Still feel okay when I am sitting, but having more and more of that shock-like pain in the area where I had my surgery. Today it's happened quite a bit..whenever I am up and moving around. It has had me involuntarily shouting obscenities every time I feel it. Not good when I have a 2-year old and 3-year old that are like little parrots. I have also been feeling a pins/needles sensation in that area of my back, which is something new as of today.

I am on a Prednisone burst that I just started today, but I had already been on a low dose of Prednisone up until last week. However, I had weaned off of it last Thursday, and I cannot say for certain that I was not doing any better while on it. So I am hoping for some relief with this steroid burst, even though it makes me feel pretty lowsy the first day or so.

I called and spoke with the NP at my NS office again today, as it was to the point I was feeling nauseated over the pain. The surgeon was in the OR today, but she was going to run it by him and call me tomorrow to see what he wants to do. I spoke with her a couple of weeks ago, and she had said he wanted to wait for 3 or 4 weeks before doing a repeat MRI. But, since my condition has deteriorated, she said he may just want to do the MRI now.

I am honestly not thinking this is muscular anymore. As I have said before, it literally feels like I am being shocked in that area, and now with this pins and needles sensation in that same spot, I find it hard to believe it's muscular. I know that even after the surgery, he said there was still some disc material bulging out, but it was not touching the nerve at that point. So I am wondering if it is now hitting the nerve when I move in certain positions. I am hoping if that is the case, it will heal on it's own. My fear is that it won't and that I'll end up needing another surgery. I asked the NP if there is any chance of it healing on it's own, as I know herniated discs sometimes do improve after a period of time. I am not sure how it works with re-herniations, though, so if anyone knows of any statistic pertaining to this, feel free to enlighten me! The NP said that my surgeon typically likes to be more aggressive when it comes to re-herniating a disc. However, he had told me in the past that if I reherniated, I would need a fusion since it is a thoracic disc, and they are not meant to undergo multiple discectomies, like they often do with the lumbar spine.

So, that is the story. Other than that, I started taking my Humira last week for the AS. I was weaned off of the Prednisone on Thursday, and I began experiencing a major flare on Monday. My back, hands, feet, knees, SI joints, etc, have been very painful. I feel as if I am at my wit's end with all of this. I honestly do not know how much more I can endure.