November 2008 to present
I had physical therapy twice a week through most of November, and it seemed to be helping. The day I was re-evaluated I felt pretty much back to where I was before the accident, except for the fine motor coordination in my left hand. Over the last few years I had almost gotten to where I might be able to learn to touch-type, but all that is lost now.
Then something happened the afternoon after my re-evaluation, and I started having a tingling pain in my left upper arm. Sometimes the pain also radiated down my back. So the next day I told my doctor about it. He sent me for an MRI.
The MRI showed three bulging disks, and a lot of the places where the nerve roots connect were rough and narrower than they should be. This may be because the spaces between the vertebrae are reduced. The doctor said there was a lot of arthritis related problems and that the C-5/6/7 group was particularly bad. He referred me to a surgeon, and I have an appointment on December 29.
For about two weeks I wasn’t able to be up for more than a few hours at a time. The pain would become so bad that I had to lie flat on my back anywhere from half an hour to two hours. I kept a “pain diary” for a while, but as the symptoms reduced, the diary became a hassle. During this time I went to the chiropractor three times a week.
Things seemed to be going ok. I could stay up longer and needed shorter breaks. Then last Wednesday evening the pain came back, and even lying flat didn’t help much. This lasted through Thursday. Friday morning wasn’t so bad, but after I’d been up for about three hours I had to lie flat for an hour. I was able to get up and do a few things during the afternoon, but wasn’t pain free.
The pain is back up around 6 again, so I’m going to post this and will try to put some images up this weekend.
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