tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237026991838833392024-02-21T07:36:44.727-08:00Spondyloptosis: My Journey to NormalcyI am lost in a world that claims that its whats on the inside that counts, yet idolizes outer beauty and pressurizes girls to be perfection. How can I, a 22 yr old with a deformity that limits any aspect of perfection I try to grasp, even hope to feel good about myself in such an image-based world? This, is my journey to normalcy.Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-25285309525806665972015-09-13T13:17:00.001-07:002015-09-13T13:17:19.608-07:00September 10, 2015 -- Dr. Edwards II Call<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
So today I received a call from Dr.
E II. He just wanted to call and see how I was doing since the surgery is 4
days out. Also he wanted to update me on a situation that arose. He and his dad
(one of the other surgeons working on my case) looked over my x-rays and MRI’s
and noticed something. My L5 vertebra appeared to be very stiff. They were
worried that it might have fused itself to the sacrum, which in my age, is very
strange. Since I’m still young, there should be no stiffness. He says that
there is a millimeter of space between my L5 and sacrum but it could still be
stuck. So there are two things that could happen:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
1. They’ll try to keep
pulling on the vertebra and see if they could pull the L5 free <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
(or)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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2. The only other option is a
vertebrectomy. Disconnecting my L5 from the L4 and placing the L4 on top of the
sacrum. In which case it will only be a 2-day surgery and I will be out a few
days after the 21<sup>st</sup>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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This
new piece of information is of course very alarming. I’ve been so excited about
the idea that I will finally be able to have a “normal” body shape and
everything will be restored to its original design. Now with this small
possibility that my L5 vertebra might be stuck… I am freaking out and very
nervous. But Dr. E II was very clear that he will do his best to keep my L5 in
the game and move it all above the sacrum. So my fingers are crossed and my
lips hot with fervent prayer that everything will work out the way it was
originally planned. Can't believe its all happening in 4 days!!</div>
Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-43643798578849583052015-09-13T13:13:00.004-07:002015-09-13T13:13:58.163-07:00August 7, 2015 -- Dr. Bains Consultation My sister and I flew into Oakland, CA to talk with Dr. Bains. Dr. Bains is the California doctor that Dr. Jenkins (my doctor in WA) told us to talk to about my surgery. This is the doctor that would be working alongside Dr. Jenkins if I decided to go along with Kaiser to fix my back. Now remember, Dr. Jenkins told us multiple times that only a vertebrectomy is possible. That Dr. Bains couldnt provide me with a full reduction.<br />
<br />
So my sister and I were prepared to fight Dr. Bains to approve our appeal to Kaiser to get my surgeries done with Dr. Edwards II. When we get to our appointment, we were thrown through a loop. Dr. Bains told us that he in fact can provide me with the type of surgery that Dr. Edwards II would do. But there are a couple of things different. He said that he (and multiple other surgeons) would do the reduction in 1 day rather than 3. Also, that he wouldn't place the L5 right on top of the sacrum, he would leave it sort of on the edge and secure it with screws. And on the subject of screws, he informed us that he studied Dr. Edwards II's technique with screws and that there was a high chance of stress fracture in my bones because of the type of screws and where they would be placed. I asked him why wouldn't he just do the full reduction if he's moving my L5 up anyways? He said that there's a higher risk of nerve damage if the did the full reduction. He kept reiterating that the angle of my spine in relation to my pelvis was more important than putting my body back to its original design.<br />
<br />
In the end we were not able to talk to him about providing us with proof of consent because there was no way he would take our side if he's able to provide us basically with the same type of surgery we're asking to get somewhere else. His talk of stress fracture and nerve damage didn't sway my decision of going with Dr. Edwards II. Dr. E II has had way more experience with my type of condition and how to deal with it than Dr. Bains. So of course, even with the risks, I have complete trust that Dr. Edwards II will be able to provide me with a better outcome than Dr. Bains.<br />
<br />
I have provided another GIF. This one shows Dr. Bains outcome:<br />
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Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-38924623731935525762015-09-13T13:01:00.003-07:002015-09-13T13:01:36.928-07:00June 22, 2015 -- An Appointment with Dr. Karami<div class="MsoNormal">
Today I
had an appointment with Dr. Karami of Kaiser Permanente. My sister and I were
told that I had a better chance of getting Kaiser to cover my surgeries if I
had Dr. Karami on my side. So we went to talk with him. Right off the bat, he
was on our side. It was honestly a little bit too good to be true. I kept
waiting for him to turn on us during the conversation. But he didn’t. Dr.
