July 18, 2024 • 58 mins
What happens when a passionate marathon runner is suddenly sidelined by a herniated disc? Join us as we explore the incredible journey of Loretta, a dedicated mother and ultra marathoner, whose life took a drastic turn due to a severe back injury. Discover how Loretta navigated the tumultuous path from intense physical activity to being immobilized by pain, and the emotional toll of such a sudden shift in her life. From the thrill of completing ultra marathons to the frustration of daily struggles, Loretta's story is a testament to human resilience and the will to overcome.
Loretta opens up about her relentless search for relief, detailing her experiences with urgent care treatments, chiropractic adjustments, and physical therapy. She shares the highs and lows of trying to find an effective solution, including the pivotal moment when an MRI revealed the severity of her condition. Her journey underscores the importance of self-advocacy and persistence in a healthcare system that can often be challenging to navigate. You'll hear about the relentless pain, the complex decisions around potential treatments, and the critical support systems that helped her along the way.
The road to recovery post-surgery is fraught with both triumphs and setbacks, and Loretta doesn't shy away from sharing the raw reality of her experience. She discusses the significance of patience, managing expectations, and the slow, determined return to physical activities. Loretta's narrative highlights the power of community and the joy found in connecting with others who share similar struggles. Her inspiring story is a powerful reminder that with perseverance, support, and a positive mindset, it's possible to reclaim one's life even after serious injury. Don't miss this heartfelt episode that celebrates the strength and tenacity required to overcome severe back pain and find hope on the path to recovery.
Was this episode helpful to you? If you would like to support my work on the show, you can buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/bedbackandbeyond
Have a positive story of recovery to tell? Head over to https://bedbackbeyond.com/share-your-story/ to apply.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And, like I said, that ultra mindset of push, push
, push.
I had pushed it so far that Iwas at my breaking point and I'm
going to my life back becausethe pain is terrible, but for me
, not being able to do thethings that I normally did I
mean, I went from being able torun 31 miles to not being able
(00:22):
to walk 10 minutes miles to notbeing able to walk 10 minutes
what bothered me more, almost, Iwould say, than the pain was
having your life stripped fromyou.
And you know, knowing that lifeis short, and you, this is six,
no, actually five months of mylife that it's just been ruined.
(00:43):
Basically, I tried to do things, but it was always there.
It was like waking up in amessed up Groundhog Day.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive
stories of recovery from seriousback or neck injury.
Your host is CK, a fellowchampion who draws on her own
experience with herniated discsurgery.
Join her as she talks withothers who have overcome the
physical and emotional trauma ofa painful injury and discover
(01:13):
for yourself how you can findhope and encouragement in
recovery.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Hi Loretta.
Thank you so much for joiningme on this episode of Bed, back
and Beyond.
Before we jump into your injury, how about you tell us a little
bit about yourself?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Okay, well thank you for having me.
I'm happy to share my storybecause if it can help anyone or
give anyone hope, I know thatyou need it when you have a
herniated disc or anything goingon with your back.
So my name is Loretta and I ama mother and a wife, and the
thing that I like to do is run.
I enjoy running so much.
I started running in my 30s.
(01:52):
I was never athletic, I wasnever into sports in school, I
always worked, and so that waskind of my thing.
Since I was 16 years old, I hada full-time job and I had my son
at 30 and I was home and it waslike I, you know, I need
something to do something for me, and so my sister-in-law
(02:15):
invited me to do a run.
It was called the Dixie 200.
It was a relay run with 12other people and you had legs of
the race and I had like threelegs and they were anywhere from
, I think, seven to eight mileslong each, and we ran 200 miles
with the 12 of us from Georgiato Birmingham, alabama, and so I
(02:39):
was.
I was hooked.
I was like this is my thing,this is you fell in love with
running.
Yes, this is what I to do.
This is what I can do with myextra time that I have now.
This is I'm staying at homewith my son and I just fell in
love.
And then I just kept pushing.
It was like, okay, I did that,what else could I do?
And I ran 5Ks and then 10Ks andthen I did half marathons.
(03:04):
I did a bunch of half marathonsand then I did probably five or
six marathons and in Februaryof 2023, I ran my first ultra 31
miles without stopping 5,000feet of elevation gain.
So it was like a brutal course,but I wanted a big challenge
(03:26):
and I got it.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, that is one yeah, and so.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I trained my hip flexor in that race and I was
letting it recover and I thought, well, I'll cut back.
I was like, I'll do my fastest5K, I'll try to get a 5K in 30
minutes.
My fastest 5k, I'll try to geta 5k in 30 minutes.
And so while I was doing this5k, at the end of it it was the
(03:56):
end of May started to feel likemy hamstrings were tight and I
thought, hmm, so plan was weneed to stretch?
Because, I'll be honest, I wasnot real good about stretching.
It was just not fun to do.
I was more get into theactivity and I was like, well,
I'll stretch this out, it'll befine.
(04:22):
And so I did all this stretchingand I did my fastest 5k.
I got done with that.
Me and my husband decided tostart running together because
he also runs and, uh, he's aniron man and, um, a power lifter
, and he even got me to do apower lifting meet.
I did a power lifting meet inmy 30s, oh wow.
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
The only reason I did it foryou, yeah, well, to get
(04:44):
completely normal would be nice,but I don't know if that's a
thing you will.
For you.
How is your nerve pain now?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
You know it's rarely there Every once in a while, so
my surgery was 2019.
Every once in a while I'll havea flare 2019,.
Every once in a while I'll havea flare and usually if I do
something that makes my backtighten up, like if I overdo
something, and I'll have a flarefor a day and I'll use a
heating pad and I'll take someAdvil and then it's gone the
next day.
(05:15):
But it's infrequent.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I've noticed that too .
I had two really good weeks ina row noticed that too.
Um, I was having, I had tworeally good weeks in a row and I
had, and I am back to I walknow a little over three miles a
day and I work out anywhere froman hour and an hour and a half
a day.
So I was feeling a littlegreedy, I guess, and I was like,
well, let's just push this.
How about some yard work with ashovel?
(05:40):
And a big mistake.
It's because my back got tight,was tight for about three days,
and then here comes the nervepain.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I'm hoping to get back into weightlifting.
I was into weightlifting yearsand years ago.
It's not what hurt my back, butwe had we have had a couple
moves and I just fell out of it.
So we just got a barbell, we'vegot a bench, so I'm excited to
get back into to weightlifting.
I got to get past that fear.
You know, not weightlifting.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
The fear is real.
Are you now?
Do you like to like bodybuildor more powerlifting?
Do you like to kind of see howmuch you can lift?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I guess that would be more about bodybuilding.
I want that muscular definition.
I miss it.
You know I lost it once we gotinto all the moves and things.
So that's my next, that's mynext plan.
I still I do my cardio, mydancing or my kickboxing cardio
with no pain problem whatsoever,but I want to get back into
weightlifting.
Yes, it's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
And that's what I'm doing a lot of right now.
It's just a bodybuilding style,because I want to get some
strength, because I feel likethat may be where I messed up
with the long distance runningwas.
I was just focusing on that,really, and every now and then I
would do core.
Every now and then I would fitin a workout and I think I just
created weaknesses and my.
(07:08):
I've always had to fight usingmy back when I lift or do
anything, because it's thestrongest part of me, like my
hips and glutes have always beenan issue with being weak, like
when I was powerlifting I hadtrouble locking out a heavy,
heavy deadlift because Icouldn't get my hips through.
I had to be very careful aboutdeadlifting because my form
(07:34):
wanted to break because the backwanted to take over and do all
the work.
Going back to what I was sayingwhen me and my husband started
running together and I had beendoing all the stretching and my
husband started running togetherand I had been doing all the
stretching.
I woke up one morning and I hadthis weird electrical like my
leg is asleep, my glute is tight, my hamstring is tight.
(07:56):
Like what is this feeling?
Like cause?
I had no clue.
I've never been injured likethat.
I've had injuries that I'veworked out on my own.
I never did PT or anything foranything and you know, usually I
just give stuff a break.
You know, instead of running,you ride the bike for a while
the stationary bike at home letthings heal, they go away.
(08:18):
I've been fortunate and so Itold my husband I noticed that
when we ran, when we'd get up inthe morning and run, I would
have to stretch and get loose alittle bit because everything
was tight and I had that weirdfeeling.
Well, when we would run, thatfeeling would go away and it
would feel better.
And I'm like, ok, well, youknow, running is not a hindrance
(08:40):
If it helps keep running.
And so I was looking up onlineand I saw piriformis syndrome.
Yep, and it's, yeah, it's,common in runners.
So I thought, okay, there yougo, and the weird feeling down
the leg because it can tightenand it can bother the sciatic
nerve.
And I googled it right up, Iknew what I had.
I had piriformis syndrome.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I did the same thing.
Did you really, yep?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
And so I kept running , but it was still there and I
had read this article aboutnerve pain and about how, if you
didn't get it treated, it couldbe permanent, that you could
really mess yourself up.
And that scared me.
I was like, okay, this is notgoing away, something's clearly
wrong.
What's my next step?
And me and my husband talked,and my husband had used a
(09:34):
chiropractor.
He had two bulging discs.
My husband was a four timesstate champion power lifter.
I was an APF and two times anSPF, so he was way better at it
than I was.
I just enjoyed it.
And so, um, he had bulged twodiscs in his back and he went to
a chiropractor.
(09:54):
It worked for him.
He got better and he did herest and, um, you know, let it
heal and and did thechiropractor and it worked for
him.
So I was thinking, you know, ifit is piriformis and it's doing
something with the sciaticnerve, maybe he can help me.
And so I didn't go to the samechiropractor my husband went to,
because we had moved from wherewe were living when he went.
(10:17):
And so I went to thechiropractor and we had a
consultation and he said, youknow, he listened to what I had
to say and he said I think I canhelp you.
And he took me back and he didlike you know.
He had me bend over and at thattime I could bend over and I
didn't really feel any pain.
He had me bend over and do allthis stuff and he had me bend
(10:38):
back and bending back didn't atthat time didn't trigger
anything.
And he had me stand in front ofthis chart to like and had me
turn every direction to look athow I stand and all that stuff.
And he took x-rays and hecalled me back in the next day
and he went over with me whatour plan would be, that he
(11:03):
wanted to see me for so manyvisits and it was going to cost
so much every time I went.
It was like a six-month plan ofvisits.
Starting out it was three timesa week and then it would go to
two times a week and then youwould get to one time a week.
He showed me my x-ray and hesaid I'm surprised that you
(11:27):
haven't had problems before this.
What's wrong, and probablywhat's causing your pain, is
your hips are out of alignment.
And he said so, your hips arelike this.
And he said when I get finishedadjusting you, when I get
finished adjusting you, you'reeven going to have one foot that
is possibly one leg that'slonger than the other.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And I remember thinking what Like you know,
it's kind of weird.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
That's weird.
So, but I wanted to be better,so bad.
It was like you know, okay, thisis the plan, you know if he
says my hips are out ofalignment, they're out of
alignment.
I went to him for probably fouradjustments, as he called it,
and the pain got worse and thenI got to where I couldn't run.
(12:15):
And I remember what day it was.
It was July 15th of 2023.
Me and my husband went for ourrun and we were supposed to run
eight miles.
That day we ran five miles andI was like I'm miserable and I
tap at this point.
The running is hurting and I'mnot going to, I'm not going to
(12:36):
keep doing it if it hurts.
And my husband tapped with mebecause he had an issue going on
with his knee and so we bothjust called it quits that day
for a while.
And those four adjustments andhe had to the chiropractor told
me.
He said you know, stretch andwalk.
