I am trying to get back into swimming after 2 years of debilitating low back pain. After 2 epidurals, I am finally able to progress from water walking! I have a tendency to overdo things and need some practical advice and/or workouts.
I would like to get back to swimming masters, but need to be able to swim 2500 without pain. sigh....
Former Member
Karen,
I didn't have major surgery. It was outpatient. I got an epi for nerve damaged that occurred when I had a colectomy ten years ago. When the did the second MRI for the epi, they saw a cyst on the L1 vertebra. The doctor said it had to go. I got another MRI. The night I got the epi, I was getting out of bed and hurt my back. then the next morning I fell on the cement walkway outside of my apartment. I cracked the rib the cyst was on. the doctor took care of both during the same procedure. Because of the cracked vertebra, I had a complete bone scan. Between the next two , lower vertebrae there is no cartilage and my spinal column is totally exposed there. The bone problem probably comes from the prednisone I have been taking for 23 yrs for asthma.
Last week I started flipping against doctor's orders. He had me swim the entire time but told me not to flip. No pain.
One last bone problem. my right hip is in terrible shape the cushioning between the ball and the socket of the joint is almost completely worn out. There are times walking is so painful I have to sit down. I guess one option is for the doctor to put a liquid adhesive with bone cells in the area and they will correct the problem. Saturday at the supermarket, a lady came up to me. She explained that she was a nurse in the surgery at an area hospital. She thought just from the expression on my face that I should go to the ER. I told her no and she helped me through the store.
My doctor said that in a weird way, I am a very lucky guy. He told me that most men who have cysts on their spinal column do nothing about it. They think it is just getting old. the cyst hardens and becomes cancerous. It then spreads through spreads right up the spinal column. That's what happened to 2 of my Uncles.
I hope all goes well with you. My opinion is to do everything the doctor tells you to do but don't do it if you think it is okay. I am not taking any pain killers because the times when there is no pain I halucinate(sp). One day at work, I had a conversation with a small woman wearing a red dress. She didn't exist. The only way I could figure that out was because she wanted me to follow her down a hallway. I told her that there was no way i could fit in the hallway. Then I realized that there wasn't a hallway. Who knows where I'd be if I had followed her.
Good luck,
Craig
Thanks Craig! So what are you doing now? Are you flipping? I am in the inbetween stage, where my doctor wants me to do more and actually says a little bit of pain is okay.