Karami kept saying how he hated how money was a huge factor to why Kaiser didn’t
cover a lot of surgeries. He believed that the patient’s quality of life should
always be the #1 factor in these types of decisions. My sister and I were very
excited that we finally had someone in the Kaiser system on our side.
Unfortunately, in all the excitement we forgot to ask him to write a letter to
Kaiser saying he supported our appeal and to sign it. Because later I learned
from my sister that she called Kaiser and Dr. Karami had changed his mind. We
figure that he had a talk with Dr. Jenkins or other top chair people and they
convinced him to not side with us. So if you are ever in this type of
situation, no matter what, get whoever you just got on your side to write their
consent and to sign it right away and for you to get a copy!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I
got a plan with BlueCross. I made sure to call one of their representatives to
make sure that my surgeries would be covered by my plan and a huge chunk would
be. We are still going to try to get Kaiser to cover my surgeries, but in case
they don’t I need to have back-up insurance. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh, and
we set the dates for my surgeries: September 14, 21, and 28. Three more months
and this whole ordeal will be over! <o:p></o:p></div>
Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-43603041469655331662015-09-13T12:59:00.002-07:002015-09-13T12:59:40.123-07:00April 3, 2015 -- Dr. Edwards II Surgery Consultation<div class="MsoNormal">
I flew into Baltimore, MD with my mom and eldest sister to have my surgery
consultation with Dr. Edwards II. He was very informative. I don’t remember
everything Dr. E II told me, but he did provide a lot of information about the
pros and cons of my surgery. The pros being a full reduction is possible, less
chance of a further slip, return of normal trunk height and a few others. One
of the cons that he mentioned was there is a chance of neurological impairment
which would typically be weakness in the ankles and quadriceps muscles. In most
cases this is nonexistent, in some cases temporary and in rare cases it is
permanent. He explained how since my slip is so far, that I would need a three
part surgery, each done a week apart, consecutively.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So
we began talk about having my surgeries done in June but I need to talk to
Kaiser Perm (my insurance company) first to see if they would cover the
procedure. When we talked with Lisa, the surgery consultant, she warned us that
there was very little to no chance that Kaiser would cover anything. In the 10+
years she’s worked at Mercy Medical, she has never experienced any leeway from
Kaiser for anybody. So she wanted to make sure that we didn’t get our hopes up
too much but wished us the best of luck anyway. The original plan was to have
my surgery in June, but because we need to talk with Kaiser before we can set a
surgery date, it will probably be later in the year. Very bummed about that
because I want to get this fixed as soon as possible!! But I know I must be
patient a little bit more.</div>
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I've attached two GIFs that I recently made. The first one (green background) shows the full reduction that Dr. Edwards II would do, and the second (blue background) shows the vertebrectomy that Dr. Jenkins planned on doing. Just a small visual. :)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-3335775921549735812014-11-20T00:37:00.001-08:002015-09-13T13:14:42.886-07:00November 18, 2014: A Wrench In My Plan<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw Dr. Jenkins again a month ago. I sought from him approval of surgery from Dr. Edwards II. Again, my pleas fell upon deaf ears. He again told me that KP can offer the same type of surgery. (Even went as far as drawing me another simple drawing explanation of his surgery). I tried to tell him that they were in fact very different. But he didn't seem to grasp that bit of information. </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-05bd9f0c-cc54-c550-0d87-d763751548de"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My oldest sister (who could talk a fish out of water) and my mom went with me as my back-up negotiators. Now, don't get me wrong, I love, love, love my mom. The only problem is that she doesn't understand that there are certain things that you don't tell certain people. This has led to multiple awkward situations that we now tease her about. One mistake my mom made in this certain situation was trying to tell a analytical man to feel the pain of a mother’s heartache in seeing one of her children with a painful condition and wanting the best for said child. But this medical expert only wants to hear scientific, medical facts. My mom’s words of sorrow clicked the off-button to this calculating machine. Also mentioning that if we did go with KP and the surgery goes bad, that she would blame, BLAME KP. Guess what a doctor translates the word “blame” into? Sue. In his ears my mom was threatening a lawsuit. That’s not how she meant it, but that is how he heard it. My sister and I knew any more attempts at persuasion (no matter how medically correct) would be a waste of time. Good-bye doctor’s referral letter! