Forenote (clarifying): Not asking for professional medical advice, just asking for tips to overcome this masive amount of anxiety. Wow. I just got some really overwhelming MRI results of my spine. I have always had back pain and have had bulging discs at L3/L4 and L4/L5. I recently injured my back and had some sciatica-like symptoms after (I accidentally hit the middle of my back on the corner of a furniture because as I was sitting on the floor my feet slid due to my socks and I hit my back on the fireplace/tv stand thing behind me). We did an MRI out of caution on Friday. We got results on Friday and they said I have congenital narrowing of the spinal canal, herniated discs at L4/L5 and S1. I have bulging discs at L1/L2 and L2/L3 and L3/L4, the bulging disc at L4/L5 has become herniated. I am getting really anxious because I have a doctor's appointment in two weeks but I am having tons of symptoms still. My symptoms include tingling in my hips, back of my legs, front of my legs (quads), my back of my legs (calves), shin pain, shin splints, ankle pain, bad balance, more falls recently, immense back pain (lower and middle back and lower part of upper back), neck stiffness, and tons of others. I knew about this due to my medical training but didn't suspect anything, in fact my appointment was a follow up on a sprained ankle and I mentioned it as kind of like, hey this happened just letting you know but I don't think anything much of it. I researched some of the symptoms to see of any of my symptoms that have started recently since the injury match and most do. For example, I thought I just wasn't wiping myself good after using the bathroom because I would find stains on my clothes. However, I now know that it could be bowel/bladder incontinence. I also believe that it is made worse by my diet because I also found out recently that I have very low sucrase levels, which cut out 90% of things from my diet (such as certain fruits/vegetables, starches, and all kinds of other sugar) and I was already limited because of lactose intolerance. I am getting anxious because I am having so many symptoms that even my doctor who doesn't like recommending surgery might suggest surgery due to the acute onset of these issues and the continuance of them (I have very same ideals to him and want to avoid surgery at all costs especially because I am MH which makes surgery even more complicated, expensive, and dangerous). I am also starting college soon and knowing the doctor's schedule, if he does recommend surgery the soonest avaliable date will likely be in October/November, meaning I will miss a lot of class if it can't wait any longer. I'm also planning on doing bariatric surgery in early January, and if I have spinal surgery that will drastically push back the date for bariatric surgery because you need to walk within the first few days. I am extremely stressed and anxious after hearing the results from the MRI and knowing it is so widespread now. I also don't want to do spinal surgery because if I start I will likely have to do it the rest of my life. I don't know what to do and I am very anxious it might get worse because it has been progressively getting worse... Also, I don't want to stop dance, which will likely be what has to happen. I love dance and I am in Level 4 (the top level at my studio) as well as Adult Beginner and Intermediate. I don't want to quit, I love it, it is my escape.

Posted by Annoymous1 at 2024-05-08 14:59:10 UTC