I remember me and my husbandwere walking together then and
(13:00):
we went for a walk one morningand it was like maybe 15 minutes
we had been walking.
I was like this is justmiserable, I can't even walk.
I'm trying to do what he saysto do, but I literally can't.
I come home and I had readabout smashing.
Have you ever heard of smashing?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
No.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Okay, no, okay.
It's where you take a softballand you dig it into the area
that hurts.
I did that and I was stretchingand I was trying to get the
pain to go away.
Well, I had no clue what wasgoing on.
All I knew was, all of a suddenI couldn't sit down on the
(13:43):
ground, I couldn't sit on thecouch.
Like every time I would try tosit, my body was literally like
it was locking up and I wouldjust jerk in pain, like.
And so I told my husband.
I said I'm going to the urgentcare.
And so I made an appointmentonline and went to the urgent
care.
I drove myself up to the urgentcare and and they took an x-ray
(14:06):
too, and you know, of course,they didn't see anything.
And so she gave me a I think itwas a Toradol shot, and she
gave me a steroid shot, but notlike the steroid shots that you
got, I don't think, because youhad to be numb for that.
I think this was just like themedicine type steroid, like they
(14:26):
might give you old or something.
So I got in the car and I comeback home and in about an hour I
felt amazing, but I justcrashed.
I mean, all I wanted to do wassleep on the couch because it
was like my body was, for thefirst time in weeks, resting and
(14:49):
felt somewhat normal.
So I kept going to thechiropractor because I just
wanted something to work and Ithought, well, maybe this is
helping because I will say that,you know, after he would adjust
me, it did seem like I wouldget a little bit of relief
sometimes.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Did he have any explanation as to why it was
hurting more after he?
Speaker 1 (15:12):
actually said because I had mentioned piriformis to
him.
And he actually said well,sometimes when we adjust, we can
actually make the piriformistight when we adjust.
We can actually make thepiriformis tight when we adjust.
And you know, because he hadn'tmentioned piriformis, he
thought it was uneven hips wascausing my problem, and so when
I mentioned that to him he waslike, well, sometimes when we
(15:35):
adjust, you know it can.
And I was like well, I washaving this pain before I came
to you and he was like sometimesthis happens, like people think
it's not working because theythey're not feeling better right
away.
But we just got to give it sometime.
I'm like okay.
(15:59):
Well, when I had went to theurgent care, I asked the doctor
because me and my husband had atrip planned to go to Colorado
and we were driving 22 hours oneway, and so she was like well,
the medicine I gave you, causeshe also gave me.
I've got to say that she alsogave me um muscle relaxers and
meloxicam 7.5.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
And told me to take that, and she was like, with,
with the medicine I've given you, you should be fine to go on
your trip.
She was like just don't bedoing any hikes on any crazy
terrain.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
That's like an even or a good thing, and at this
point no one had mentioned itcould be a disc.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
No, nobody.
And now I had told my husbandbecause I had looked at that,
you know, because that kind ofcomes up when you're looking at
piriformis.
And I told my husband.
I said I'm honestly starting towonder if I have a herniated
disc.
And he laughed at me.
He was like if you had aherniated disc, you would be
(16:54):
laying in the floor screamingyour head off crying.
I was like, okay, well, youknow, maybe he's right, it's you
know so.
I just kind of let that go, yeah, yeah.
And so, um, we wanted to go toColorado.
Our friend, brad, was doing theLeadville 200 mountain bike
(17:16):
race, which is a big deal outthere, and we wanted to go and
support him and see Colorado, ofcourse because it's beautiful
and we had had never been.
So we had this big trip plannedand we were excited and, um, I
remember being nervous.
I was like I am nervous aboutthis trip because I don't know
what is up with this pain.
It's crazy, yeah, and I keptpushing through.
(17:39):
And I think I kept pushingthrough because you, when you do
like marathons or ultras,especially when you get into
that distance, you're used topushing, you're used to pushing
through discomfort.
We took our trip and I rememberwe, um, we stopped in Arkansas
and stayed the night, then westopped in Texas and stayed the
night, then we went on intoColorado.
(18:00):
We wouldn't have stopped thatmany times, we could have
probably stayed one night over,but I was so miserable, I felt
like everything was tight.
I was constantly doing thepigeon pose stretch constantly
in the car because that was theonly way I could get it to
loosen up and I was thinkingthat it was helping me, but I
(18:22):
don't know if it really was ornot, but I just kept doing it.
And so we got to Colorado and,uh, I remember we were out on
the course waiting for Brad tocome through on this mountain
bike at a point that we couldsee him, and I had one of those
cheap folding chairs fromWalmart the really cheap saggy
(18:45):
bottom, you know.
And I kind of got tired ofstanding on my feet.
You know how a herniated discdoes If you stand for a while,
because your back is just tiredand killing you, yeah.
And so I just kind of ploppedin this chair and when I did, oh
my gosh, it was like somebody,like it felt like the top of my
(19:07):
head exploded off.
It was just and I mean, I comeup out of that chair as fast as
I sat in it and I was like thisis just not right, something is
just not right.
And, um, while we were atColorado, I would have to
stretch in a chair in the pigeonpose, stretch and kind of fall
(19:28):
forward just a little at a timeuntil I could get down to kind
of over the top of my legbecause it was so tight, and
then I would get down in thefloor and I would do my
piriformis routine and which wassome stretches and some glute
bridges and stuff like that.
I would do hot baths.
I don't know if that helped you, but like getting hot water
(19:52):
seemed like it helped.
And I know a lot of people arelike ice, ice, ice, ice, ice
killed me.
Cold water, yes, it was theworst.
I made the mistake of getting inan ice bath because I thought,
you know, maybe this will help.
Whatever it is, it wrecked mybody, just like the day that I
(20:14):
broke down and had to go to theurgent care and I remember I
threw my swimsuit on, I went outto the back deck and I laid in
the hot sun to make the pain goaway.
Wow.
So I could never ice, andeverybody else was like you know
, you have to ice, you have toget that inflammation down.
(20:34):
But I literally could not standto do it.
So we went through that inColorado and on our way home we
stopped.
We wanted to get home, wewanted to see our son because he
didn't go, he stayed with mybrother and he was in school,
and so he stayed here.
And we were ready to get homeand see my son, and so when it
(20:55):
comes to your kids, you'llsuffer a little more.
And so we only stopped inOklahoma.
And so I think that put usstaying in the car that first
day like 13, 14 hours, and I wastaking my muscle relaxers and I
was taking my meloxicam.
And I remember we got in ourroom in Oklahoma and I was like
(21:17):
I'm going to get in a hot bath.
You know, it wasn't scaldinghot, but just warm water seemed
to help.
And I was really hurting thenand the only thing I you know it
just had to be all the sittingin the truck.
And so I was really hurting andI remember I walked over to the
counter in the bathroom to getmy towel and all of a sudden I
(21:40):
felt like somebody took mymuscle from my glute to my
hamstring and just went.
Just it was like, oh my God,what was that?
I mean I almost hit the floorif I hadn't grabbed the counter.
The next next morning did mystretching routine, got back in
the truck and I told my husband.
(22:03):
I said something's just notright.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Yeah, and what month was this?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
this was in August, august.
Okay, this was around August.
We would have been come home.
It was around August 14.
We would have been come home.
It was around August 14thprobably.
Yeah.
And I knew Andrew sportsmedicine here in Birmingham.
I don't know if you've everheard of them, but they are like
they're it here in Alabama.
They like they do surgeries onand help PT people in the WWE,
(22:39):
like John Cena, okay, and so youknow they're well-known and
well-trusted.
And so I told my husband on theway home.
I was like something's just notright.
This is getting worse, likethis is bad and it's not healing
.
So I called Andrew's sportsmedicine and made an appointment
(23:03):
with Dr Ketchum.
He is a non-surgical doctor.
He's in common which is closeto me.
I remember talking to hisreceptionist and I was telling
her and I had started at thispoint I had started having that
little bit of like your legbeing asleep, like your foot
feeling asleep.
I remember telling her on thephone what I was doing and I
said I'm pretty sure that I havepiriformis syndrome and I was
(23:26):
telling her what I was doing andshe goes that kind of sounds
like your back and I remember Iwas like okay, and she was like
well, I'll see if Dr Ketchumwill see you.
And so he said that he wouldsee me.
And when we got home I can'tremember, I think it was the
next week I went in to see himand I told him, you know that I
(23:47):
thought I had piriformissyndrome.
He had me lay down on his tableand he, he pushed where your
piriformis is and I didn't haveany reaction to that.
And he goes if you hadpiriformis when I pushed on that
, you would have come up offthis table.
And I remember he had me move,you know he had me bend and he
(24:10):
and at this time still with thebending and with the leg raise
trick, you know they always doyeah, nothing, you weren't
positive, okay.
And so I can understand hisconfusion at even thinking that.
you know, I was kind of thinkingthat he would do an MRI when I
told him how long that it hadbeen going on, and he diagnosed
(24:33):
me with an inflamed nerve rootS1.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
And so he was like he gave me steroids to take like a
steroid pack and he gave memeloxicam 15.
And he sent me to PT.
I did maybe two weeks of PT.
Come home kept doing thechiropractor yeah.
I like to look for punishment,just didn't learn, and so the
(25:06):
chiropractor had told me that itwas time to reevaluate, and
they gave me this form to fillout, and it was like you know,
is your pain any better and Imean I was totally honest.
You know, no, it's's not.
Can you tell that it's helped?
You know, it, hasn't you know?
And, um, he wanted me to comein and and do, uh like a
(25:28):
re-evaluation, where he did thisstuff all over again, bend over
, bend back.
Well, after he, after I'd beenhome, and I think he had
adjusted me twice, and then wedid that and I was doing the PT
and the PT seemed to help.
I felt good after I left there,but the last time he had
(25:53):
adjusted me, that second time,it was weird.
I felt like a pop.
I felt a pop and it wasn't likethe like from him adjusting me
and it felt like my spine wentlike that.
It was almost like I could feelsomething shift and felt it pop
and it got way worse.
(26:17):
At that point it was like how Ihad been when I went to the
urgent care all the time and Icalled Dr Ketchum and I his
office and I told the lady I waslike I'm miserable and this is,
this was the end of August, thebeginning of September, and she
(26:40):
was like well, one thing we cando is we can try to change your
medicine.
And I was like, whatever youthink like, I'm willing to try
anything at this point.
And so, um, she gave me I thinkI'm saying this right
Diclofenac.
It's like an anti-inflammatoryand I'm taking this.
(27:02):
I go back to this chiropractorand he wants to reevaluate me.
Takes me through all thesebending things again.
When I bend forward, Iliterally say ow, like it hurts
so bad.
I got to where I couldn't pickmy foot up to from the brake to
the gas pedal without I got towhere I couldn't reach over to
(27:26):
close my door on my car withoutfeeling pain.
I got stuck in the bathtub likein the bent over position in
pain.
And I remember the last PT Iwent to they had me get on the
bike and I was miserable thatday.
(27:47):
I like I didn't even want toget in the car and go to PT and
so I was working with adifferent guy.
This day I had been workingwith a girl and this day it was
a guy and I had never met himbefore and he put me on the bike
, like they do to warm up, justto take it easy.
Well, I went to turn the bikewith my feet and I literally
(28:10):
locked up in paint, like Iliterally got stuck in the paint
.
And I mean I and I don't liketo cry in front of people I
don't know many people that do Idon't like showing
vulnerability, I don't.
I've always.
I can do it, I can get it.
You know, I literally cried infront of this guy and he was
like oh my goodness.
He was like have you had an MRI?
