It was an ordinary day. Starting to recover. A few months ago I started having pain in my right leg. Radiated from my back down to my calf. At first it appeared for a short time and then disappeared. Then it became more regular. At that point I went to my family doctor for an appointment. He ordered an MRI and the results showed severe spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is narrowing of the spinal column that causes pressure on the spinal cord, or narrowing of the openings (called neural foramina) where spinal nerves leave the spinal column. My family doctor made an appointment for me at the Lancaster NeuroScience & Spine Center where Dr. Gastaldo met with me. By now my pain was becoming more severe. He reviewed my MRI with me and arranged for 5 physical therapy sessions with their in-house therapist. Didn't help! I was then scheduled to have a shot of steroids directly into my spine. When I showed up for the appointment my doctor reviewed my MRI and told me it probably would be a waste of my time since it would not correct my problem, so I was referred back to Dr. Gastaldo. My wife and I met with him and he went over my options which were pain management with drugs or surgery. Reviewed all the possible things that can happen with surgery and I made the choice to have the surgery. By this point I had to crawl up and down the stairs in our house because of the intense pain in my right leg as well as walk bent over to help relieve the pain. The following week I entered the Lancaster General Hospital for Lumbar Laminectomy of the L4 and L5 vertebrae. A laminectomy removes the entire lamina which is the rounded bone at
the back of the spinal canal. This helps relieve pressure when a disk bulges into a nerve. After the procedure, the new opening in the spine is protected by the thick back muscles. The procedure went well and I returned to my room. Since I am on Medicare, I was required to stay overnight. Believe it or not, what I had done can be considered day surgery. Well the surgery went well, but my recovery took a downward turn when the anesthesia I was given affected my urinary organs and I needed a catheter to help me void liquids. On the FORTH try, and finally with the help of a urologist, the catheter was inserted. I remained an extra day and finally went home with the catheter still inserted. NO FUN AT ALL! After three more days the bladder muscles were starting to reject the catheter which caused painful spasms. I was told to go to my urologist's office immediately and the catheter was removed. Instant relief! It was at that moment that I began my recovery. That was 5 days ago, and I am now walking without the intense pain and my back is only slightly sore. But, considering what I had done, I'm very satisfied with my progress. I have a month to recover before I vacation in the warm sun of the Caribbean. My doctor told me I was on schedule for vacation, as long as I don't do something stupid. Hear that LDUB! DON'T DO SOMETHING STUPID!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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