am so glad I found you all!


My name is Carolyn. I am 49 years young...yeah right.... lol.
When we are dealing with painful and confusing health problems I think it helps to have and be able to give support to one another.

I had C-5 - C7 disc fusion in my late 30's and serious foot surgery done at 40 because of bone spurs and degeneration of the joints, I have just come from my neurosurgeon and am being scheduled for a L5-S1 fusion for disc collapse and bone spur into the spinal nerve. I have pretty significant pain in most joints and sometimes feel pretty depressed because I really want to be much more active and feel like I am missing a lot. I am a social worker and love my job. I have only been working at this particular job since 8/31/07 so I will not technically be eligible for FMLA leave for three and a half more months and I don't know if I can hold out that long.
One question I have for those of you who might be able to relate, is about muscle spasms throughout my entire body. I have had them in my hands neck, sides, back, feet, legs even my face. One time I was driving home from work and turned my head to merge on the expressway and my entire chest went into a spasm and it felt like a heart attack at first...really scary.
Anyway primarily, i have weakness and some pain in my right leg and my back associated with my disc problem. I was originally being screened for MS since I have had optic neuritis and lost sight for a few weeks and other weird neuro stuff over time but the brain MRI came back fine. The muscle spams seem to be aggravated by movement, even slight movement and I have a difficult time resting and sleeping. My right leg pretty much stays in a spasm but it is numb and weak and I usually do not know it is tightened till I stand up and feel the tightness. My right calf muscle seems smaller and atrophied and the nerve conduction test showed significant nerve damage. I wonder if that will be better after surgery. I have always tolerated pain pretty well...when my neurosurgeon saw my first spine MRI he said.."well I know you are not a crybaby"..not sure what to think of that! I feel like one alot of the time but try to stay positive. I feel like my cervical fusion was the easiest best surgery ever and would be happy to discuss that with others. I had a great surgeon and have had no problem even ten plus years later. Thanks everyone for listening and again I am so glad I found you all!!!