(28:32):
And I was like no, and I said Ithink I'm beginning to think I
have something going on with adisc, a bulging disc, a
herniated disc, and he said Ithink you might be right.
So he took me over to the tableand he looked at my back and
that feeling that was wreckingmy body, that would just like
freeze me.
I didn't know what it was.
(28:52):
It was back spasms.
He knew what it was.
He was like yeah, he was likeyou're having a really bad back
spasm.
So he had me stretch it outsome and he gave me one of those
big, uh busso balls and had mesit in the chair and roll out
with it and come back.
And then he massaged it and hitthat massage in it.
(29:14):
It felt so good and uh, he sentme home.
He didn't work with me anymore.
I mean, I may have been therelike 20 minutes and he was just
like.
So I called Dr Ketchum's officeand I told him.
I said at this point I need anMRI.
Like something is going on, Ineed an MRI.
(29:35):
Like I told them I need an MRIand so they were like okay, and
they called me back and theywere like you, can you go to
Birmingham?
And Birmingham is like an hourand 15 minutes from my house,
yeah, and I was like, but atthis point I was like I would go
to California right now ifsomebody could just help me.
(29:59):
At this point the chiropractorhad done my evaluation thing and
I had called them and I'm likelook, I'm not doing this anymore
.
Y'all need to cancel all myfuture appointments, it's not
working.
Later that day I was sittingeating lunch and the actual
chiropractor called me himselfand he was like well, I have
(30:22):
your x-rays, cause they had tooknew x-rays.
And then he was like we weremaking really good progress and
I was like, and I'm so like Idon't want to upset anybody, you
know, I'll kind of go along,get along.
And at this point I was justlike, are you kidding me?
And so I told him.
(30:43):
I was like it's not working.
I'm like I have been doingnothing but getting worse since
I started coming to you.
I'm not blaming it on you, butit's not helping and I'm not
getting better.
And so I'm done.
And I'm like my next step isgetting an MRI.
And he was like you know, okay,well, if we can help you in the
future, just call us.
(31:03):
And so they set up my MRI inBirmingham and my husband drove
me over there to St Vincent's iswhere Andrew's sports medicine
is, sports medicine is.
(31:23):
And so we get there and I hadto ride in the back of his truck
with a between my knees layingon my side, because that was the
only way I could be comfortable.
I couldn't sit down.
Sitting down at this point wasnot an option.
I had been in bed.
I forgot to tell you, but atthis point I had been in in bed
for almost two weeks.
All I could do to get reliefwas lay on my side with a pillow
between my legs.
(31:44):
And how old's your son?
He's fixing to be 13, but he's12.
Thankfully he wasn't a toddler.
Yes, oh God, my heart goes outto women that have to deal with
babies.
Uh-uh, yeah, so yeah, thatwould be horrible.
I was in bed, I couldn't doanything.
(32:06):
It was a miserable existence.
I was miserable, uh, I remember, um, I finally broke down in
front of my husband and criedbecause, like I was telling you,
I don't like to do that.
One night I went to get in ourbed and we have like that memory
foam mattress and it gives, andso I sit on the side of it.
(32:27):
It was just so.
I was like I can't do, I can't.
I couldn't even sleep in ourbed anymore, and so I had to go
to our spare bedroom.
We had a mattress that wasreally hard.
I could lay on it and anythingthat was really hard, felt good
Anything that had give.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Were you the same way , exact same way?
Yeah, I happened to have aguest bedroom with a firmer
mattress and I moved in there.
Yeah, and then you're so alone.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
It's nice not to hear my husband snoring though I
will say that, yes, I'll tellyou're so alone.
It's nice not to hear myhusband snoring, though I will
say, yes, I see that my snoresevery now and then I'm like,
take this pillow and just.
But yeah, it's a lonelyexistence too and I feel like
I've excluded yourself, like Iwant anybody to know that.
Like you are not a wuss, it isthat bad, it is terrible.
(33:19):
And like it is not just you.
It is that horrible Like I have.
I have worked in construction.
I have.
I have laid pipe, I have droverock trucks, I have ran scrapers
.
I've ran ultra marathons.
I've done powerlifting Nothingcompared to this.
Marathons I've donepowerlifting Nothing compared to
(33:42):
this.
So if you have this injury andyou have gotten over it and
you're better and there'sanything you want to do, I don't
know why in the world you wouldnot do it.
If it's lose 20 pounds is yourgoal, if it's go run a marathon,
a half marathon, whatever it isyou want to do, if you made it
through this, I promise you youcan do it.
You have the push through.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Trust me.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Amen, yes, and so we get to Birmingham, though,
getting back to that, and assoon as we pull up in the
parking deck, the lady inAndrews calls me and she says
Miss Thomas, I hate to tell you,our MRI machine is down.
(34:25):
Oh, and she was like you canget out and come in and you can
wait.
We're trying to call I think itwas Bestavia Hills Imaging,
over in Birmingham off of 280.
She said we're trying to see ifthey can get you in.
And I'm laying in the back seatof my husband's truck just like
will this ever stop?
(34:47):
And so we get over to VestaviaHills Imaging, because they were
able to get me in, thank theLord.
So I remember when I laid downon the MRI machine going
backwards, I was like ah, andthe lady that was doing the
things was like oh my God, honey, you're okay, I'm like, I'm
okay.
It's just, you know, it's likeit's awful when that pain hits.
(35:10):
And so I remember coming out ofthe MRI, though, because again
it's hard and the pain wascompletely gone.
I Coming out of the MRI, though, because again it's hard and
the pain was completely gone.
I got up from laying there onthat hard of the MRI, my husband
and I had a whole routine ofhim helping me in and out of bed
.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
He would, we would do the log roll, but he would be
pushing my knees up for me andlike lifting my leg, and that's
how I got into the MRI.
We said to the nurse, like canwe, can we do it?
He helped me into and out ofthe MRI.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Now, when you were getting your MRI, did you, did
you pretty much think or knowthat you that it was something
with a disc, or were you kind oflike me?
You were just like, ah, ah,what's?
Speaker 2 (35:56):
going on.
I thought I was the piriformismuscle.
You still thought yeah yeah,well, it's so weird with it's so
weird with the herniated disc.
You know it's coming out ofyour spine, but it felt like
somebody had a hold of my nervein my glute.
So a lot of us, I think, firstthink we have that piriformis
(36:17):
muscle because the pain is inthe glute.
It doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
It does, I know, and when people would you know, like
that lady mentioned in my back,I was like never, you know, and
that was the other thing, likeI've never had trouble with my
back, so my mind didn't even gothere.
I got my MRI and this was on aThursday.
Well, on Friday, dr Ketchum,the non-surgical doctor, he
(36:44):
called me.
He said the radiologist calledhim and he said you have a large
herniated disc.
He said and it's probably goingto require surgery.
And I said well, is there anychance?
Because you know, you know thesurgery word.
I said is there any chance ofresting it and it getting better
?
And he said probably.
(37:07):
I'm going to say no, you'regoing to need surgery, because
radiologists don't just calldoctors.
Okay, he said, so.
Dr Cordova, who is an orthospine specialist in Birmingham
for Andrews Sports.
He said we're going to try toget you in to see him.
I heard from Dr Cordova's nurseon Monday and I'm still in the
(37:34):
bed.
I mean, I'm literally.
I don't want to breeze over howmiserable it was or how
depressing or awful it was,because you know, I know so many
people.
If they're having this issue,they need to know you're not a
voice.
It hurts.
That bad it is, that bad, itsucks.
(37:55):
And I was literally eating myfood laying on my side in the
bed with the pillow between myknees.
And by Monday.
I remember I had laid so muchbecause I would make myself get
up and walk around some and Iwould literally pray to Jesus
before I got up out of the bedto go to the bathroom because I
(38:16):
knew it was going to hurt, yeah,and it was just miserable and
so just no life there was.
I mean, I can remember it almostseemed like I couldn't even see
colors anymore, if that makesany sense.
Everything was just black andwhite, just awful.
The Dr Andrews nurse called meMonday and she was like we can
(38:39):
see you, this was.
This was like the 10th, I thinkof.
September.
And she was like we can see youSeptember the 29th For surgery,
no, for the consult.
No, I said I'm bedridden, likeI have to, I need something done
(39:04):
.
And she was like well, she waslike maybe you can call Dr
Ketchum's office.
And she was very like I don'tknow if she meant to be that way
, but she's very cold.
And she was like well, you cancall Dr Ketchum and see if they
can give you something,something for the.
And I was just OK.
So I called Dr Ketchum's officeand they were like no, we saw
(39:25):
where she did that we're goingto call them back, we're going
to get you in and don't worry.
And so that made me feel better.
And I saw Dr Cordova on the13th of September.
Ok, Dr Cordova on the 13th ofSeptember.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
And when I went in they were like we're going to
get an x-ray.
And I remember telling LeighI'm like I've already had a ton
of x-rays, yeah, and she waslike well he just wants to put
his own eyes on it, and I waslike okay, well, I get that.
And so they did an x-ray.
And then Dr Cordova's nursecame in and he started talking
(40:01):
to me and he was asking me likemy symptoms.
And I put two and two togetherand I'm like they don't realize
that they have an MRI from DrKetchum's office.
So I looked at him and I said Iknow what I have.
And he kind of goes what?
And I go, I have a herniateddisc L5, s1.
(40:23):
He goes oh, I said Dr Ketchum'soffice sent it over to you guys
.
And so he went back outside theroom.
He came back in and he was likeI'm pretty sure that we're
looking at surgery here.
And so Dr Cordova came in andhe told me he was very honest
with me.
I love Dr Cordova so I wouldrecommend him to anybody if
(40:46):
you're in this area.
Birmingham, alabama.
Dr Cordova, andrew Sports at StVincent's Fantastic, he is very
straightforward.
He told me he said look he.
He said you don't have to havesurgery.
He said you could suck it up.
He said I don't recommend it,right.
(41:07):
And he said you could haveepidural blocks.
He said there's a 50 chance youwould get some relief, but the
pain that I was in 50% soundedhorrible.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
Yeah, so you never.
You never once tried thecortisone injection.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I was in so much pain , I had went for so long and,
like I said, that ultra mindsetof push, push, push, I had
pushed it so far that I was atmy breaking point and my life
back, because the pain isterrible, but for me, not being
able to do the things that Inormally did I mean, I went from
(41:46):
being able to run 31 miles tonot being able to walk 10
minutes that bothered me more,almost, I would say, than the
pain was having your lifestripped from you.
And you know, knowing that lifeis short and you, this is six,
no, actually five months of mylife that it's just been ruined.
(42:10):
Basically, I tried to avoidthings, but it was always there.
It was like waking up in amessed up groundhog day.
Yeah, every day was the same,and I remember nights just
praying that it would get timefor bed.
So I could just go to sleep.
Yeah, yeah, and so you know.
(42:31):
You know, you're the same way.
It was horrible and so that wasSeptember the 13th and I told
Dr Andrew or Dr Cordova.
I said I'm miserable, I wantedto stop, I want the surgery and
(42:51):
I I'd never had surgery.
I had a c-section with my sonand I had the block, but I had
never been put to sleep.
I've never had anesthesia okay,and when I had my son and I had
to I found out I was going tohave to have a C-section.
I was so nervous I get sonervous about stuff like that.
(43:11):
They had to give me somethingfor nausea and I was literally
jackhammering just because Icouldn't control my nerves.
Yeah and um, I was in so muchpain.
This was literally the easiestdecision for me.
Like I was like I want thesurgery.
Like I was like I want thesurgery, like, yeah, do this.
And so they set it up for thiswas on Wednesday.
