I've been dealing with leg and hip pain for several weeks - to the point that I was unable to sleep at all. It's not excruciating pain...but severely nagging, and makes movement difficult.

I had only experienced a few twinges in my back, nothing more, and at no specific time did I have an "Ouch! I've hurt myself!' moment.

At first the doctor thought I was dealing with siatica. then another doctor thought it was an inflamed sacroiliac, and put me on anti-inflamatory, pain meds and muscle relaxers.

Then...a few days later, after working the morning shelving books I went to step on the bus, my leg collapsed and I fell. I did not hurt anything at all but my pride. I made it home safely, and fell twice more in the same way at home. I was sufficiently freaked out enough to go to urgent care where they took x-rays and determined that I had a compression fracture of the lower/mid spine. I have no idea how or when this happened!

I was not yet taken off work, but decided that I wanted to play it safe and make sure that I could make it at least through one day without falling, so called out the following day.

The doctor had put me on restricted light duty, so although I worked the next day, it was a shortened shift, and extremely light duty (just cash registers.) The following day I got a call from my manager who informed me that it was observed by other managers that I was having too much difficulty, that it was obvious that I could barely move and that I really needed to go back and have the doctor write me a note excusing me from work for a while.

So, back to the doctor I went to get the note.

Anyway...this drama has been going on for a few weeks, as I said. I saw the doctor for a follow-up yesterday, and now am on heavy-duty pain control (a pain patch), and am going to be getting physical therapy. If it continues, I'll be seeing a pain specialist and she was also talking about cortisone shots and shots of other things into the spine! (Yikes! The thought of needles ) And I'm off work even longer. *Sigh*

Anyway, I hope this isn't too garbled, rambling or whining! Sorry if it is.

I sure am sorry to hear that, MissTree. I hope your pain goes away soon and your back improves fast.

(((((Hugs)))))

:hug:
but not too tight 'cause I don't want to hurt you.

I hope all gets better soon. It must have been scary falling and not knowing why....

:(

Yikes! Scary stuff! I hope you feel better soon.

I feel for you! Take care and you might want to check into why you had a compression fracture. Like maybe do you have osteopenia (thinning of the bones) or anything that needs to be kept track of so that it doesn't happen again.

Good luck and hopefully it will start to get better soon.
Diane

Gosh, poor you. Take care :hug:

Thanks! I forgot to mention that I did have a bone density scan, and osteopenia it is! You're brilliant! So now I'm on Fosamax (sp?) and calcium supplements too. You can be sure I don't want to go through this again...or worse! I've also heard that weight-bearing excercise is essential, so as soon as I'm feeling half-way back to normal (I'll check with the doctor to be sure it's safe), I'll start an excercise regimen as well. Blech!

I still think I should have felt something when it happened! Sheesh!

That's awful MissTree. :o I do hope you get to feeling better soon and that they get everything properly treated for you. :hug:

Ouch! Wow that's very scary that it didn't really hurt too much and then bam. :( I hope you're getting better. :pat:

It didn't really hurt too much and turned out to be a broken back? :o You're one tough cookie!

Take care of yourself! :hug: I'm glad they wanted you to take some time off work so you can get healed!

To me this is almost the scariest part of the story! It's a good thing those managers were on the ball and more concerned for you than for their own work schedule and stuff. Your doctor should have given you leave to start with, it sounds like.

Glad you are on the mend now.

:flower:

Well, at one point (I think the day I fell and had the x-rays) she did ask if I felt I could work. Being me, I told her I thought so. I hate sitting at home feeling non-productive! Also, money is an issue. Disability only pays about 2/3 of your salary here in Ca, and does not pay for the first 7 days. Even with insurance all the medical stuff has been more than we can afford. So far I must have spent at least $90 just on medicine!

And to be honest, the managers were looking out for their interests as well as mine. One of the things my manager said to me was that if you're at work you have to be able to keep up the pace.

MissTree,
I know first hand what you are experiencing, having had a compression fracture at L-3 many years ago :( They take a long time to heal and make life miserable in the mean time.

There is a proceedure they can do now where they can inject a a solidifying compound into the vertabrae to help ease the compression, but it has to be done within a specific time frame after the compression. You may want to consult your doctor regarding this, as I was told it can help with healing, pain and help prevent further damage to the discs in the future.

Wishing you a speedy recovery


:hug:

My father-in-law compressed one bending over to tie his shoes, another coughing, and a third carrying a 12-pack of cokes and a bag of groceries in from the car. But he was 82. The compression can take time. You can get the injury a week before it's visible on x-ray. As the vertebra slowly compresses like an empty can under weight, you begin to feel it. Maybe you misjudged a chair and sat down especially hard or missed a step or picked up an especially heavy load a week or two before you really felt the pain?

There is a repair available involving reinflating and filling the vertebra, but it comes with a bit of risk. If the surrounding vertebra are weak, they can compress against the hardened one. Without repair, the vertebra may flatten, which will make you shorter by the height of that bone.

Whatever you decide, I hope your pain eases soon.

How awful!! Hope you feel better soon!!

Very Gentle Hugs for Miss Tree!! :hug:

This sounds so painful! Take good care of yourself, and sending get well soon wishes and vibes! :goodvibes:

Let us know how you are doing :kiss: Hope you feel good enough to read? :wink:

I'm so sorry to hear this. I'll be keeping you in my prayers. :hug:

** healing vibes coming your way ** :goodvibes:

Wow!! Sorry to hear your story Miss-Tree. It sounds very scary. Hopefully, you are on your way to a quick recovery. That will probably be helped by taking it easy for a while....sounds like a good excuse to lay around and read to me. Like I NEED an excuse! :)

*healing vibes to you *

OMG how scarey. I do hope you feel better soon but please remember that just because it may feel better doesn't mean its completely healed. Take care and enjoy some reading time. I'll keep you in my prayers. :hug: :kiss: