A long time coming...

A Long Time Coming
Special contributor, Renzi Stone

I usually leave the blogging to Lee Anne, but felt I needed to share that I’m having major back surgery Thursday. Specifically, Dr. Jack Zigler at Texas Back Institute is doing a disk replacement surgery on my L3-4 and L4-5 disks which are in my lower lumbar spine. The surgery will last three hours and has some risks associated, including all the normal risk with major surgery and the chance that it won’t work. I’m OK with that. I’ve been dealing with this pain for a long time and now is the time to address it.

When I was 17, I pinched my sciatic nerve while playing basketball. There was pain in my lower back and pain running down my leg causing me to miss most of my senior season of high school basketball. Fast forward to four years of running, jumping (albeit not that high) and diving on a wooden floor and you might imagine I was putting my back in a precarious position for later in life. Somehow, I got through four years of college basketball and the rest of my twenties with minimal problems. The big issues started when I was 30 and doing a workout called CrossFit. After about eight weeks (which I loved), I felt that same pain in my back. It has never been the same.

For the past five years, I have done everything imaginable to find a solution. I’ve received the opinion of six orthopedic surgeons, countless other specialists, done PT, acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, yoga, rest, pain drugs as well as six epidural injections and multiple steroid shots. I have iced my back every night. I have become more flexible. I lost 25 pounds. I have not become addicted, thankfully, to Lortab or Oxycontin, although I have taken a lot of ibuprofen the past six months. Nothing has helped.

Lee Anne and the boys have been so helpful and encouraging. Lee Anne, particularly, has pushed me to figure out a solution. Although most of the surgeons have recommended to do nothing since I am functioning somewhat normal (a term I struggle with since I cannot do many of the things that any normal 35 year old - or for that matter 65 year old - could do), I can’t imagine another six weeks, six months or even a year in this state of discomfort and pain.

I believe in a God that listens to our worries and anxieties and I believe he has heard my call for healing. I’ll go into Thursday's surgery with a heart filled with hope and a spirit committed to getting healthy and active. I pray for safety and resolution of this issue in my life. Of course, I pray for a speedy recovery. Thank you for all your prayers. I do believe they will help bring about a positive resolution. Lee Anne will handle the post-op blogging, unless I get a hold of the computer. Don’t hold me accountable for any pain-killer induced posts.

Renzi


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