(43:36):
They were going to set it up forTuesday and I'm thinking, I was
thinking, oh, all this, youknow I got to wait till Tuesday,
I got to go through this manymore days, wow.
So we were on our way home andhis office calls.
Uh, we were supposed to do that.
Um, what is it you do likebefore surgery?
kind of like the paper thepre-inhibition stuff and their
(43:57):
computers were down and she waslike it could be three or four
hours and I'm like I'm notseeing him.
She said so you can come backin the morning at like around
seven or eight o'clock and dothe paperwork.
And I'm like that's what we'lldo, cause I'm like I'm not
sitting here.
She said so you can come backin the morning at like around
seven or eight o'clock and dothe paperwork.
And I'm like that's what we'lldo Because I'm talking to my
husband.
I said I can't sit here forthree or four hours.
I need to go get in the truckand get my pillow and lay down
on my side.
(44:19):
So we were on our way home thiswhole time I'm praying, my
family's praying for me that youknow that I will just get out
of this pain and I'll get someanswers, that I'll get this done
, and so I think it was divineintervention.
We're on our way home and I geta call from Dr Cordova's nurse
(44:41):
and she was like Ms Thomas, wejust got a cancellation on one
of our surgeries.
Can you be here in the morningat five o'clock?
And without even talking to myhusband about it, I was like yes
, we can be there.
And so that next morning I meanI had no time to plan or to or
(45:05):
anything, but I was just readyto be out of pain, I was done
and uh, so that next morning Iwent in at five and they even
had to do that blood test on me,like to make sure that my blood
wasn't too thin, because I hadbeen on anti-inflammatory for
months and so thank God, thatcame back.
(45:26):
I was fine, I was good.
I remember kissing my husband,you know, after they had shot me
up with the anesthesia and theywere pulling me back to where I
was going to have surgery and Iwas not nervous at all.
I remember thinking the painwas so bad.
I remember thinking, if I wakeup and say Jesus, that's just
(45:51):
fine with me.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
And so you know that was that, and then recovering
was its own trials.
Yeah, because I was totally, andthis is something else I would
tell trials.
Yeah, because I was totally,and this is something else I
would tell somebody that's goingthrough this or thinking about
surgery is what I've learned isback injuries are so different
for everybody and you cannotlisten to somebody else's story
(46:17):
and think that's going to beyour story, because I remember
watching this guy who hadsimilar stuff that I had and I
think it was eight weeks.
He was walking eight miles andyou know I'm at week six and I
still feel I feel I don't wantto say horrible, because I felt
way better, I could live alittle bit.
(46:37):
You know, I still had to restand just sit down and I couldn't
just get up and go, but um, waybetter.
Surgery was the best decision Iever made, like I have my life
back now.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Did you wake up pain-free or were you still?
Did you still have nerve pain?
Speaker 1 (46:56):
I woke up pain-free and I was pain-free for 10 days,
yeah, and came back Yep Twoweeks, yeah, and came back Yep,
two weeks, yeah, and, um, thatwas disappointing because um did
(47:16):
you think you'd re-herniate ittwo weeks later?
Oh yeah, oh, I was.
Um, my sister had come over andshe had picked me up lunch and
I sneezed and I felt that fromthe glute to the hamstring just
full again and was like, oh mygod, I was so.
I was so scared, I was soterrified yeah, and when I went
back for my checkup I told mydoctor I sneezed and it, you
(47:36):
know, I thought I thought he wasgoing to do another MRI, you
know, because he was like thosenerves still have to heal and
they're still tight.
And so he told me that doesn'tscare me at all, you're fine.
I was like okay.
But my dad had the same surgerywhen he was 45.
(47:57):
And two weeks he was better, hewent back to work, he drove a
cold truck.
He was back at work within twoweeks my brother-in-law had
surgery on a friday.
Speaker 2 (48:09):
He went back to work that monday.
He's a painter.
I said what are you doing?
How can you even move?
He said he had had a herniateddisc for ages.
Yeah, he said well, pain and Iare old friends, so I was able
to go to work.
I was in bed for weeks after mysurgery.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
It is I know, and it is like it's so unfair.
It's like how do they get offso easy?
But you know you're you're gladthat that somebody, that that
it works out that way for them.
And you know, and there's somepeople that from their stories
I've heard it it is, you knowthey're, they're fine from.
(48:48):
You know their pain doesn'tcome back.
And uh, my stepmother-in-law,she had um the same surgery and
she had told me she was likethey just go in, they just cut a
little bit off that disc andyou're just fine.
And so I had in my mind, uh,unrealistic expectations.
(49:11):
I guess.
That guess that the surgery wasgoing to take away all the pain
and all was going to be good,which it did get me back to
living.
I do not regret my surgery atall, but I did have a hard time
with recovery.
It wasn't easy.
And did you have really bad legcramps from your nerves healing
?
Speaker 2 (49:29):
I had muscle spasms in my back and then I did get
leg cramps, but like threemonths later when I was moving
around more, but not likeimmediately after surgery.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Okay, mine started for anybody listening that you
know may be experiencing thesame thing.
Mine started, I want to say, atlike four weeks after surgery
and they were awful, absolutelyawful.
Like I would just be walkingand you know how, uh, when you
uh, when you need to go pee andyou do your legs like that,
(50:14):
that's literally what my legswould do.
They were just like I'd bewalking and I just literally
from the leg cramps and um, Itold my doctor about it and he
said you know, that happens tosome people with the hip nerves.
Nerves are weird.
Yeah, they do weird things.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
What are you nine months later?
Now?
Are you nine monthspost-surgery?
Yep, and I really startedfeeling much, much better at six
months, yep, then that's howlong it took me, is it really?
Speaker 1 (50:38):
And I could.
I could sit down longer.
Did you notice that?
Like, I don't know if you hadtrouble with sitting, but it was
horrible for me.
Speaker 2 (50:46):
Yeah, I just remember being at work and turning to my
boss and saying I finally feellike myself again, like I can do
the job.
Well, I had a job where I wason my feet most of the time,
like bent over so, and he said,yeah, well, surgery.
That's what a lot of people say.
Speaker 1 (51:06):
And it's like you just have to be patient.
It just takes patience and berealistic and know that your
injury is not like anybodyelse's injury.
It's your injury.
And if it takes nine months, ifit takes a year, if it takes a
year and a half, if it takes twoyears, that's I hope it doesn't
.
Speaker 2 (51:28):
Have you tried running running again?
I have um.
Speaker 1 (51:31):
I tried.
The last time I ran was thefirst part of May and every time
that I run it seems to flare up.
So my plan is to walk um forthe rest of the summer, because
I'm a wuss and I don't like togo into the woods.
I like trail running.
(51:52):
I don't like to go into thewoods until the fall, when the
ticks and the snakes are justout of the way.
It's good reasons, good reasons.
So I want to get back into thetrail this fall and I still want
to run a 50 miler.
That's the next thing and I'mgoing to run it.
I don't know how long it's goingto take me, but I'm going to
(52:13):
run it and I'm going to send mysurgeon a picture of me whatever
medal I get for doing it andand telling you a huge thank you
, um, because it yeah he.
He also put me on gabapentinfor nerve pain, during my
recovery too, if anybody wantsto know that that was.
The gabapentin helped toleratesome of that first nerve pain,
(52:35):
and I don't like to takemedicine, and so I didn't do a
refill of that.
I just took it long enough toto kind of settle down, and then
I haven't had to take anythingfor pain since March, uh, as far
as like even a Tylenol oranything like that.
Um, because, like I said nowit's just discomfort.
It's not just discomfort.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Are you doing anything as far as strengthening
your your back muscles and yoursupporting muscles?
Speaker 1 (53:03):
Yes, Um was another thing I was going to bring up I
used for my PT.
I didn't go back to PT becausestretching seemed to irritate me
, my nerve feeling, and so I hadto be very careful about when I
stretched.
And stretching started feelingreally good at that six month
point, so stretching myhamstrings felt better and I use
(53:24):
Back Doctor.
For anybody that maybe doesn'thave insurance that can't do PT,
there's an app called BackDoctor and his name is Watkins,
dr Watkins, and he has astep-by-step videos on how to do
the exercises to strengthenyour core and you can choose the
exercises you want to do.
(53:45):
I did, um, dead bugs and I diddead bugs before and I didn't do
them correctly and I always wasjust kind of flailing and I
thought I'll never feel these.
But watching this video andactually doing them correctly,
you do them correctly.
They work.
And I did the dead bugs.
I did the partial sit-upsbecause I could do the partial
(54:07):
sit-ups without pain and somepeople say that that causes them
pain.
So he's got other stuff onthere.
If you can't do that, um andthen um, bird dogs, those are my
friend um, they really help.
I do suitcase carries with aweight now, yeah, I I've got up
to using 20 pounds and I'll justdo those suitcase carries for
(54:30):
bracing the core and I reallylike those.
And then there is a guy onYouTube called Matt Winning.
He has a video on strengtheningyour core.
I used his core strengtheningroutine, which was just planks
and inside planks, farmer'scarries, and then he shows you
(54:52):
how to use a band to work yourhand strings.
Stu McGill I've done some ofhis stuff, his program.
So I like to do my core threetimes a week now and I'll kind
of those different routinesthroughout the week.
Um were some of my favorites.
And then you know, by bodyworking, bodybuilding workouts
(55:15):
to build strength, a lot ofglute bridges, cause, like I
said, I feel like I got aweakness in my hips and probably
a lot of people do, uh, fromeating that we have to do in the
work world.
Speaker 2 (55:26):
I really felt it in my hips afterwards after surgery
and I put myself back intophysical therapy like a year
later, just because I would goon long walks and then both my
hips would start to hurt and sojust to re-strengthen.
Speaker 1 (55:42):
Yeah, very important.
So all that stuff I'mdefinitely going to keep doing
and take serious and when I doget running.
I'm not going to quit becauseit's important.
I didn't realize how importantit was until that disc herniated
and it's like you don't want itto happen again, so I don't
want to quit.
(56:02):
You know it is easy to talkyourself out of it.
I'm so sick to do that today,so sick of doing that?
Speaker 2 (56:09):
How did you get over the emotional trauma of the
herniated disc?
Speaker 1 (56:14):
I still have to work on it.
I mean, even with theseflare-ups.
I know they're just flare-upsand it's just discomfort, but my
mind will go oh gosh, you'reprotruding.
It's protruding, you're it'sprotruding, or you've herniated,
or you know ain't right and uhit's like no, I know the
difference.
Speaker 2 (56:33):
I think it took me a full year to get over
emotionally.
I would cry when I would get alittle flare thinking.
I've re-herniated and likealmost like PTSD yeah that's all
we think about PTSD.
Speaker 1 (56:46):
And like the movements, the different
movements that hurt you, likefor me it was putting my pants
on, like put my.
Every time I put my pants onit's like I'm almost braced to
feel that pain or like if I goto close my door, reaching to
close my door, um, because Iused to get so mad at myself I
I'd get in the car and I forgetto go ahead and pull my door to
(57:08):
me, and so then I reach out andthat caused pain and like, yeah,
you're so right, it is likePTSD.
Yeah, still, movements thatbothered me.
When I do them, I think aboutit.
Speaker 2 (57:22):
Right.
Well, I'm so glad to hear thatyou are doing better and that
you have a great mindset of yes,I will be running again, and I
think that's the perfect mindsetto have with this kind of
imagery and I'd love to see yourrun when you do it again, so
include me on that email.
I just want to thank you somuch for being willing to share
(57:45):
your story with me.
Speaker 1 (57:47):
Yes, thank you and I appreciate all your videos and,
like I said, even if it didembarrass you, your fashion
video is hilarious.