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So whats the next step? Well. They just opened up insurance enrollment. Which means I need to call the Mercy Medical Center and try to find someone who can tell me which insurance company would work best for my situation. Then begins another whole new world of stress and planning. But, I mustn't lose heart! 3-ish inches, Yana, remember 3-ish inches of gained height!!! </span></span>Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-18983186965709925542014-08-13T12:39:00.000-07:002014-08-13T12:39:08.164-07:00August 13, 2014: What To Do?Its been over 2 years since the 2nd appeal I sent to Kaiser Permanente to get Dr. Edwards II to do my surgery in Baltimore was rejected. Apparently there are doctors in KP that can provide the same service as Dr. Edwards II. But that doesn't make sense to me, since I was told by my KP doctor that he has never seen my condition before and the doctor they would get from California also has never seen my condition and they would be doing a vertebrectomy.<br />
<br />
I am in a dilemma. I'm thinking of trying to get KP to reconsider my surgery with Dr. Edwards II. But I feel like that means I'm not trusting God to heal me all the way. I mean, He has healed my pain. Why wouldn't He heal the deformity as well?<br />
<br />
So what do I do when the answer isn't obvious? I go to my mom, my rock. After a long talk I have decided to keep trying to get this surgery. Maybe God wants to heal me through surgery. And if not, then KP will keep denying my appeals.<br /><br />So my first step is to reconnect with Dr. Edwards II and to get this ball rolling. Wish me luck!Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-79388715877032368052014-08-13T00:58:00.000-07:002014-08-13T12:40:52.804-07:00August 13, 2014: My ImageNo! Its the middle of August and I've only lost 10 pounds! Not enough to see a difference. *pout*<br />
Still have 23 lbs left to lose to reach my goal.<br />
<br />
Its always been a problem. Weight loss. I used to have fast metabolism and since I couldn't<br />
exercise or run around because of my back problem, that metabolism was a huge blessing!<br />
But as I got older (after high school) my metabolism slowed and the pounds slowly began to pack<br />
on.<br />
<br />
I've always been self-conscious of my body because of the square-shape my back forced me to have. And because my upper torso is pulled down I have a pile of skin around my waist that makes me look a bit overweight. So gaining weight was salt on an open wound. Its so hard to overcome that self-consciousness when I have 2 physically fit roommates.<br />
<br />
But I must overcome it!! I hate constantly feeling down about myself.<br />
<br />
How do I do that? In a world where I am constantly reminded about what the "perfect body" is. In a living space where its constantly shoved in my face by the presence of my roommates. Always exercising, always going for runs, always eating healthy. I really want to be healed. To feel better about myself. Yes, image isn't everything... but its still something...Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-71691521674738997002014-04-24T01:20:00.001-07:002014-08-13T00:58:34.978-07:00April 24, 2014: Hiking 2014That's right! I went on a 4 mile hike!! And guess what! Not a single amount of pain. Not during and not for a week afterwards! And that pain was slight. SWEET MERCY!!! Yet another miracle from God. He let me really enjoy Triple Falls Hike. I was constantly worried that my back was going to give out. BUT IT DIDN'T!!! WOO HOO!!! So I plan on finding more hikes to go on. :D Especially since its spring! OOO OOO! Mt. Rainier!! I will definitely have to go there soon!! XD<br />
<br />
So let this post be an encouragement to anyone out there with Spondyloptosis (or any other painful conditions). There is hope that God can at least heal you enough to let you go on wonderful hikes and any other fun excursions! God bless!Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-34956314159198209992014-04-24T01:14:00.000-07:002014-08-13T00:58:50.743-07:00April 24, 2014: God's Double VisitWow. I can't believe I posted almost a year and a half ago! I didn't imagine having so much come up in my life that it would deter from doing this. Can't let stuff get in the way...<br />
<br />
