My name is Caroline Parkinson and I am 45 years old. I had never suffered from any kind of back problems and have always had an active life.
About 8 years ago following a vigorous walking weekend and a well-earned bath, I was carrying out a very simple task of reaching for my sweater when I felt my back “go” and for the first time in my life I fainted. I could not walk and as it was a Sunday I had to get the help of paramedics to get me down the stairs to the ambulance and then to accident and emergency, where I was prescribed pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs. After one week of suitable rest I was back to normal.
Following on from this incident, over the next 7 years or more I had similar situations where if I had undertaken reasonable exercise, such as gardening and fell walking my back would go into spasms and if I was not really careful would “go” again, which would render me with limited mobility and meant using a walking stick to get about until it had recovered sufficiently. I have never been one for taking time off work and luckily had the type of job which would allow me to work from home on occasion. However I used to drive the hour into work because it was important to be there and this would cause additional exacerbation to the pain and discomfort.
I visited the GP on numerous occasions and all that could be prescribed was drugs. As part of my employment I was lucky enough to have private health care and therefore contacted them directly. I went to see a specialist who did not conduct an x-ray or MRI scan and told me that my facet joints were inflamed and recommended that I see a physiotherapist, which I did for 6 months. Things did improve however I only had to be digging in the garden or decorating at an awkward angle and I would have the symptoms again that day and it would then take a while to recover. I was used to, for example, weeding the garden and then spending the next few hours bent over in pain. This became the norm.
The final straw came when I had been gardening and hurt myself and the next day was in London for a meeting and had travelled down on the train. The train seats are not designed with posture in mind! I then spent the next eight hours in a cold air-conditioned room and at that point my back had seized up. I managed to get to Kings Cross in pain and so to York station. It then took me half an hour to get to my car as I could not walk very well and I knew that it would not be long until my back went into spasms. I was prescribed more tablets and again contacted the private healthcare provider to book an appointment, which is when I was sent to see Mr Krishna. Prior to the appointment I had an x-ray and MRI scan and when we had our appointment he told me that my bottom two discs had worn out and the alternatives such as physio, cortisone injections or surgery. I was quite taken aback as no-one had ever mentioned surgery and to be honest I was in the main fit and healthy and did not consider that I was in such a serious state. The recommendation was ultimately for surgery which is what I decided to do.
In February this year I had surgery and had blocked the whole thing from my mind until half an hour before the operation and I was scared stiff. I was very well looked after and can honestly say that I did not experience high levels of pain. The evening following the operation was a blur as I was administered with a lot of drugs and you are hooked up to all kinds of machines for monitoring purposes, however they all come off the next day, most of which I slept!
The following day I felt great and asked if I could get up and get dressed. I was amazed that I could dress myself and walk up and down the hospital corridor with no discomfort. The previous day the physiotherapist had got me up and walking to the next room, however I was full of drugs and she decided that I had done enough for one day.
I was collected by my family later that day and was walking round B&Q on the way home. I have been amazed by my mobility so soon after the operation and since this time I am able to do all the things I want to do without the pain. In June I went fell walking in the Lake District and climbed 11 fells (not all small ones either!). I was driving within ten days and apart from the clips pinching a bit I have honestly not suffered from any pain which I was not anticipating.
In hindsight I had accepted my Doctor’s view to continue to take drugs and take exercise, which is not bad advice. However I had no idea what solutions were available to me and that I would be able to take some positive corrective action which would give me a much better quality of life not only now but in the future.
Mr Krishna’s support groups really helped before the operation as I was very wary and scared. However the people I met gave me confidence to make the right decision.