I haven’t talked about it much here on the blog because I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. I’ve been suffering from lower back pain for somewhere around 18 months now, and today I’m getting an MRI to see if I can finally get some answers.

The pain started about 16 months ago or so, confusingly, on the opposite side of where it hurts now. It was a pain in my lower back, that would sometimes radiate down the front of my right hip. I’m usually the type that sits in the back of the class, but I started staking out seats at the front so that I could stand if I needed to because the pain was the worst while sitting. After several months of dealing with this I went to the physical therapist a few times, but I wasn’t consistent enough to see any results (or the PT wasn’t helping, I’m still not sure which is true).

School ended and I moved down to Dallas. The pain subsided a little bit over the Summer, and then, confusingly switched sides a few months before the wedding. All of the sudden I wasn’t complaining about the right side, it was the left that was hurting. And the pain was never in my lower back, it was the hip.

Where is the pain located in your hip?, The physician asks me.

It’s in the middle, I reply

It is impossible to have pain right in the middle of your hip. they say.

I know, I sigh.

Since the wedding, the pain has become much worse. It not only feels like it is residing in my hip socket, but also radiates down my leg. A friend sent me a link with a graph that describes the pain perfectly.

L5 Pain

I now have a hard time standing for more than 5 minutes at a time. Shopping at Costco is an absolute nightmare (I still go, but I want to cry by the time I get to the checkout because the pain is so bad) I can hardly sit on the couch. I always dread going to the Post Office because the line is so long and standing for that long is so difficult. Sometimes I have a hard time sitting down at all. I can’t sit, I can’t stand, so I lay. I sit or stand for too long and so the pain continues even when I relieve the pressure by getting in bed. Extending my foot to engage the clutch on my VW is awful, although I’m not sure why, it just is.

I can’t remember a pain-free day since November.

The Dr. recommended Physical Therapy, but after dropping $1000 for several worthless Chiropractic visits, we want some answers before we doling out the money for potentially worthless procedures once again. After our insurance company confirmed that we would only have to pay $100 for an MRI, we decided to go for it. It’s likely that I’ll end up doing PT after all, but at least they will know exactly what the problem is while they are working with me.

So today at 4 pm I’ll be entering a giant magnetic tube and holding very still for what will likely feel like a very long time. I have issues with this (the holding absolutely still in small spaces), but I’m just grateful there are no needles involved. I’ll ask them if they will take a picture, but I doubt it will happen. :) I’ll keep you updated on the results as soon as I have them myself, hopefully I get a few answers out of this, and some suggestions for treatment that will lead to pain-free days once again.

P.S.-I realize I’m going to get lots of suggestions for acupuncture, alternative medicine, your cousins-best-friends-uncles-father-in-law here in Dallas, etc. I’m pretty happy with the approach I’m taking right now, but if several months go by I’ll be back here posting in frustration once again, and you can suggest alternative approaches to your hearts content and I will read an consider each and every one of them!

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