LeRoy's Back

We finally have some answers on LeRoy's back. However, that doesn't mean it is a quick fix or that it will all be resolved this week. There is a lifetime of back pain ahead of LeRoy but at least we have an idea of what we are working with. We have found a strange comfort learning that most of his high priest group at church has had similar problems with similar treatments. Most of it comes from an active life, aging and working the physical body pretty hard - all part of mortality, I guess.

As usual, nothing seems to dampen LeRoy's spirits or his faith or his determination to work no matter what. We are extremely blessed with good home teachers and the high priests who check in on us regularly. We feel very loved by family and friends who have offered prayers in our behalf and who also stay in touch with true concern. We move forward with gratitude that it is not worse than what it is and for the professionals who have taken extra time to ease our fears and calm our concerns. We are humbled to realize that this mortal state is so fragile, even in small situations, and we rely on the priesthood for healing both the spirit and the body. We are grateful for the work that has suddenly come up and pray for LeRoy to have the physical strength to keep up with it.

In summary:

LeRoy will receive a steroid injection at the site of his worst bulging disc, the one that is causing the majority of the pain in his back and all of the pain down his left leg. Within a month we will know how well the steroid is working and if he will still be in need of surgery (hopefully, not).

We are optimistic that the injection will work. This whole experience reminds me of when we bought a red Ford. Suddenly we saw them everywhere. Since finding out the cause, treatment, and possible results, we have heard from so many people of similar cases, resulting in either the injections or the surgery and in all but one case the outcome has had positive results. We are hopeful. LeRoy has gained such a high pain tolerance over the years that we don't expect 100% but he is hoping to at least return to the minimal pain that he has learned to live with.

The History: (This will be a little long but since we have been repeating the same details to doctor after doctor I figure I should document it for us as well.)

In 1987 LeRoy was in a terrible car accident while on his mission. It was bad enough that his head was laying open at the crash site (he now has a scar from his forehead around to the back of his head), he had a collapsed lung, doctors had to use the defibrillator on him 3 different times, his spleen had to be removed and his back was thrown for a loop - or a couple of chips. He has 2 chipped vertebrae from the accident and was told then that he would suffer from chronic back pain for the rest of his life, even if they did surgery to remove the chips. He opted to not do surgery since he would be in pain either way.

From 1987 to 1995 he would visit chiropractors if his back was bothering him more than normal (which usually meant he was considering missing work). They offered minimal relief.

In 2003 he was in another accident, a roll over on ice, which left him hanging upside down in his seat belt. Fortunately he rolled and landed in approximately four feet of fluffy snow which softened the impact. Though there were no immediate, obvious injuries it did seem to aggravate his back even more. He learned to live with that new level of pain.

Fall of 2008 brought a new pain down his leg. A sharp, nagging pain with a knot in his thigh similar to a constant charlie horse. He thought it was from basketball or crawling around in attics and that it was just never allowed enough time to heal. Now we know better.

In May of 2009 the pain became so bad that he was constantly taking pain meds, his limp turned to a full hobble, he couldn't stand up without resembling an 80 year old man and he quit playing sports. For those of you who know LeRoy, this was probably the biggest show of how much pain he was in. He hasn't missed playing a ballgame since I met him and yet he was sitting out everything. He would manage to get through what little work he had (which was nearly a blessing in disguise that we didn't have much work) and then he would come home and go to bed.

After trying a chiropractor and a physical therapist for nearly 3 weeks he went in for an MRI. The first radiologist suggested surgery with little explanation of why - we were just a bunch of pictures to him. We asked the hospital for his report of the MRI and went to another radiologist (our neighbor). He was great to sit down with us with the MRI pulled up on his computer and not only explained the situation but showed us in the pictures why they were suggesting surgery.

Radiology Report (summary):

L2-3 Mild disc space narrowing, osteoarthritic degenerative changes, slight disc bulge, small tear

L4-5 Mild disc space narrowing, mild disc bulge, tear

L5-S1 Severe disc space narrowing , prominent broad-based disc bulge, large extruded disc fragment causing severe narrowing to include posterior displacement and entrapment of the left nerve root

Then he referred us to and introduced us to a neurosurgeon in Idaho Falls.

The neurosurgeon was also great to answer all of our questions and explain, through pictures and with much detail, all of our options. He agreed with what the radiologists had reported only he explained the worst disc as "a herniated disc with a floating disc fragment that is compressing the nerve sac on the left". It was clear to us what he was talking about as we compared a healthy picture with LeRoy's picture. And we were able to understand why all of the pain is down his left leg. All of the nerves to his left leg are compressed to a space the size of a pencil line when it should be an area slightly larger than the width of a pencil eraser.

Though it appears that surgery may still be necessary, the neurosurgeon suggested starting with a steroid injection because he doesn't like to take the bigger risk of back surgery if it can be treated with less invasive methods. If it lasts beyond 4 months then we can hope for no surgery, though it won't be ruled out. If it is unsuccessful, doesn't last beyond a month, then he will be going to surgery. While we were standing there, the office scheduled an appointment with Madison Hospital for 3 days later, sending a fax of the report to them.

LeRoy showed up Monday morning, 8am, for his injection and the hospital had no record of him. No scheduled appointment, no fax of the report. The only doctor in Rexburg who does these injections is out of town until the next Tuesday. LeRoy was just a bit frustrated, to say the least. We tried scheduling at EIRMC in Idaho Falls but they couldn't get him in either. This isn't the first time that he seems to be lost as a file somewhere and we have found that unless we have a prior relationship with the doctor (like having the radiologist as our neighbor, or a personal reference and introduction to the neurosurgeon from the neighbor radiologist) then we tend to get set aside as if we are an inconvenience to the medical profession. I have no "G" rated words to describe the annoyance of being ignored when there is some major medical issue taking over your world.

So for now he is taking an anti-inflammatory and pain killer at least twice a day to get through a busy work week. And he is hoping for some relief next week.