My Medical Journey

I am only 24 years old and although I have already had a major spinal surgery, I am blessed.

It started with something silly. We were playing Ultimate Frisbee for PT. The soldier of the year and I were both going for the frisbee at full speed. He was built like a tank. We hit and he just set my back on my feet like a Raggedy Ann doll. I felt good for being plowed over by a giant. An hour or so later  my neck just locked up. I was taken to the hospital by a sergeant and the nurse took some X-Rays. Nothing was broken, they sent me home with narcotics.

I had headaches for months after this, but no neck pain. I started keeping a headache diary for my doctor, which isn't as much fun as it sounds. Five months later we were leaving a friend's house when we backed into a tree going about 3 miles an hour. I don't know what happened in that moment, but a couple days later I woke up with significant neck pain. A good friend of mine drove me to the doctor while my husband was at work. He sent me to get an MRI. This is when I met my favorite Orthopedic doctor. He told me that I had a bulging disc. He said that the injury wasn't new, but that it just recently got worse.

I was sent to Physical Therapy. I wasn't a fan. The guy was weird, it was expensive and pretty time consuming. But I did the therapy and I got better. No problems.

About a year later in July of 2013, I was in a car accident. I had been cleaning at our old apartment, and I was going to Taco Bell to grab lunch. I was crossing the East bound lanes on NE 23rd street in Midwest City when I was T-boned. It was not a good experience. I couldn't afford to get an MRI, so my doc just sent me to another round of Physical Therapy. Again, I wasn't a fan, but I wanted it to work so I tried hard. I did all the stretches and exercises, but the pain kept getting worse. I didn't know if I had a serious problem or not so I tried to ignore it. I tried to keep working out, I tried to keeping going to school and working full time and slowly it just got to be too much. The pain took more out of me. I was tired a lot and didn't always want to go out. In March of 2014, I got another MRI.  I went to the doc shortly after and this is when I learned I had a herniated disc, C5-6, in my neck. It had already been nearly a year.

I asked my doctors what it meant and what my options were. He suggested massage, a third round of physical therapy, rest and maybe eventually surgery. He gave me a list of things I couldn't do. This is when I was disqualified from my job in the military. My last round of physical therapy went well. I had a great therapist that catered to my needs and tried to help me get stronger. I did get stronger. I felt okay and I hoped. But then I plateaued. The pain was still there in my neck and radiating down into my right hand. The muscle spams were still there. The disappointment was back. My doc told me I needed surgery. He asked me not to fuse my vertebrae together. He said I could do what I wished but that he wanted to see me able to go back to my recreational activities that I love. After my surgery for an Artificial Disc Replacement was denied seven times through three different insurance companies (because it is considered experimental) I started researching.

I joined groups on Facebook with people like me, I asked relatives, I looked up insurance policies and clinical trials. I researched for months. I learned that the fusion patients were four times to likely to need additional spinal surgeries within four years than the artificial disc replacement patients.  I learned that people in other states were getting the surgery with certain insurance companies. I learned which states, too. When I realized that we could move to Oregon and do the traveling we wished to as well as get the surgery I needed with a certain insurance company I asked my husband what he thought and he was glad to support me.

Six month laters, we had $6,000 saved and we headed out for Oregon. The first job I found after being here for less than a month offered me the insurance I needed. After I met my new doctor and got my insurance set up, we sent the paperwork to the insurance and although it was last minute, they approved it on the first go. Imagine my excitement.

Today I am two weeks post op. I have a lovely incision that will soon turn into a fading scar. What's more exciting, I have no nerve pain and very little spinal pain at all. I am a new woman. I am not strong yet, but I will be. I will not take my body for granted again. We made the right decision and I will make it worth it.