Texas Back Institute

today was my visit with my new back dr.... he is co-founder of the Texas Back Institute and is a spine surgeon... km drove me down to plano for my appt (we had fun.. it was a good road trip... the first one we've had in many years!!)... i was so nervous and knew without a doubt that he was going to tell me that i had to have surgery and that was pretty much my only option... the dr. that we met with was really nice... he did several tests, different things, having me walk on my toes then heels, pushing and resisting his arms with my hands, arms, legs, feet, testing my balance, testing my reflexes... he said i had brisk reflexes... i have no idea what this means only that "at your age, you shouldn't have brisk reflexes"... i'm going to try to do some research on this... he was also amazed, but not in a good way, of the medicine i was on... "fentanyl?? why?!?" fentanyl is basically a morphine patch... 5mcg's of morphine released into your body thru your skin for 3 days... i asked his opinion and he said, i would quit using the patches... i've only been on the patches for 2 months, maybe 3, so hopefully the comedown won't be too bad... hopefully... (i already feel like i don't want to do anything and that is certainly not going to help matters!!) anyways, back to the visit... we went and looked at my mri and x-rays... (he was showing us where and what everything was on the films and it was so neat!!!) he said based on the size of the herniated disc (the part that's bulging out) he doesn't really think that's what is causing my pain... he also said that my balance wasn't good... so, he wants me to go see a neurologist and have some tests done... to make sure that there's nothing really bad wrong... then i go back and see him and find out what the problem is and (hopefully) find out what our plan of action is... after he mentioned that he didn't think my lower back was causing the pain i told him about the headaches i used to have... i still do have them but not near as often (or because my back pain is so bad i'm not noticing the headaches)... my dr. thought they were sinus headaches for almost a year... obviously not... i'm having mixed emotions about this though... i just need to keep remembering, everything happens for a reason... i'm so glad that i finally have a competent dr. who knows what is going on but then i'm like, this has been going on for almost 4 years, i've wasted 4 years and who knows how much money, just thrown down the drain... so, that's pretty much the lowdown of my dr.'s appointment... good and maybe not really what i was wanting to hear but sometimes that just the way the ball bounces huh? it'll be ok though, i'm already becoming "more positive" with everything...