I brought a smile to my facewhen I was at home feeling sorry
for myself after my surgery.
Speaker 2 (58:01):
That was the result of cabin fever.
Speaker 1 (58:04):
It's a real thing, I trust me.
When my husband would go towork and my son was going to
school, it was like, oh, I'mjust by myself, it's so
reasonable.
Speaker 2 (58:15):
Well, I'm glad you found it and I'm glad it brought
a smile to your face in thisrough time.
Yes, and if you are a listenerwho has a positive story of
recovery from a serious back orneck injury, head over to my
website bedbackbeyondcom andclick share your story.
I would love to include yourvoice on the show, Loretta.
Once again, thank you so much.
(58:36):
Yes, thank you you.
And, like I said, that ultra mindset of push, push
, push.
I had pushed it so far that Iwas at my breaking point and I'm
going to my life back becausethe pain is terrible, but for me
, not being able to do thethings that I normally did I
mean, I went from being able torun 31 miles to not being able
(00:22):
to walk 10 minutes miles to notbeing able to walk 10 minutes
what bothered me more, almost, Iwould say, than the pain was
having your life stripped fromyou.
And you know, knowing that lifeis short, and you, this is six,
no, actually five months of mylife that it's just been ruined.
(00:43):
Basically, I tried to do things, but it was always there.
It was like waking up in amessed up Groundhog Day.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive
stories of recovery from seriousback or neck injury.
Your host is CK, a fellowchampion who draws on her own
experience with herniated discsurgery.
Join her as she talks withothers who have overcome the
physical and emotional trauma ofa painful injury and discover
(01:13):
for yourself how you can findhope and encouragement in
recovery.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Hi Loretta.
Thank you so much for joiningme on this episode of Bed, back
and Beyond.
Before we jump into your injury, how about you tell us a little
bit about yourself?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Okay, well thank you for having me.
I'm happy to share my storybecause if it can help anyone or
give anyone hope, I know thatyou need it when you have a
herniated disc or anything goingon with your back.
So my name is Loretta and I ama mother and a wife, and the
thing that I like to do is run.
I enjoy running so much.
I started running in my 30s.
(01:52):
I was never athletic, I wasnever into sports in school, I
always worked, and so that waskind of my thing.
Since I was 16 years old, I hada full-time job and I had my son
at 30 and I was home and it waslike I, you know, I need
something to do something for me, and so my sister-in-law
(02:15):
invited me to do a run.
It was called the Dixie 200.
It was a relay run with 12other people and you had legs of
the race and I had like threelegs and they were anywhere from
, I think, seven to eight mileslong each, and we ran 200 miles
with the 12 of us from Georgiato Birmingham, alabama, and so I
(02:39):
was.
I was hooked.
I was like this is my thing,this is you fell in love with
running.
Yes, this is what I to do.
This is what I can do with myextra time that I have now.
This is I'm staying at homewith my son and I just fell in
love.
And then I just kept pushing.
It was like, okay, I did that,what else could I do?
And I ran 5Ks and then 10Ks andthen I did half marathons.
(03:04):
I did a bunch of half marathonsand then I did probably five or
six marathons and in Februaryof 2023, I ran my first ultra 31
miles without stopping 5,000feet of elevation gain.
So it was like a brutal course,but I wanted a big challenge
(03:26):
and I got it.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, that is one yeah, and so.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I trained my hip flexor in that race and I was
letting it recover and I thought, well, I'll cut back.
I was like, I'll do my fastest5K, I'll try to get a 5K in 30
minutes.
My fastest 5k, I'll try to geta 5k in 30 minutes.
And so while I was doing this5k, at the end of it it was the
(03:56):
end of May started to feel likemy hamstrings were tight and I
thought, hmm, so plan was weneed to stretch?
Because, I'll be honest, I wasnot real good about stretching.
It was just not fun to do.
I was more get into theactivity and I was like, well,
I'll stretch this out, it'll befine.
(04:22):
And so I did all this stretchingand I did my fastest 5k.
I got done with that.
Me and my husband decided tostart running together because
he also runs and, uh, he's aniron man and, um, a power lifter
, and he even got me to do apower lifting meet.
I did a power lifting meet inmy 30s, oh wow.
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
The only reason I did it foryou, yeah, well, to get
(04:44):
completely normal would be nice,but I don't know if that's a
thing you will.
For you.
How is your nerve pain now?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
You know it's rarely there Every once in a while, so
my surgery was 2019.
Every once in a while I'll havea flare 2019,.
Every once in a while I'll havea flare and usually if I do
something that makes my backtighten up, like if I overdo
something, and I'll have a flarefor a day and I'll use a
heating pad and I'll take someAdvil and then it's gone the
next day.
(05:15):
But it's infrequent.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I've noticed that too .
I had two really good weeks ina row noticed that too.
Um, I was having, I had tworeally good weeks in a row and I
had, and I am back to I walknow a little over three miles a
day and I work out anywhere froman hour and an hour and a half
a day.
So I was feeling a littlegreedy, I guess, and I was like,
well, let's just push this.
How about some yard work with ashovel?
(05:40):
And a big mistake.
It's because my back got tight,was tight for about three days,
and then here comes the nervepain.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I'm hoping to get back into weightlifting.
I was into weightlifting yearsand years ago.
It's not what hurt my back, butwe had we have had a couple
moves and I just fell out of it.
So we just got a barbell, we'vegot a bench, so I'm excited to
get back into to weightlifting.
I got to get past that fear.
You know, not weightlifting.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
The fear is real.
Are you now?
Do you like to like bodybuildor more powerlifting?
Do you like to kind of see howmuch you can lift?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
I guess that would be more about bodybuilding.
I want that muscular definition.
I miss it.
You know I lost it once we gotinto all the moves and things.
So that's my next, that's mynext plan.
I still I do my cardio, mydancing or my kickboxing cardio
with no pain problem whatsoever,but I want to get back into
weightlifting.
Yes, it's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
And that's what I'm doing a lot of right now.
It's just a bodybuilding style,because I want to get some
strength, because I feel likethat may be where I messed up
with the long distance runningwas.
I was just focusing on that,really, and every now and then I
would do core.
Every now and then I would fitin a workout and I think I just
created weaknesses and my.
(07:08):
I've always had to fight usingmy back when I lift or do
anything, because it's thestrongest part of me, like my
hips and glutes have always beenan issue with being weak, like
when I was powerlifting I hadtrouble locking out a heavy,
heavy deadlift because Icouldn't get my hips through.
I had to be very careful aboutdeadlifting because my form
(07:34):
wanted to break because the backwanted to take over and do all
the work.
Going back to what I was sayingwhen me and my husband started
running together and I had beendoing all the stretching and my
husband started running togetherand I had been doing all the
stretching.
I woke up one morning and I hadthis weird electrical like my
leg is asleep, my glute is tight, my hamstring is tight.
(07:56):
Like what is this feeling?
Like cause?
I had no clue.
I've never been injured likethat.
I've had injuries that I'veworked out on my own.
I never did PT or anything foranything and you know, usually I
just give stuff a break.
You know, instead of running,you ride the bike for a while
the stationary bike at home letthings heal, they go away.
(08:18):
I've been fortunate and so Itold my husband I noticed that
when we ran, when we'd get up inthe morning and run, I would
have to stretch and get loose alittle bit because everything
was tight and I had that weirdfeeling.
Well, when we would run, thatfeeling would go away and it
would feel better.
And I'm like, ok, well, youknow, running is not a hindrance
(08:40):
If it helps keep running.
And so I was looking up onlineand I saw piriformis syndrome.
Yep, and it's, yeah, it's,common in runners.
So I thought, okay, there yougo, and the weird feeling down
the leg because it can tightenand it can bother the sciatic
nerve.
And I googled it right up, Iknew what I had.
I had piriformis syndrome.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I did the same thing.
Did you really, yep?
Speaker 1 (09:10):
And so I kept running , but it was still there and I
had read this article aboutnerve pain and about how, if you
didn't get it treated, it couldbe permanent, that you could
really mess yourself up.
And that scared me.
I was like, okay, this is notgoing away, something's clearly
wrong.
What's my next step?
And me and my husband talked,and my husband had used a
(09:34):
chiropractor.
He had two bulging discs.
My husband was a four timesstate champion power lifter.
I was an APF and two times anSPF, so he was way better at it
than I was.
I just enjoyed it.
And so, um, he had bulged twodiscs in his back and he went to
a chiropractor.
(09:54):
It worked for him.
He got better and he did herest and, um, you know, let it
heal and and did thechiropractor and it worked for
him.
So I was thinking, you know, ifit is piriformis and it's doing
something with the sciaticnerve, maybe he can help me.
And so I didn't go to the samechiropractor my husband went to,
because we had moved from wherewe were living when he went.
(10:17):
And so I went to thechiropractor and we had a
consultation and he said, youknow, he listened to what I had
to say and he said I think I canhelp you.
And he took me back and he didlike you know.
He had me bend over and at thattime I could bend over and I
didn't really feel any pain.
He had me bend over and do allthis stuff and he had me bend
(10:38):
back and bending back didn't atthat time didn't trigger
anything.
And he had me stand in front ofthis chart to like and had me
turn every direction to look athow I stand and all that stuff.
And he took x-rays and hecalled me back in the next day
and he went over with me whatour plan would be, that he
(11:03):
wanted to see me for so manyvisits and it was going to cost
so much every time I went.
It was like a six-month plan ofvisits.
Starting out it was three timesa week and then it would go to
two times a week and then youwould get to one time a week.
He showed me my x-ray and hesaid I'm surprised that you
(11:27):
haven't had problems before this.
What's wrong, and probablywhat's causing your pain, is
your hips are out of alignment.
And he said so, your hips arelike this.
And he said when I get finishedadjusting you, when I get
finished adjusting you, you'reeven going to have one foot that
is possibly one leg that'slonger than the other.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
And I remember thinking what Like you know,
it's kind of weird.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
That's weird.
So, but I wanted to be better,so bad.
It was like you know, okay, thisis the plan, you know if he
says my hips are out ofalignment, they're out of
alignment.
I went to him for probably fouradjustments, as he called it,
and the pain got worse and thenI got to where I couldn't run.
(12:15):
And I remember what day it was.
It was July 15th of 2023.
Me and my husband went for ourrun and we were supposed to run
eight miles.
That day we ran five miles andI was like I'm miserable and I
tap at this point.
The running is hurting and I'mnot going to, I'm not going to
(12:36):
keep doing it if it hurts.
And my husband tapped with mebecause he had an issue going on
with his knee and so we bothjust called it quits that day
for a while.
And those four adjustments andhe had to the chiropractor told
me.
He said you know, stretch andwalk.
I remember me and my husbandwere walking together then and
(13:00):
we went for a walk one morningand it was like maybe 15 minutes
we had been walking.
I was like this is justmiserable, I can't even walk.
I'm trying to do what he saysto do, but I literally can't.
I come home and I had readabout smashing.
Have you ever heard of smashing?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
No.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Okay, no, okay.
It's where you take a softballand you dig it into the area
that hurts.
I did that and I was stretchingand I was trying to get the
pain to go away.
Well, I had no clue what wasgoing on.
All I knew was, all of a suddenI couldn't sit down on the
(13:43):
ground, I couldn't sit on thecouch.
Like every time I would try tosit, my body was literally like
it was locking up and I wouldjust jerk in pain, like.
And so I told my husband.
I said I'm going to the urgentcare.
And so I made an appointmentonline and went to the urgent
care.
I drove myself up to the urgentcare and and they took an x-ray
(14:06):
too, and you know, of course,they didn't see anything.