Anyways. I thought that I should post about some amazing stuff that happened to me a few years ago.<br />
<br />
April 2010-ish: My back pain had been continuous. Throbbing, pinching, numbness. Ug, it makes me shiver remembering the horrible moments trying to distract myself from the pain. One night, I was just laying in bed. Staring at the ceiling. I could feel my 4th Lumbar vertebrae uncomfortably sticking into my mattress, trying to find a soft spot in between the springs. *Sigh* Another day of back pain. Another night of rubbing the nerves in my legs to get rid of the pain. Black out, I was asleep. Suddenly I was drifting in Dream Land. Ah, Dream Land. A bittersweet place that sometimes provided good dreams or terrifying nightmares. And other times... strange shapes swirling in mixing colors... This night it was a terra of randomness. Nothing memorable or understandable. When out of nowhere this huge hand from heaven appeared and slapped my back. I woke up with a jolt! Full of energy and without a doubt I knew it was the Hand of God I started to pray. I just kept praying and praying and had an urge to wake up my mom so we could pray together. But I started to feel really bad at the thought of waking my mom up for possibly no good reason. The next few minutes of prayer were amazing. I could feel my back straightening! I could feel it moving up and my L5 vertebrae finally placing itself in its rightful place on top of my L4. I wanted to feel my back but was scared that it was all in my imagination. So I just kept on praying until I fell asleep. The next morning I got up really excited because I thought for sure that I was healed. My hand flew fro my lower back to feel it. Alas, I was not healed. I continued laying there in utter despair. Complete and utter sadness. How could I not be healed!? How could I not be healed after what I experienced!!? After a few moments of wretched silence I decided it was time to get up. Time to feel my nerves pinching and my back hurting from laying on one side too long. I slowly rolled out of bed. Hm. No pain... Ok, maybe its just because my brain hasn't caught up with me yet. I'll start feeling the pain anytime now. I walk to the bathroom and go through my daily routine of waking up... Still no pain! The energy just started to burst through me! I could do anything! I quickly run to my mom and tell her of the night that I had and I bend over to show that I could almost touch my toes! (A feat I haven't been able to do for many years!) Then I do something else I haven't been able to do in years! I run to our field and just start running in circles. Running! For about 15 minutes. And guess what? I didn't stop because of back pain. I stopped because my lungs finally gave up. Sweet glorious pain that didn't involve my leg nerves or my lower back. What a sweet sweet change for once!! My back didn't hurt like that for a little over a year. I played volleyball with no pain. Went on small hikes with no pain. The mall!! WITH NO PAIN!! Oh glorious day!<br />
<br />
<br />
September 2012: Lying in my bed again. My back had started to hurt again. I felt weepy. How could I be feeling pain again? Back again to the achy mornings. Imagine feeling like a grandma practically every day of your youth! Sleep seemed to be my only true escape. So after a few minutes of finding a comfortable position, I finally was exploring more of Dream Land's weird areas. When again, a mighty hand came down and slapped my back. I woke up with a jolt remembering the same experience two years ago. I started to pray. This time I decided to wake up my mom and ask her to pray with me. I really didn't want to. But I was afraid that if I didn't then I wouldn't be healed. So I went upstairs, woke up my mom and told her what happened. She quickly got up and woke up my sisters and brother and asked if they could pray with us. So we went into our living room and we prayed for about an hour. I was sure that with this many people praying and the mystical hand visiting my dreams again, I would be healed for sure. But that didn't happen. Not even in the morning when I woke up. But this time I wasn't sad about not being healed. I was just happy I got a second visit from God. It gave me strength to continue believing that one day God will heal me.<br />
<br />Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-21037606651273642442013-07-21T21:03:00.000-07:002014-08-13T00:59:15.564-07:00July 21, 2013: New PostNew post.<br />
<br />
Can't believe its taking me this long to make a new post on here. But I guess its much easier since I was able to buy my own laptop. Woo hoo!<br />
<br />
So, I feel that complete healing is imminent. Definitely imminent. Definitely coming. I'm very excited. I know the Lord has healing planned for me and I pray it will happen soon. Because I feel that complete healing is in the very near future I guess I should document the pain that I'm experiencing, and any ups and downs (which I seem to be going through a bi-polar fever).<br />
