles. I really could do with a break from it all. The never-ending grinding of what feels like exposed nerves on roughened bone, is - or has already - grinding me ever down. And frankly, I'm tired of it all. Tired of it and bored of it too. How I wish for something that will work. But nothing ever does. Even all the medication only serves to blunt pain, not stop it...
In the meantime, I'll plug away with the Pilates and see if building a strong corset of muscle around my middle will live up to its promise.
What a thing that would be! So, fingers crossed that the one-to-one Piles will do the trick...
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