And so she gave me a I think itwas a Toradol shot, and she
gave me a steroid shot, but notlike the steroid shots that you
got, I don't think, because youhad to be numb for that.
I think this was just like themedicine type steroid, like they
(14:26):
might give you old or something.
So I got in the car and I comeback home and in about an hour I
felt amazing, but I justcrashed.
I mean, all I wanted to do wassleep on the couch because it
was like my body was, for thefirst time in weeks, resting and
(14:49):
felt somewhat normal.
So I kept going to thechiropractor because I just
wanted something to work and Ithought, well, maybe this is
helping because I will say that,you know, after he would adjust
me, it did seem like I wouldget a little bit of relief
sometimes.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Did he have any explanation as to why it was
hurting more after he?
Speaker 1 (15:12):
actually said because I had mentioned piriformis to
him.
And he actually said well,sometimes when we adjust, we can
actually make the piriformistight when we adjust.
We can actually make thepiriformis tight when we adjust.
And you know, because he hadn'tmentioned piriformis, he
thought it was uneven hips wascausing my problem, and so when
I mentioned that to him he waslike, well, sometimes when we
(15:35):
adjust, you know it can.
And I was like well, I washaving this pain before I came
to you and he was like sometimesthis happens, like people think
it's not working because theythey're not feeling better right
away.
But we just got to give it sometime.
I'm like okay.
(15:59):
Well, when I had went to theurgent care, I asked the doctor
because me and my husband had atrip planned to go to Colorado
and we were driving 22 hours oneway, and so she was like well,
the medicine I gave you, causeshe also gave me.
I've got to say that she alsogave me um muscle relaxers and
meloxicam 7.5.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
And told me to take that, and she was like, with,
with the medicine I've given you, you should be fine to go on
your trip.
She was like just don't bedoing any hikes on any crazy
terrain.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
That's like an even or a good thing, and at this
point no one had mentioned itcould be a disc.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
No, nobody.
And now I had told my husbandbecause I had looked at that,
you know, because that kind ofcomes up when you're looking at
piriformis.
And I told my husband.
I said I'm honestly starting towonder if I have a herniated
disc.
And he laughed at me.
He was like if you had aherniated disc, you would be
(16:54):
laying in the floor screamingyour head off crying.
I was like, okay, well, youknow, maybe he's right, it's you
know so.
I just kind of let that go, yeah, yeah.
And so, um, we wanted to go toColorado.
Our friend, brad, was doing theLeadville 200 mountain bike
(17:16):
race, which is a big deal outthere, and we wanted to go and
support him and see Colorado, ofcourse because it's beautiful
and we had had never been.
So we had this big trip plannedand we were excited and, um, I
remember being nervous.
I was like I am nervous aboutthis trip because I don't know
what is up with this pain.
It's crazy, yeah, and I keptpushing through.
(17:39):
And I think I kept pushingthrough because you, when you do
like marathons or ultras,especially when you get into
that distance, you're used topushing, you're used to pushing
through discomfort.
We took our trip and I rememberwe, um, we stopped in Arkansas
and stayed the night, then westopped in Texas and stayed the
night, then we went on intoColorado.
(18:00):
We wouldn't have stopped thatmany times, we could have
probably stayed one night over,but I was so miserable, I felt
like everything was tight.
I was constantly doing thepigeon pose stretch constantly
in the car because that was theonly way I could get it to
loosen up and I was thinkingthat it was helping me, but I
(18:22):
don't know if it really was ornot, but I just kept doing it.
And so we got to Colorado and,uh, I remember we were out on
the course waiting for Brad tocome through on this mountain
bike at a point that we couldsee him, and I had one of those
cheap folding chairs fromWalmart the really cheap saggy
(18:45):
bottom, you know.
And I kind of got tired ofstanding on my feet.
You know how a herniated discdoes If you stand for a while,
because your back is just tiredand killing you, yeah.
And so I just kind of ploppedin this chair and when I did, oh
my gosh, it was like somebody,like it felt like the top of my
(19:07):
head exploded off.
It was just and I mean, I comeup out of that chair as fast as
I sat in it and I was like thisis just not right, something is
just not right.
And, um, while we were atColorado, I would have to
stretch in a chair in the pigeonpose, stretch and kind of fall
(19:28):
forward just a little at a timeuntil I could get down to kind
of over the top of my legbecause it was so tight, and
then I would get down in thefloor and I would do my
piriformis routine and which wassome stretches and some glute
bridges and stuff like that.
I would do hot baths.
I don't know if that helped you, but like getting hot water
(19:52):
seemed like it helped.
And I know a lot of people arelike ice, ice, ice, ice, ice
killed me.
Cold water, yes, it was theworst.
I made the mistake of getting inan ice bath because I thought,
you know, maybe this will help.
Whatever it is, it wrecked mybody, just like the day that I
(20:14):
broke down and had to go to theurgent care and I remember I
threw my swimsuit on, I went outto the back deck and I laid in
the hot sun to make the pain goaway.
Wow.
So I could never ice, andeverybody else was like you know
, you have to ice, you have toget that inflammation down.
(20:34):
But I literally could not standto do it.
So we went through that inColorado and on our way home we
stopped.
We wanted to get home, wewanted to see our son because he
didn't go, he stayed with mybrother and he was in school,
and so he stayed here.
And we were ready to get homeand see my son, and so when it
(20:55):
comes to your kids, you'llsuffer a little more.
And so we only stopped inOklahoma.
And so I think that put usstaying in the car that first
day like 13, 14 hours, and I wastaking my muscle relaxers and I
was taking my meloxicam.
And I remember we got in ourroom in Oklahoma and I was like
(21:17):
I'm going to get in a hot bath.
You know, it wasn't scaldinghot, but just warm water seemed
to help.
And I was really hurting thenand the only thing I you know it
just had to be all the sittingin the truck.
And so I was really hurting andI remember I walked over to the
counter in the bathroom to getmy towel and all of a sudden I
(21:40):
felt like somebody took mymuscle from my glute to my
hamstring and just went.
Just it was like, oh my God,what was that?
I mean I almost hit the floorif I hadn't grabbed the counter.
The next next morning did mystretching routine, got back in
the truck and I told my husband.
(22:03):
I said something's just notright.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Yeah, and what month was this?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
this was in August, august.
Okay, this was around August.
We would have been come home.
It was around August 14.
We would have been come home.
It was around August 14thprobably.
Yeah.
And I knew Andrew sportsmedicine here in Birmingham.
I don't know if you've everheard of them, but they are like
they're it here in Alabama.
They like they do surgeries onand help PT people in the WWE,
(22:39):
like John Cena, okay, and so youknow they're well-known and
well-trusted.
And so I told my husband on theway home.
I was like something's just notright.
This is getting worse, likethis is bad and it's not healing
.
So I called Andrew's sportsmedicine and made an appointment
(23:03):
with Dr Ketchum.
He is a non-surgical doctor.
He's in common which is closeto me.
I remember talking to hisreceptionist and I was telling
her and I had started at thispoint I had started having that
little bit of like your legbeing asleep, like your foot
feeling asleep.
I remember telling her on thephone what I was doing and I
said I'm pretty sure that I havepiriformis syndrome and I was
(23:26):
telling her what I was doing andshe goes that kind of sounds
like your back and I remember Iwas like okay, and she was like
well, I'll see if Dr Ketchumwill see you.
And so he said that he wouldsee me.
And when we got home I can'tremember, I think it was the
next week I went in to see himand I told him, you know that I
(23:47):
thought I had piriformissyndrome.
He had me lay down on his tableand he, he pushed where your
piriformis is and I didn't haveany reaction to that.
And he goes if you hadpiriformis when I pushed on that
, you would have come up offthis table.
And I remember he had me move,you know he had me bend and he
(24:10):
and at this time still with thebending and with the leg raise
trick, you know they always doyeah, nothing, you weren't
positive, okay.
And so I can understand hisconfusion at even thinking that.
you know, I was kind of thinkingthat he would do an MRI when I
told him how long that it hadbeen going on, and he diagnosed
(24:33):
me with an inflamed nerve rootS1.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
And so he was like he gave me steroids to take like a
steroid pack and he gave memeloxicam 15.
And he sent me to PT.
I did maybe two weeks of PT.
Come home kept doing thechiropractor yeah.
I like to look for punishment,just didn't learn, and so the
(25:06):
chiropractor had told me that itwas time to reevaluate, and
they gave me this form to fillout, and it was like you know,
is your pain any better and Imean I was totally honest.
You know, no, it's's not.
Can you tell that it's helped?
You know, it, hasn't you know?
And, um, he wanted me to comein and and do, uh like a
(25:28):
re-evaluation, where he did thisstuff all over again, bend over
, bend back.
Well, after he, after I'd beenhome, and I think he had
adjusted me twice, and then wedid that and I was doing the PT
and the PT seemed to help.
I felt good after I left there,but the last time he had
(25:53):
adjusted me, that second time,it was weird.
I felt like a pop.
I felt a pop and it wasn't likethe like from him adjusting me
and it felt like my spine wentlike that.
It was almost like I could feelsomething shift and felt it pop
and it got way worse.
(26:17):
At that point it was like how Ihad been when I went to the
urgent care all the time and Icalled Dr Ketchum and I his
office and I told the lady I waslike I'm miserable and this is,
this was the end of August, thebeginning of September, and she
(26:40):
was like well, one thing we cando is we can try to change your
medicine.
And I was like, whatever youthink like, I'm willing to try
anything at this point.
And so, um, she gave me I thinkI'm saying this right
Diclofenac.
It's like an anti-inflammatoryand I'm taking this.
(27:02):
I go back to this chiropractorand he wants to reevaluate me.
Takes me through all thesebending things again.
When I bend forward, Iliterally say ow, like it hurts
so bad.
I got to where I couldn't pickmy foot up to from the brake to
the gas pedal without I got towhere I couldn't reach over to
(27:26):
close my door on my car withoutfeeling pain.
I got stuck in the bathtub likein the bent over position in
pain.
And I remember the last PT Iwent to they had me get on the
bike and I was miserable thatday.
(27:47):
I like I didn't even want toget in the car and go to PT and
so I was working with adifferent guy.
This day I had been workingwith a girl and this day it was
a guy and I had never met himbefore and he put me on the bike
, like they do to warm up, justto take it easy.
Well, I went to turn the bikewith my feet and I literally
(28:10):
locked up in paint, like Iliterally got stuck in the paint
.
And I mean I and I don't liketo cry in front of people I
don't know many people that do Idon't like showing
vulnerability, I don't.
I've always.
I can do it, I can get it.
You know, I literally cried infront of this guy and he was
like oh my goodness.
He was like have you had an MRI?
(28:32):
And I was like no, and I said Ithink I'm beginning to think I
have something going on with adisc, a bulging disc, a
herniated disc, and he said Ithink you might be right.
So he took me over to the tableand he looked at my back and
that feeling that was wreckingmy body, that would just like
freeze me.
I didn't know what it was.
(28:52):
It was back spasms.
He knew what it was.
He was like yeah, he was likeyou're having a really bad back
spasm.
So he had me stretch it outsome and he gave me one of those
big, uh busso balls and had mesit in the chair and roll out
with it and come back.
And then he massaged it and hitthat massage in it.
(29:14):
It felt so good and uh, he sentme home.
He didn't work with me anymore.
I mean, I may have been therelike 20 minutes and he was just
like.
So I called Dr Ketchum's officeand I told him.
I said at this point I need anMRI.
Like something is going on, Ineed an MRI.
