Log #17 (Spinal Fusion)

This was a pretty rough day with my back giving me problems all night and not sleeping all because of the mailbox fun yesterday. Right now I've got the electric shock thing shooting down my legs and it's really painful so I may not write too much tonight.

I wanted to show you what nerves are giving me problems and the surgery I had back in November.

As you can see from this picture the sciatic nerve starts at the lower back and goes down through the legs. If these nerves get pinched/restricted for any reason it can cause the shooting pain sensation to streak through the buttocks and down to the toes. Pinched nerves can cause numbness and tingling and loss of motor control where the foot flops when walking.

Another picture I've included shows the parts of the body that are affected when nerves at various levels of the spine are pinched or damaged. The level where most of my problems are associated with is the L5-S1 level. So if you look at the chart and anywhere you see the notation L5 or S1, then that is where I have pain.

And finally I've included a video about the actual surgery I had preformed on my back. I have to say however, that at this point, three months out, I don't have the improvement I should have with the pain still at the same levels as before.