I'm getting mighty tired of the pain. My pain doc said I am a good candidate for back surgery but I have held off. The MRI showed degenerative spine disease which means...I will eventually wind up in a wheel chair or mobility scooter because it hurts like hell when I walk or stand. Only time I get relief is if I am sitting. Laying, I have to have pillows under my feet and thighs, back raised up so more pillows to keep me propped up. In short...fetal position. I've done the physical therapy thing, which has not worked. My left foot goes numb when standing or walking just around the grocery store and i HAVE to sit. So I find a counter, and sometimes I even sit on the shelf where they bag the food cuz if I don't sit....omg. Major pain. Now the numbness is climbing. Toes have always been numb on both feet but now on the left leg, it is inching up my calf in the front. Eventually it will hit my knees, then thighs, and before ya know it...numb from the waist down.
My regular doc said cortisone injections. My pain doc says surgery. I am afraid of both. If the wrong spot is hit with a needle for the shot....instant paralysis? For surgery, wrong scalpel cut...instant paralysis. That's my fear, anyway.
So my question to you guys is....what would you do? Or, have you done either? Did it help? Did it make it worse? The shot or the surgery? Or both? Opinions needed cuz this SUCKS. I stay grumpy, I live on pain pills, lost my appetite and my quality of life is in questions, same as for my pets when theirs was like what I suffer now. I just put them down so they wouldn't suffer if there were no cures for them. I can't put myself down. Or can I? If it gets bad enough, I damn sure will. I don't want some stranger having to wipe my ass for me and I damn sure don't want to be at the mercy of anyone either to keep breathing in pain. Spine problems are scarey, so not sure what to do. I guess I just want to know experiences of those who suffer the same non stop pain and what they did..or wish they didn't do.
My regular doc said cortisone injections. My pain doc says surgery. I am afraid of both. If the wrong spot is hit with a needle for the shot....instant paralysis? For surgery, wrong scalpel cut...instant paralysis. That's my fear, anyway.
So my question to you guys is....what would you do? Or, have you done either? Did it help? Did it make it worse? The shot or the surgery? Or both? Opinions needed cuz this SUCKS. I stay grumpy, I live on pain pills, lost my appetite and my quality of life is in questions, same as for my pets when theirs was like what I suffer now. I just put them down so they wouldn't suffer if there were no cures for them. I can't put myself down. Or can I? If it gets bad enough, I damn sure will. I don't want some stranger having to wipe my ass for me and I damn sure don't want to be at the mercy of anyone either to keep breathing in pain. Spine problems are scarey, so not sure what to do. I guess I just want to know experiences of those who suffer the same non stop pain and what they did..or wish they didn't do.