Health & Fitness

The Impact of Spinal Damage: A personal view

Kerbie

I am writing this take as recently I have had so many people asking me questions not on gag but in personal life about my condition and what its effects are, something a lot dont really understand.


So hopefully a Insight into it will give people a better understanding


How it started


In the middle of 2007 I started to get leg pain but at this point I dissmissed it and carried on little did I know what was going off, I went to the doctor to explain the symptoms initally he put me onto anti-inflammority medication Ibfprofen and paracematol, these seemed to reduce the pain to very little.


I thought nothing more of it at this point and put it down to the sort of thing I was doing at the time.


Bring out the yellow flags - somethings not 100%


The Impact of Spinal Damage a personal view


In 2013 I was attending the British Touring car championship at Donington Park with good friend Martin who I have know for 20+ years now (we were secondary school buddies) anyway I started suffering the pain all over again worse than before this time with worse effects that before now including me unexpectedly tripping up without warning as my foot was not lifting enough.


Immediately I contacted my doctor again this time they put with a physiotherapist who started to look at issues , it was deemed at this point my core muscules were weak , so placed me onto a gym ball class in an attempt to strengthen them unfornately unforseen at this time the underlying problem was showing its damage however once again the pain easied enough for me to carry on.
Then in 2014 another weekend at Donington Park this time for the 2014 BTCC race meeting the pain was at its worst with even more vicious effects , falling over , Pain that felt like bones actually coming out of my legs , Burning to name a few.


Red Alert


The Impact of Spinal Damage: A personal view


Following the fun event at donington which BTCC always is as everyone attending loves the series and motorsport and everyone wants to chat about it.


I returned to the doctor once again and alerted him to the new problems again i got refered back to the physio sadly the physio found nothing which was a little frustrating but i understood but she was concerned and refered me to neurology. this is where I have been pulled around left right and center for last year now.


The neurologist said something was not right as my movement was not brillant so I went for nerve tests which indicated very little so they now arranged a movement anyalsis test and that led to an othopedic appointment for me and their results ended up in being ordered specalist carbon fibre splints (Like the ones below).


At this point walking even to the end of the street is virtually impossible without considerable pain which not only makes you feel very unhappy but also upsetting and a lot of horrible people started commenting if they saw me adjusting my splint if my sock moved things like " werido " or even just stared at me it also started upsetting my Partner Hannah who had people say things to her like " Why on earth are you with that you need a real guy not a robot"


It was important at this point I delevoped a "care network" so to speak of people that I supporting me and I was shocked at how quickly it delevoped my family , Friends and my even my partners work collegues all wanted to know how i was coping and suprisingly said i could talk to them aswell if needed.


This made me feel better but the impact on me and Hannah was still tough we were both scared and still did not what was causing me the pain and discomfort , shortly after seeing the neuro specialist again who said it was time to get a MRI scan done , this meant me being pulled around more.


Anyway I said OK i wanted to find out more than ever what was wrong , the first MRI attempt was a failure even before the machine started i had a severe panic attack which lasted a good hour , unfornately this led to more time waiting for another test to be arranged in a wide bore / super short bore machine at the bigger city hospital.


Thankfully the second attempt i felt much easier and with medication to help reduce my anixety and the fact the machine was much newer , the breeze from the room and the music which was impossible to hear through the MRI's operating noise all helped me.


The Impact of Spinal Damage: A personal view


The day I got the neurology letter saying they had found a problem was actually a nice day in someways because Hannah could stop worrying about me going through tests and being pulled around and me because I knew finally I get some answers and way's to treat it.


The Result


This is probably the hardest thing that I have had to deal with worse than the name calling , the hassle of putting on the splints and adjustments , the specialist told me I have a condition called Spinal Stenosis "a narrowing of my spinal cord" there is no fix only surgery option or steroid injections - Steroid injections scare me as they could lead me to have Archonids a fine spider web of cord protecting the spinal cord leaving me in constant pain and potentially in a wheelchair both options will only help relieve the pressure but the damage is lifelong.


The Impact of Spinal Damage: A personal view


It was at this point I basic tuned off I still dont know 100% everything he said to me thankfully my mum attended with me so I understood it all , I have since read up on the lumbar surgery option its a little frightening but I rather risk that than be in more pain from injections.


The Impact of Spinal Damage: A personal view


It's hard to explain how the operation works as it is quite long winded but in simple terms its a process that removes some of the tissue around the affected area to make more room and allow pressure to get through easier in the affected area.


Please feel free to ask me any questions, I have done a lot of research on my condition now.

The Impact of Spinal Damage: A personal view
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