Time to get Tough

You know the old expression: when the going gets tough.... Well, there is no doubt that things have been tough for me in the past few months since my back surgery. And based on the visit with my back doc today, it may just simply be time to see just how tough I am - and if I am gonna get going.

In short, we have tested both of the nerve roots in my back that serve the area of my foot pain and nothing has shown that either of them is pinched or aggravated by any of the hardware store I am carrying back there. We have CT myelogrammed and done 2 selective nerve blocks and the score is foot pain 3, procedures 0.

Then my doc said those fateful words: can you live with the pain? I wish he hadn't said that because the answer is obvious. You do what you gotta do.

He then talked about a lot of different types of pain that could be affecting my foot, most of which were out of my vocabulary range. But almost as quickly as he mentioned them, he ruled them out. One of the solutions he mentioned is called neurostimulation therapy, which involves implanting a small wire in my back creating electrical impulses that block pain messages to the brain. There is an easily-placed test version that I could try out for a few days to see if it helps. The doc gave me a booklet with DVD to check it this out at home. Who knows? I'll look it over.

One other remote possibility could be a problem with my ankle, sort of like carpel tunnel syndrome, only the foot version. He doesn't think this is the problem, but we are going to do an EMG just to be sure. I have had them before and they are not fun, but I can't afford not to check out the possibility.

He has prescribed me another anti-inflammatory medicine to try. (The last one didn't appear to work.) I should get that tomorrow. Other than that, I go back to see him on Oct 30, which will be the end of the 6 months needed for the fusion to totally set up. At that point I should be able to get untethered from my spinal fusion stimulator (that cell phone-looking thingie with the black wire that I have been wearing on my right hip).

Finally, I feel that God granted me a new attitude this past week. When the second nerve block didn't work (well, it did something, but only marginally), I sorta expected how today's doc appointment would go. Several things happened during the course of the week that helped me to refocus a lot of my heart. I won't bore you with the details, but God spoke to me through my elders, my job, my family, my sweet wife & the Holy Spirit and, in essence, showed me that there is too much going on in my life for me to mope around whining about a sore foot and back.. Right now, this is who I am. Yeah, I have a limp (slightly improved) and I have to shift around a lot to find comfortable positions for my lower back, but I really CAN live with that.

My hope and prayer is that all this nerve stuff going on in my feet and legs is all just a part of the slow and frustrating recovery from back surgery. Everyone has been telling me that already and it's been hard to hear. Well, I have to listen now. My doc says that nerves regenerate at a rate of 1 mm per day. I haven't measured the distance from my lower back to my left foot yet, but my guess is that I'm looking at a year to a year and a half. (For the first time in my life, I wish I was shorter!)

But hey, I am able to sleep through the night. I get around without a cane or walker. I can drive.  I get to go to work every day at the best church in the world. I am blessed with an adoring wife who takes excellent care of me. My family gathers around me and loves on me every day. I still get to interact with my grandkids and enjoy them. Why I even started back to coaching Upward flag football tonight (at a much slower pace)!There are way too many blessings going on in Charley Taylor's life for me to get overwhelmed by some stupid leg & back pain. I'm just going to plan to outlast it! So, I invite you to keep on praying me through this and as the tingles begin to go away, I'll let you know that your prayers are being answered!

Prayers up!