(29:35):
Like I told them I need an MRIand so they were like okay, and
they called me back and theywere like you, can you go to
Birmingham?
And Birmingham is like an hourand 15 minutes from my house,
yeah, and I was like, but atthis point I was like I would go
to California right now ifsomebody could just help me.
(29:59):
At this point the chiropractorhad done my evaluation thing and
I had called them and I'm likelook, I'm not doing this anymore
.
Y'all need to cancel all myfuture appointments, it's not
working.
Later that day I was sittingeating lunch and the actual
chiropractor called me himselfand he was like well, I have
(30:22):
your x-rays, cause they had tooknew x-rays.
And then he was like we weremaking really good progress and
I was like, and I'm so like Idon't want to upset anybody, you
know, I'll kind of go along,get along.
And at this point I was justlike, are you kidding me?
And so I told him.
(30:43):
I was like it's not working.
I'm like I have been doingnothing but getting worse since
I started coming to you.
I'm not blaming it on you, butit's not helping and I'm not
getting better.
And so I'm done.
And I'm like my next step isgetting an MRI.
And he was like you know, okay,well, if we can help you in the
future, just call us.
(31:03):
And so they set up my MRI inBirmingham and my husband drove
me over there to St Vincent's iswhere Andrew's sports medicine
is, sports medicine is.
(31:23):
And so we get there and I hadto ride in the back of his truck
with a between my knees layingon my side, because that was the
only way I could be comfortable.
I couldn't sit down.
Sitting down at this point wasnot an option.
I had been in bed.
I forgot to tell you, but atthis point I had been in in bed
for almost two weeks.
All I could do to get reliefwas lay on my side with a pillow
between my legs.
(31:44):
And how old's your son?
He's fixing to be 13, but he's12.
Thankfully he wasn't a toddler.
Yes, oh God, my heart goes outto women that have to deal with
babies.
Uh-uh, yeah, so yeah, thatwould be horrible.
I was in bed, I couldn't doanything.
(32:06):
It was a miserable existence.
I was miserable, uh, I remember, um, I finally broke down in
front of my husband and criedbecause, like I was telling you,
I don't like to do that.
One night I went to get in ourbed and we have like that memory
foam mattress and it gives, andso I sit on the side of it.
(32:27):
It was just so.
I was like I can't do, I can't.
I couldn't even sleep in ourbed anymore, and so I had to go
to our spare bedroom.
We had a mattress that wasreally hard.
I could lay on it and anythingthat was really hard, felt good
Anything that had give.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Were you the same way , exact same way?
Yeah, I happened to have aguest bedroom with a firmer
mattress and I moved in there.
Yeah, and then you're so alone.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
It's nice not to hear my husband snoring though I
will say that, yes, I'll tellyou're so alone.
It's nice not to hear myhusband snoring, though I will
say, yes, I see that my snoresevery now and then I'm like,
take this pillow and just.
But yeah, it's a lonelyexistence too and I feel like
I've excluded yourself, like Iwant anybody to know that.
Like you are not a wuss, it isthat bad, it is terrible.
(33:19):
And like it is not just you.
It is that horrible Like I have.
I have worked in construction.
I have.
I have laid pipe, I have droverock trucks, I have ran scrapers
.
I've ran ultra marathons.
I've done powerlifting Nothingcompared to this.
Marathons I've donepowerlifting Nothing compared to
(33:42):
this.
So if you have this injury andyou have gotten over it and
you're better and there'sanything you want to do, I don't
know why in the world you wouldnot do it.
If it's lose 20 pounds is yourgoal, if it's go run a marathon,
a half marathon, whatever it isyou want to do, if you made it
through this, I promise you youcan do it.
You have the push through.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Trust me.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Amen, yes, and so we get to Birmingham, though,
getting back to that, and assoon as we pull up in the
parking deck, the lady inAndrews calls me and she says
Miss Thomas, I hate to tell you,our MRI machine is down.
(34:25):
Oh, and she was like you canget out and come in and you can
wait.
We're trying to call I think itwas Bestavia Hills Imaging,
over in Birmingham off of 280.
She said we're trying to see ifthey can get you in.
And I'm laying in the back seatof my husband's truck just like
will this ever stop?
(34:47):
And so we get over to VestaviaHills Imaging, because they were
able to get me in, thank theLord.
So I remember when I laid downon the MRI machine going
backwards, I was like ah, andthe lady that was doing the
things was like oh my God, honey, you're okay, I'm like, I'm
okay.
It's just, you know, it's likeit's awful when that pain hits.
(35:10):
And so I remember coming out ofthe MRI, though, because again
it's hard and the pain wascompletely gone.
I Coming out of the MRI, though, because again it's hard and
the pain was completely gone.
I got up from laying there onthat hard of the MRI, my husband
and I had a whole routine ofhim helping me in and out of bed
.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
He would, we would do the log roll, but he would be
pushing my knees up for me andlike lifting my leg, and that's
how I got into the MRI.
We said to the nurse, like canwe, can we do it?
He helped me into and out ofthe MRI.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Now, when you were getting your MRI, did you, did
you pretty much think or knowthat you that it was something
with a disc, or were you kind oflike me?
You were just like, ah, ah,what's?
Speaker 2 (35:56):
going on.
I thought I was the piriformismuscle.
You still thought yeah yeah,well, it's so weird with it's so
weird with the herniated disc.
You know it's coming out ofyour spine, but it felt like
somebody had a hold of my nervein my glute.
So a lot of us, I think, firstthink we have that piriformis
(36:17):
muscle because the pain is inthe glute.
It doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
It does, I know, and when people would you know, like
that lady mentioned in my back,I was like never, you know, and
that was the other thing, likeI've never had trouble with my
back, so my mind didn't even gothere.
I got my MRI and this was on aThursday.
Well, on Friday, dr Ketchum,the non-surgical doctor, he
(36:44):
called me.
He said the radiologist calledhim and he said you have a large
herniated disc.
He said and it's probably goingto require surgery.
And I said well, is there anychance?
Because you know, you know thesurgery word.
I said is there any chance ofresting it and it getting better
?
And he said probably.
(37:07):
I'm going to say no, you'regoing to need surgery, because
radiologists don't just calldoctors.
Okay, he said, so.
Dr Cordova, who is an orthospine specialist in Birmingham
for Andrews Sports.
He said we're going to try toget you in to see him.
I heard from Dr Cordova's nurseon Monday and I'm still in the
(37:34):
bed.
I mean, I'm literally.
I don't want to breeze over howmiserable it was or how
depressing or awful it was,because you know, I know so many
people.
If they're having this issue,they need to know you're not a
voice.
It hurts.
That bad it is, that bad, itsucks.
(37:55):
And I was literally eating myfood laying on my side in the
bed with the pillow between myknees.
And by Monday.
I remember I had laid so muchbecause I would make myself get
up and walk around some and Iwould literally pray to Jesus
before I got up out of the bedto go to the bathroom because I
(38:16):
knew it was going to hurt, yeah,and it was just miserable and
so just no life there was.
I mean, I can remember it almostseemed like I couldn't even see
colors anymore, if that makesany sense.
Everything was just black andwhite, just awful.
The Dr Andrews nurse called meMonday and she was like we can
(38:39):
see you, this was.
This was like the 10th, I thinkof.
September.
And she was like we can see youSeptember the 29th For surgery,
no, for the consult.
No, I said I'm bedridden, likeI have to, I need something done
(39:04):
.
And she was like well, she waslike maybe you can call Dr
Ketchum's office.
And she was very like I don'tknow if she meant to be that way
, but she's very cold.
And she was like well, you cancall Dr Ketchum and see if they
can give you something,something for the.
And I was just OK.
So I called Dr Ketchum's officeand they were like no, we saw
(39:25):
where she did that we're goingto call them back, we're going
to get you in and don't worry.
And so that made me feel better.
And I saw Dr Cordova on the13th of September.
Ok, Dr Cordova on the 13th ofSeptember.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
And when I went in they were like we're going to
get an x-ray.
And I remember telling LeighI'm like I've already had a ton
of x-rays, yeah, and she waslike well he just wants to put
his own eyes on it, and I waslike okay, well, I get that.
And so they did an x-ray.
And then Dr Cordova's nursecame in and he started talking
(40:01):
to me and he was asking me likemy symptoms.
And I put two and two togetherand I'm like they don't realize
that they have an MRI from DrKetchum's office.
So I looked at him and I said Iknow what I have.
And he kind of goes what?
And I go, I have a herniateddisc L5, s1.
(40:23):
He goes oh, I said Dr Ketchum'soffice sent it over to you guys
.
And so he went back outside theroom.
He came back in and he was likeI'm pretty sure that we're
looking at surgery here.
And so Dr Cordova came in andhe told me he was very honest
with me.
I love Dr Cordova so I wouldrecommend him to anybody if
(40:46):
you're in this area.
Birmingham, alabama.
Dr Cordova, andrew Sports at StVincent's Fantastic, he is very
straightforward.
He told me he said look he.
He said you don't have to havesurgery.
He said you could suck it up.
He said I don't recommend it,right.
(41:07):
And he said you could haveepidural blocks.
He said there's a 50 chance youwould get some relief, but the
pain that I was in 50% soundedhorrible.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
Yeah, so you never.
You never once tried thecortisone injection.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
I was in so much pain , I had went for so long and,
like I said, that ultra mindsetof push, push, push, I had
pushed it so far that I was atmy breaking point and my life
back, because the pain isterrible, but for me, not being
able to do the things that Inormally did I mean, I went from
(41:46):
being able to run 31 miles tonot being able to walk 10
minutes that bothered me more,almost, I would say, than the
pain was having your lifestripped from you.
And you know, knowing that lifeis short and you, this is six,
no, actually five months of mylife that it's just been ruined.
(42:10):
Basically, I tried to avoidthings, but it was always there.
It was like waking up in amessed up groundhog day.
Yeah, every day was the same,and I remember nights just
praying that it would get timefor bed.
So I could just go to sleep.
Yeah, yeah, and so you know.
(42:31):
You know, you're the same way.
It was horrible and so that wasSeptember the 13th and I told
Dr Andrew or Dr Cordova.
I said I'm miserable, I wantedto stop, I want the surgery and
(42:51):
I I'd never had surgery.
I had a c-section with my sonand I had the block, but I had
never been put to sleep.
I've never had anesthesia okay,and when I had my son and I had
to I found out I was going tohave to have a C-section.
I was so nervous I get sonervous about stuff like that.
(43:11):
They had to give me somethingfor nausea and I was literally
jackhammering just because Icouldn't control my nerves.
Yeah and um, I was in so muchpain.
This was literally the easiestdecision for me.
Like I was like I want thesurgery.
Like I was like I want thesurgery, like, yeah, do this.
And so they set it up for thiswas on Wednesday.
(43:36):
They were going to set it up forTuesday and I'm thinking, I was
thinking, oh, all this, youknow I got to wait till Tuesday,
I got to go through this manymore days, wow.
So we were on our way home andhis office calls.
Uh, we were supposed to do that.
Um, what is it you do likebefore surgery?
kind of like the paper thepre-inhibition stuff and their
(43:57):
computers were down and she waslike it could be three or four
hours and I'm like I'm notseeing him.
She said so you can come backin the morning at like around
seven or eight o'clock and dothe paperwork.
And I'm like that's what we'lldo, cause I'm like I'm not
sitting here.
She said so you can come backin the morning at like around
seven or eight o'clock and dothe paperwork.
And I'm like that's what we'lldo Because I'm talking to my
husband.
I said I can't sit here forthree or four hours.
I need to go get in the truckand get my pillow and lay down
on my side.
