I've decided to create this blog to track my own recovery from a herniated disc and sciatica, as well as to give hope to others out there suffering. I have found so many stories online of suffering and people who have undergone surgery, but I cannot find a day-to-day blog that chronicles the pain of recovering from a herniated disc without surgery. My goal is to do this without surgery. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I hope that by tracking my pain on a day-to-day basis, I will be able to look back over time and notice improvements. And with any luck, I can give others hope too.

My name is Mindy. I am 27 years old, happily married, and the mom of three, two of which are still living. Alas, bearing children seems to be what has caused all of my back problems. In 2006, I was pregnant with my oldest with some mild sciatica in my right hip. Now, I know it was sciatica. Then, I just thought I had an SI joint problem. After my son was born, I had terrible back pain that just didn't go away. I finally went to a doctor who did an MRI and told me I had herniated discs at L4-L5 and L5-S1. I lost weight, started working out, and by 2009, I was pain-free and the fittest I had ever been.

In November 2010, I started having some sciatica in my left SI joint. Again, I thought it was just a joint problem at the time. Doctor told me to take ibuprofen 3 times a day for 2 weeks. I did this, I was fine. Until....

My third pregnancy in September 2011. The same "SI joint pain" returned during my pregnancy. I knew this pain would go away with ibuprofen, so I took some. I know, I'm bad for taking ibuprofen while pregnant, but I was in pain! Baby was born in November 2011, I felt fine for 4 months. Even did P90X after baby was born!! Then, in an effort to lose the baby weight with less time, I took up the C25K program in March 2012. The FIRST day I had a really sore muscle in my butt that felt a little like that "SI joint pain" I had been having problems with. I figured it was just a pulled muscle and it would relax after some rest so I kept running. About a month later, the pain started going down into the upper part of my thigh, so I decided to see a doctor. I asked him not once, but THREE TIMES, if it could be my discs, he assured me it could not be, and sent me to physical therapy for "burstitis."

I went to physical therapy for 2 weeks and the pain started going down into my calf. I went to the doctor who treats my thyroid (and who also had done the MRI previously) and asked for help. I said I was worried it was my herniated discs. "Who told you you had herniated discs??" he asked me, accusatory. I replied, "Someone called me from your office in 2008 and told me, I don't know who it was." When he heard that I had actually had an MRI done (and wasn't just someone that had a backache once and diagnosed myself with herniated discs), he immediately ordered another MRI. Sure enough, L5-S1 impinging on the S1 nerve root.

It's been 5 months since this happened. I've had 4 ESI's. The first and third one helped the most. I'm pretty sure the second and fourth injections just made it worse. I've tried physical therapy, acupuncture, ice/heat, massage, everything. I've tried the McKinzie exercises. I'm currently working on the Gokhale method. So far, nothing has worked. The injections were the only things that marginally helped.

I'm better than I was when this first happened. I can walk without a limp now, and I just recently gained the ability to sit down without too much pain. BUT, this still hurts ALOT!

I saw a neurosurgeon on Monday, who said, "If you're doing better, why do you want surgery?" Well, because it still HURTS LIKE A BITCH! But I don't know, I felt like he was steering me away from surgery by saying that. But by the end of the appointment, he said, "Give me a call to schedule surgery if you're suffering." I was confused.

So, at this point, because I don't have any tingling or numbness anymore, I'm going to try to get better without surgery. I realize this can take awhile. Tatianna on www.lovingfit.com graciously posted her story as support for the rest of us, and indicated that it took her about a year to get better. She indicated 8 to 12 months for improvement, and her story seemed like she had it worse than I do. AND, I've had herniated discs once before that I completely recovered from, granted I did not have sciatica from them in 2008.

I'll reevaluate my progress every few weeks, and if I get worse or seem to stay the same, then I will call the surgeon.

Today: After getting my first full night's sleep "stretchlying" per the Gokhale method, I woke up with relatively less pain than I normally wake up with. Seriously, this is a big deal. I haven't slept through the night without getting up to pee since I was in high school. I still took my 4 ibuprofen and my 1 Vicodin this morning before I walked out the door. Having alot of burning in my hip and butt and in my upper thigh while I stand here at work. Walking around alleviates alot of pain. I go home at lunchtime and lie down. This way, I can make it through the rest of my day at work. Oh yes, working....I'm actually able to work at my job as an accountant again. For a couple months, my boss was gracious enough to let me work from home. I'm back now, but I do take a longer lunch than normal to just lie down and rest from the morning and get through the rest of the day. I can't wait to get back to all the activities I enjoy, like working out and lifting weights!!!