10 month follow-up

Approximately 10-month post-surgical follow-up with Dr. Nelson. I mainly wanted to discuss with him the recurring pain (pain level 3-5) I am feeling on the left hand side of my lower back and also talk about the physical therapy that I've been doing. He did not seem too worried about the pain although he did order a new set of x-rays and also administered a cortisone injection in the painful spot. Upon viewing the x-rays, he said that things look fine and that the area is fusing nicely with good bone growth. He thought the cortisone would act as an anti-inflammatory and hopefully give me some pain relief.

I've been doing physical therapy with Stephanie ("Fannie") Lesser for the last few weeks, but we agreed that we should take a break since it seems to be flaring me up. I think I've done 9 PT sessions total -- 7 in the swimming pool and 2 on land in the gym. I enjoy doing the PT and I really like Fannie, but I can't argue with what my body is telling me. And that is I need to take it easy. So, I'm just going back on my walking regimen, 20-30 minutes each morning.

Forgot to tell him that I successfully reduced my neurontin dosage, so I am down to one 100mg capsule per day (I take it in the morning). One of these days I'm going to make a little graph of my medication dosage change over time.
Current medication:

• gabapentin: 100mg once/day = 100mg/day
• naproxen: 250mg twice/day = 500mg/day

I'm a bit discouraged by the failure of the aquatherapy. I am hoping to be able to try surfing again this summer, and I felt like the swimming was a step in the right direction. And although I did enjoy being in the pool and actually getting some exercise, there can be no arguing that my pain level had increased.

Stephanie was a big fan of icing the back (as am I), but I felt like I had been sitting on ice way too much. It definitely helps to numb the area and/or reduce inflammation, but I don't want to be stuck sitting on ice all the time. I don't want to be dependent on that in order to feel OK. I had even broken out the DonJoy cooler again which I had hoped was put away for good. As I told Dr. Nelson, I felt like with the surgery I had just traded one pain for another. He tried to reassure me and said I am still recovering. Some people see continuous, slow improvement for up to 2 years post-surgery. So, I am still relatively optimistic.