<br />
In the past about 3 months, my back pain had begun to hurt more. In the lower region of my back it has felt like my muscles have given up. They no longer feel the power or energy to hold up my upper body. I constantly feel my ribs rubbing against the inside of my hip bones. Which is not entirely pleasant and makes me feel like I just want to lay down and get lost in the wonderful world of painless sleep. When my muscles become lazy sacks of tissue I tend to lean to my right side because leaning to my left would make the nerves in my spine to be pinched. So I look like a... well I guess I can't really describe what I look like since I never see myself. Must look like a Hollywood zombie. Anyways, the pain level in my leg increased, the intensity of the pain, not necessarily the amount of pain. Daily, my the pinching I felt in legs and the pressure in my lower back, would happen from the moment I woke up to about noon. I guess my muscles would finally wake up and my body grew strong enough to somehow ease the pain I was feeling. It would make it really hard to sit at work. Sometimes I would just sit there in pain not being able to concentrate on what I needed to do.<br />
<br />
Its very hard. I can't believe it. I'm 23. I remember when I was 17. So sure that I would be healed by my 20's. I heard a sermon on June 9th, 2013 from a pastor named Levi Lusco from Montana (if I remember that correctly) and he made a really good point. Something that stuck to me after the morning service: <b>IN ORDER FOR THINGS TO HAPPEN I MUST BE DOING THINGS AND LIVING MY LIFE FOR GOD AND NOT JUST EXPECT HEALING TO HAPPEN TO ME.</b> I mean, I've always known that I can't do sinful things (lying, gossiping, etc) and expect God to heal me. And at that point of complete healing just be overwhelmed and make a complete 180 turn from my sinful ways. That's just not how its going to happen. Yeah, maybe for several days. But eventually the rush of being healed will wear off and I will return to the human nature of sinfullness. I mean, I will still be EXTREMELY joyful about it, I mean I was healed! But sinful nature will come back to me. I heard somewhere that the farther we are in God's presence, the harder Satan is going to try to get us back into his twisted, sick world. And I'm not perfect nor will I ever be so I know that I will unintentionally come back. Just a little bit but still it'd be a toe on Satan's earth. All I can do is read the bible and continually pray and thank God that He is patient and caring with me.<br />
<br />
So anyways, my back has been hurting badly for the past few months about 9am-12pm everyday. I've always had this huge fear of going to the gym or exercising because Dr. Reeder (my chiropractor since I was about 12) would warn me against excessive movement. (Note: I'm not blaming Dr. Reeder AT ALL he had never seen or heard of my condition before and was advising me with the best of his knowledge and past experience.) But he did tell me to do stretches (which I would do every now and then but stopped from the pain that emerged). My pain was constant. Rare were the times when I would be sitting/standing/walking and feeling no pain. Ah, those glorious moments were my drug. I craved for those moments and when I got them I would just bask in that moment and know that one day I would no longer feel like an old grandma and would run with the deer. Ha ha. Getting back to the point, lack of exercise = weight gain. I have gained, uncomfortable to admit it, 30 pounds since high school. That's 30 pounds in 5 years! I weep at that gruesome amount. But I guess that's what happens. I'd get depressed at my situation that I seem to be stuck in and I would eat and eat and eat and not exercise. I mean, I did experience those days of a sudden boost of energy and stamina and I would make plans to eat better and exercise at least a little bit. But then I would suddenly remember the sharp pain I knew I would have and straight down the gutter went my ambition.<br />