(44:19):
So we were on our way home thiswhole time I'm praying, my
family's praying for me that youknow that I will just get out
of this pain and I'll get someanswers, that I'll get this done
, and so I think it was divineintervention.
We're on our way home and I geta call from Dr Cordova's nurse
(44:41):
and she was like Ms Thomas, wejust got a cancellation on one
of our surgeries.
Can you be here in the morningat five o'clock?
And without even talking to myhusband about it, I was like yes
, we can be there.
And so that next morning I meanI had no time to plan or to or
(45:05):
anything, but I was just readyto be out of pain, I was done
and uh, so that next morning Iwent in at five and they even
had to do that blood test on me,like to make sure that my blood
wasn't too thin, because I hadbeen on anti-inflammatory for
months and so thank God, thatcame back.
(45:26):
I was fine, I was good.
I remember kissing my husband,you know, after they had shot me
up with the anesthesia and theywere pulling me back to where I
was going to have surgery and Iwas not nervous at all.
I remember thinking the painwas so bad.
I remember thinking, if I wakeup and say Jesus, that's just
(45:51):
fine with me.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
And so you know that was that, and then recovering
was its own trials.
Yeah, because I was totally, andthis is something else I would
tell trials.
Yeah, because I was totally,and this is something else I
would tell somebody that's goingthrough this or thinking about
surgery is what I've learned isback injuries are so different
for everybody and you cannotlisten to somebody else's story
(46:17):
and think that's going to beyour story, because I remember
watching this guy who hadsimilar stuff that I had and I
think it was eight weeks.
He was walking eight miles andyou know I'm at week six and I
still feel I feel I don't wantto say horrible, because I felt
way better, I could live alittle bit.
(46:37):
You know, I still had to restand just sit down and I couldn't
just get up and go, but um, waybetter.
Surgery was the best decision Iever made, like I have my life
back now.
Speaker 2 (46:52):
Did you wake up pain-free or were you still?
Did you still have nerve pain?
Speaker 1 (46:56):
I woke up pain-free and I was pain-free for 10 days,
yeah, and came back Yep Twoweeks, yeah, and came back Yep,
two weeks, yeah, and, um, thatwas disappointing because um did
(47:16):
you think you'd re-herniate ittwo weeks later?
Oh yeah, oh, I was.
Um, my sister had come over andshe had picked me up lunch and
I sneezed and I felt that fromthe glute to the hamstring just
full again and was like, oh mygod, I was so.
I was so scared, I was soterrified yeah, and when I went
back for my checkup I told mydoctor I sneezed and it, you
(47:36):
know, I thought I thought he wasgoing to do another MRI, you
know, because he was like thosenerves still have to heal and
they're still tight.
And so he told me that doesn'tscare me at all, you're fine.
I was like okay.
But my dad had the same surgerywhen he was 45.
(47:57):
And two weeks he was better, hewent back to work, he drove a
cold truck.
He was back at work within twoweeks my brother-in-law had
surgery on a friday.
Speaker 2 (48:09):
He went back to work that monday.
He's a painter.
I said what are you doing?
How can you even move?
He said he had had a herniateddisc for ages.
Yeah, he said well, pain and Iare old friends, so I was able
to go to work.
I was in bed for weeks after mysurgery.
Speaker 1 (48:28):
It is I know, and it is like it's so unfair.
It's like how do they get offso easy?
But you know you're you're gladthat that somebody, that that
it works out that way for them.
And you know, and there's somepeople that from their stories
I've heard it it is, you knowthey're, they're fine from.
(48:48):
You know their pain doesn'tcome back.
And uh, my stepmother-in-law,she had um the same surgery and
she had told me she was likethey just go in, they just cut a
little bit off that disc andyou're just fine.
And so I had in my mind, uh,unrealistic expectations.
(49:11):
I guess.
That guess that the surgery wasgoing to take away all the pain
and all was going to be good,which it did get me back to
living.
I do not regret my surgery atall, but I did have a hard time
with recovery.
It wasn't easy.
And did you have really bad legcramps from your nerves healing
?
Speaker 2 (49:29):
I had muscle spasms in my back and then I did get
leg cramps, but like threemonths later when I was moving
around more, but not likeimmediately after surgery.
Speaker 1 (49:43):
Okay, mine started for anybody listening that you
know may be experiencing thesame thing.
Mine started, I want to say, atlike four weeks after surgery
and they were awful, absolutelyawful.
Like I would just be walkingand you know how, uh, when you
uh, when you need to go pee andyou do your legs like that,
(50:14):
that's literally what my legswould do.
They were just like I'd bewalking and I just literally
from the leg cramps and um, Itold my doctor about it and he
said you know, that happens tosome people with the hip nerves.
Nerves are weird.
Yeah, they do weird things.
Speaker 2 (50:26):
What are you nine months later?
Now?
Are you nine monthspost-surgery?
Yep, and I really startedfeeling much, much better at six
months, yep, then that's howlong it took me, is it really?
Speaker 1 (50:38):
And I could.
I could sit down longer.
Did you notice that?
Like, I don't know if you hadtrouble with sitting, but it was
horrible for me.
Speaker 2 (50:46):
Yeah, I just remember being at work and turning to my
boss and saying I finally feellike myself again, like I can do
the job.
Well, I had a job where I wason my feet most of the time,
like bent over so, and he said,yeah, well, surgery.
That's what a lot of people say.
Speaker 1 (51:06):
And it's like you just have to be patient.
It just takes patience and berealistic and know that your
injury is not like anybodyelse's injury.
It's your injury.
And if it takes nine months, ifit takes a year, if it takes a
year and a half, if it takes twoyears, that's I hope it doesn't
.
Speaker 2 (51:28):
Have you tried running running again?
I have um.
Speaker 1 (51:31):
I tried.
The last time I ran was thefirst part of May and every time
that I run it seems to flare up.
So my plan is to walk um forthe rest of the summer, because
I'm a wuss and I don't like togo into the woods.
I like trail running.
(51:52):
I don't like to go into thewoods until the fall, when the
ticks and the snakes are justout of the way.
It's good reasons, good reasons.
So I want to get back into thetrail this fall and I still want
to run a 50 miler.
That's the next thing and I'mgoing to run it.
I don't know how long it's goingto take me, but I'm going to
(52:13):
run it and I'm going to send mysurgeon a picture of me whatever
medal I get for doing it andand telling you a huge thank you
, um, because it yeah he.
He also put me on gabapentinfor nerve pain, during my
recovery too, if anybody wantsto know that that was.
The gabapentin helped toleratesome of that first nerve pain,
(52:35):
and I don't like to takemedicine, and so I didn't do a
refill of that.
I just took it long enough toto kind of settle down, and then
I haven't had to take anythingfor pain since March, uh, as far
as like even a Tylenol oranything like that.
Um, because, like I said nowit's just discomfort.
It's not just discomfort.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
Are you doing anything as far as strengthening
your your back muscles and yoursupporting muscles?
Speaker 1 (53:03):
Yes, Um was another thing I was going to bring up I
used for my PT.
I didn't go back to PT becausestretching seemed to irritate me
, my nerve feeling, and so I hadto be very careful about when I
stretched.
And stretching started feelingreally good at that six month
point, so stretching myhamstrings felt better and I use
(53:24):
Back Doctor.
For anybody that maybe doesn'thave insurance that can't do PT,
there's an app called BackDoctor and his name is Watkins,
dr Watkins, and he has astep-by-step videos on how to do
the exercises to strengthenyour core and you can choose the
exercises you want to do.
(53:45):
I did, um, dead bugs and I diddead bugs before and I didn't do
them correctly and I always wasjust kind of flailing and I
thought I'll never feel these.
But watching this video andactually doing them correctly,
you do them correctly.
They work.
And I did the dead bugs.
I did the partial sit-upsbecause I could do the partial
(54:07):
sit-ups without pain and somepeople say that that causes them
pain.
So he's got other stuff onthere.
If you can't do that, um andthen um, bird dogs, those are my
friend um, they really help.
I do suitcase carries with aweight now, yeah, I I've got up
to using 20 pounds and I'll justdo those suitcase carries for
(54:30):
bracing the core and I reallylike those.
And then there is a guy onYouTube called Matt Winning.
He has a video on strengtheningyour core.
I used his core strengtheningroutine, which was just planks
and inside planks, farmer'scarries, and then he shows you
(54:52):
how to use a band to work yourhand strings.
Stu McGill I've done some ofhis stuff, his program.
So I like to do my core threetimes a week now and I'll kind
of those different routinesthroughout the week.
Um were some of my favorites.
And then you know, by bodyworking, bodybuilding workouts
(55:15):
to build strength, a lot ofglute bridges, cause, like I
said, I feel like I got aweakness in my hips and probably
a lot of people do, uh, fromeating that we have to do in the
work world.
Speaker 2 (55:26):
I really felt it in my hips afterwards after surgery
and I put myself back intophysical therapy like a year
later, just because I would goon long walks and then both my
hips would start to hurt and sojust to re-strengthen.
Speaker 1 (55:42):
Yeah, very important.
So all that stuff I'mdefinitely going to keep doing
and take serious and when I doget running.
I'm not going to quit becauseit's important.
I didn't realize how importantit was until that disc herniated
and it's like you don't want itto happen again, so I don't
want to quit.
(56:02):
You know it is easy to talkyourself out of it.
I'm so sick to do that today,so sick of doing that?
Speaker 2 (56:09):
How did you get over the emotional trauma of the
herniated disc?
Speaker 1 (56:14):
I still have to work on it.
I mean, even with theseflare-ups.
I know they're just flare-upsand it's just discomfort, but my
mind will go oh gosh, you'reprotruding.
It's protruding, you're it'sprotruding, or you've herniated,
or you know ain't right and uhit's like no, I know the
difference.
Speaker 2 (56:33):
I think it took me a full year to get over
emotionally.
I would cry when I would get alittle flare thinking.
I've re-herniated and likealmost like PTSD yeah that's all
we think about PTSD.
Speaker 1 (56:46):
And like the movements, the different
movements that hurt you, likefor me it was putting my pants
on, like put my.
Every time I put my pants onit's like I'm almost braced to
feel that pain or like if I goto close my door, reaching to
close my door, um, because Iused to get so mad at myself I
I'd get in the car and I forgetto go ahead and pull my door to
(57:08):
me, and so then I reach out andthat caused pain and like, yeah,
you're so right, it is likePTSD.
Yeah, still, movements thatbothered me.
When I do them, I think aboutit.
Speaker 2 (57:22):
Right.
Well, I'm so glad to hear thatyou are doing better and that
you have a great mindset of yes,I will be running again, and I
think that's the perfect mindsetto have with this kind of
imagery and I'd love to see yourrun when you do it again, so
include me on that email.
I just want to thank you somuch for being willing to share
(57:45):
your story with me.
Speaker 1 (57:47):
Yes, thank you and I appreciate all your videos and,
like I said, even if it didembarrass you, your fashion
video is hilarious.
I brought a smile to my facewhen I was at home feeling sorry
for myself after my surgery.
Speaker 2 (58:01):
That was the result of cabin fever.
Speaker 1 (58:04):
It's a real thing, I trust me.
When my husband would go towork and my son was going to
school, it was like, oh, I'mjust by myself, it's so
reasonable.
Speaker 2 (58:15):
Well, I'm glad you found it and I'm glad it brought
a smile to your face in thisrough time.
Yes, and if you are a listenerwho has a positive story of
recovery from a serious back orneck injury, head over to my
website bedbackbeyondcom andclick share your story.
I would love to include yourvoice on the show, Loretta.
Once again, thank you so much.
(58:36):
Yes, thank you you.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.