Back to life

Well, I (finally!) had my neurology appointment today. It went better than I expected.

I'm thankful that I have an amazing neurologist who doesn't push me in the wrong (for me) direction.

The best news of the days was this: No back surgery!!! At least, not for now.

She was very responsive to the fact that we'll be going back to the fertility clinic soon, and was wonderful about offering treatments that I can continue while pregnant.

She is concerned with not only the amount of pain, but also the burning. Mainly because they involve two different parts of the spine. So, another MRI was ordered. She is fairly positive that the disc did in fact slip. She's just worried that my spinal issues may have gotten worse since the last MRI a year ago.

She put me on Tramadol for the pain in my back for now. I can't take this while pregnant, but if I do get pregnant and the pain gets worse, she's willing to put me on straight morphine, like I was while I was pregnant with Noah.

She gave me a lidocane patch for the burning in my thigh. BTW, these patches feel WEIRD! I'll be able to use these while I'm pregnant if I need to, so that's a relief.

After the MRI comes the scary (for me) part. I'll be getting shots in my back. A mixture of cortisone, lidocane, and something else I don't remember. She said that she wants to "stack" these and that I'll be getting them more often than normal once they get the MRI results. The reasoning for this is she is hoping to build up the amount of the steroid in my system so that I don't have as many issues when I do become pregnant.

So, that's the plan for now. We'll know more after the MRI and I get go see pain management.

I'm so thankful that my doctor is willing to work with me on this, and be patient and understanding about us wanting another child. The last neurologist told me I should forget about it, since it would only make things worse. This doc is helping to manage it as best we can until we can have a more permanent solution.

And i'm thankful that Cody is so loving and understanding through all this. I know that on days when it's really bad, and i can't get out of bed, I can't be fun to be around. I'm so thankful that if all of this does have to happen, at least it's while he's home and not deployed! And I'm thankful that Noah is such a good nurse! He's always checking on me and bringing me snacks. :)

For being in so much pain, I'm a pretty lucky gal!