Well things have moved on a bit since my last post. Mr Birch has given me the ok to go and have physio. This is a major step. The nerve I think is still impinged and also my lower leg is still numb. He does however think that it will go back to where it came from and there will be no need to operate. he hasn't ruled out that I might need some more injections if the pain comes back, also permanent nerve damage (a numb lower leg) hasn't been ruled out either. But I am remaining upbeat.

I had my first physio and in the main it was an assessment and he has given me some gentle exercises to get going again. I'm also allowed to ride my bike on the static trainer. First session was today 3x5mins with a minutes of the bike rest after each session. Its not going to win me an Olympic medal but its a start. :-)

Today is a big day potentially a very big day. I have my follow up appointment with Dr Nick. mmm not sure about calling him that reminds me to much from the Simpsons. Mr Nick nope that doesn't work either. Ill stick with Mr Birch.

This is to review how successful the injection has been. In most parts the injection has been great. I can move and walk and I am more or less pain free. I still have a number lower left leg and bruising across my lower back but on the whole I'm a lot better.

What comes next is what I am concerned about as I really don't want surgery. I think the options are:

Cut off the offending bulge
Or remove the disc and fuse the bones together

The former should be back to normal in 3-6 weeks
The latter means ill have to wear a cage for some time till the bones have fused.

lets just say now I do not want the latter.

I will report back later to day to let you know how I get on

The last 3 days have seen massive milestones on my road to recovery.

Saturday
for the first time in 5 weeks I cocked my leg over a bike. Now this is not your normal bike. Sadly it didn't go anywhere... far too early for that....it sits on what is called a turbo trainer in my garage. Anyway I sat on it and road for 10 minutes. Now in the grand scheme of things time wise this is nothing but its a start.

I repeated the feet on Sunday and this was after a 3 mile walk...yep a 3 mile walk.

I have also managed to cobble together a number of exercises and stretches from the following program Lose the Back Pain. I have no idea if they will work but the premise of the program seems sound. Don't just treat the symptoms but address the cause. Work out what the cause is then treat it. The cause being some sort of imbalance and judging by the DVD assessment I have two.

Forward tipped pelvis
Forward Head and neck

You are then provided with a number of specific exercises to assist in correcting the imbalances.

I have no idea if it will work but it makes sense, I haven't as yet been provided with any advice from my consultant and I will run these exercises by him but I don't think they can hurt.

The final milestone of the 3 was my return to work today. Its been 5 weeks and I was glad if a little apprehensive to be going back. My job involves lots of sitting on my backside which is not good, I spent large parts of the day telling myself to sit straight then move about.

I was a little sore when I came home but on the whole so far so good and the stretches etc I have actually do help with the sorness

I needed inspiration. So I'm laid up for an indeterminate time, not sure if I will ever do anything again...bit dramatic I know... so what do I do. I search for things to inspire me to drag my backside off the bed and the couch. But where do I start. A prime candidate is Lance Armstrongs book. Its not about the bike. Ive read that many times so I needed something new.

A search of the web for "people with injuries who get back on their feet" seemed a bit too time consuming and don't forget I cant sit for too long!

Completely by chance I stumbled across the following book: Two wheels on my wagon. Its not about overcoming injury but it is about adventure and the concept of getting out there and doing it. The writer (with little or no mountain biking experience) decides to attempt the tour of the divide. For those who are not familiar with the Tour please see the following link http://tourdivide.org/. This site provides more detail than I could ever hope to.

There is also a film of which excerpts can be viewed on youtube.

Anyway I found this book very inspirational however not enough that I would want to try it for myself !

Lumbar Facet Injections

For anybody remotely interested here is the procedure I went through last Tuesday

http://thebackdoor.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/web-lumbar-facets2.pdf

Today should be a big day as I am planning to ride a static bike. This will be the first time I have ridden a bike of any sort since the injury. I will report back on my progress.

Todays first step on the ladder. I walked around the local country park. I have a long way to go but managed 1.44 miles in 28m.45s . In the last 5 weeks I have walked slightly further however this is my first walk since the injection


Endomondo Walking Workout:

The Road Back


It was on Friday the 24 September that mine and my families life was turned upside down, hopefully not for good.

The day started ok, I had agreed to ride my bike the 16 or so miles to work as part of a sustainability challenge. Being a reasonable cyclist the distance was no issue and I set off with my work colleague. Sadly the rain arrived after about 10 minutes and we arrived at work considerably wetter and colder than when we had started.


After parking my bike I bent down to remove my cycling shoes and then stood up. It was at that point I felt an incredible pain in the right hand side of my lower back. I had suffered a couple of times with this before so I knew what it was and the signs that I would be able to last the day, let alone repeat the ride home were not good.

I persevered with Nurofen throughout the day and at one point was considering riding home, however I realised later, this wasn't going to be an option so I rang my wife to come and pick me up.

On arriving home I iced my back and did some simple stretches etc, this had worked in the past and I saw no reason why it would not again. We were due to drive to Manchester on the Saturday and I was hoping the pain would ease off and I would be ok to make the trip and see both my newborn grand kids. Anyway I went to bed hoping that the pain would subside.

Saturday arrived and I got out of bed and stood up . My back was still sore, and I now had my doubts about making the trip. I sat down and at this point the situation took a turn for the worse. I felt a searing pain in the rhs of my lower back as if I had been stabbed. My leg and back went into spasm and I cried out with the pain. I immediately started retching. After ringing the out of hours doctor I was given pain killers and diazepam...nice cocktail. The diazepam did the trick and stopped the leg twitching. I began to look forward to taking it so stopped after 3 days.

After a few days the pain in my back started to ease however I still had no feeling in the lower part of my right leg and when I tried to walk I couldn't bend my leg or put any weight on it as it went into spasm. I found it impossible to walk or sit for any length of time. The only place I could get any respite was in bed, however all the experts tell you NOT to lie in bed for too long...its ok for them!

To cut a very long story short

In the last 5 weeks I have seen an osteopath 4 times had an MRI scan and been referred to a spinal consultant. A section of a disc had inserted itself into a nerve in my spine around L4/L5 to be precise

On Tuesday the 28th of October I underwent I procedure called a nerve root block. This involves the surgeon injecting local anaesthetic and cortisone into the offending nerve in an attempt to stop the pain caused by inflammation and in the hope that the disc will eventually return to where it came from.

The injection has reduced the pain and as a result Im planning to go back to work soon. I'm not sure its the right thing to do but I need to do something, hence the writing of this blog.

The injection has improved my mobility this I feel is a positive sign however this is the first stage in what I think will be a very long process. Therefore I have decided to document it.

I hope the end will see me return to some kind of normality and allow me to once more ride my bike.

This is the 3rd day since the injection and Ive been able to walk for about 2 miles. Prior to this I had built up from 50 yards to a mile. Tomorrow I hope to increase the distance again.

With my consultants consent I'm also planning to ride a static bike in my garage on Saturday, watch this space.