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I'm going to cut this short. So I finally asked my mom to get my a gym membership and decided to brave the treadmill and eliptical. 30 minutes on the treadmill to warm up, 30 minutes on the elliptical to battle my fat and 30 minutes on a bike (with a back rest) to let my back recuperate from the traumatic experience on the elliptical. Man, that last 8 minutes on the elliptical was like somebody was stabbing me with thousands of needles and trying to pull my spine into even more shambles. But I really wanted to finish the 30 minutes. I HAD TO!!! When I got off, my muscles were so sore and my back in spazzing pain that I barely made it to the bike to sit down. But I made it. Two days later I went to the gym and repeated the routine then again after 2 days. MY BACK PAIN BECAME PRACTICALLY NON-EXISTENT IN THE MORNING!!!! Praise God!!! Now granted, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Over-exerting my back like that. But I had great faith that God was going to help me with the pain. I DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE TO DO THIS! I am blessed that this helped me. I would recommend for others with the same problems to do stretches and doctor-prescribed exercises. There was a month that I didn't go to the gym and the pain came back. So what I think it is, when I exercise I stretch out my hamstrings thus causing them to not be so tight.<br />
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God is all-powerful. He is merciful and kind. Yes, I have felt so disappointed and discouraged when I wake up in the mornings and am not healed. But even though I am extremely sad (and at times depressed about my situation) I will never lose faith. God can move mountains. He can certainly heal my back. I just need to prepare myself for when it happens. The way I am now, (shy and prefer not having attention on me) I know I probably will not give God all the glory He deserves and share with everyone what He has done for me. God bless you all and remember, with Him all things are possible. Even for you! Good night!Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-523702699183883339.post-26380177016616223112012-01-01T23:43:00.000-08:002014-08-13T00:59:49.331-07:00January 1, 2012: Every Journey Has a Beginning<a href="http://www.stiebermd.com/wp-content/uploads/Spondy-Grades1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.stiebermd.com/wp-content/uploads/Spondy-Grades1.png" height="320" width="316" /></a>Now, where did all of this begin? <br />
Well, let me first start by explaining exactly what deformity I am affected by. <br />
I tried to find an official definition to spondyloptosis but it kept taking me to links talking about spondylolisthesis. I will do my best using words to describe what I am talking about and pictures I found on the internet. On the image I have pasted you will see different levels of spondylolisthesis and spondyloptosis. Grades 1-4 are spondylolisthesis and grade 5 is spondyloptosis. I have grade 5 spondyloptosis. Except my L5 vertebrae (its the one that is barely hanging on in that last picture) is lower about 1-2 inches. One of these days I will find a picture of an MRI/CT scan that I had gotten done recently so you can see just how bad mine is (and probably the stuff I say will make more sense). This slip of course not only moved my spine, it has shifted my upper body down. So my lowest rib is literally resting on my hips. So it gives me the appearance that I have a rectangular body shape, or I read somewhere, a "ruler" body shape and I am about 1-2 inches shorter than I should be. <br />
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I was 9 years old when I first started experiencing back pain. I remember the day, the weather and where I was. It was at my old house by the river my family and I were sweeping our long driveway. It was a sunny/cloudy day, not windy, perfect for sweeping away all debris from our gravel road. I was wearing this color-challenged, itchy knitted sweater and neon pink pants working as efficiently and quickly as I could, so I would be able to continue playing in the forest that acted as a wall between us and our neighbors. When out of no where I felt a pain in my lower back.<br />
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When the pain started to become stronger and more often my mom decided to take me to Doernbecher Child Hospital in Oregon. They took an x-ray and the doctor said he couldn't find anything wrong with me. I should say so. The quality of the x-ray was horrible. You couldn't tell what in the world you were looking at. In the next couple of years there were more x-rays but they still couldn't see what was wrong. I guess since this is a rare deformity they weren't looking for it thus didnt see it. <br />
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Because the problem persisted and got so worse I couldn't concentrate at school, my aunt took me to a chiropractor in upper Washington. Lets just say I've been going to him ever since. He definitely was a blessing in my life. <br />
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That's the gist of my story. I hope that my blog will help any other soul with this rare kind of suffering. It definitely took a weight off my shoulders to find someone else who shared her stories and thoughts of spondyloptosis and how it effected her life.Yanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16088476332212648504noreply@blogger.com0