a herniated, slipped, ruptured, prolapsed disk

For anyone interested, i went to see my physiotherapist yesterday and he told me that he thinks i have a slipped disk in my back. see below for details. i wouldn't wish this kind of pain on even my worst enemy. i verified the diagnosis with my doctor today and she told me that it's very possible and that is why she set up a CT scan for me. that is the only way to be sure - other than an MRI - and try getting one of those in Quebecthe wait times are about 3 months. at least with the CT scan i only have to wait about seven weeks - by which time i will hopefully be recovered.

my doc said that it can be a minimum of 4-6 weeks before i feel "normal" or it could be even longer. i'm kind of freaking out about it - i have to move by the first of July, and i'm not allowed to pick up anything heavy (probably ever again) let alone move all of my furniture. on top of having to move, the apartment that i'm supposed to be staying at for the summer has a single mattress on the floor for me to sleep on. i have trouble getting to a standing position from my full height queen size bed - i can't seen myself getting up and down onto the floor all the time - so i'm in a conundrum.

i could be better by the first - i still have over two weeks, and hopefully i will be. i'm doing my exercises every hour on the hour - that should be doing something... and when i really think about it, i do feel more mobile today than i did yesterday. it's just when i move in certain ways or stretch wrong the pain flares up and stays for hours. i'll keep doing my exercises, and you all keep praying for me, then i'll hopefully make a fast recovery.


Herniated nucleus pulposis is a condition in which part or all of the soft, gelatinous central portion of an intervertebral disk is forced through a weakened part of the disk, resulting in back pain and nerve root irritation.










The main nerve traveling down the leg is the sciatic nerve. Pain associated with the sciatic nerve usually originates higher along the spinal cord when nerve roots become compressed or damaged from narrowing of the vertebral column or from a slipped disk. Symptoms can include tingling, numbness, or pain, which radiates to the buttocks legs and feet.

* thanks to the University of Maryland Medical Center for the above images and text.