Lumbar Spinal Stenosis

After battling chronic back pain for the last couple of weeks I finally went to the doctor.  The truth is, I've actually been getting bouts of back pain for the last few years, but I just pushed it aside and got on with my life.  Sometimes it was worse than other times and I couldn't move at all.  This time, I had pushed some heavy tables at school, felt my back go, and put that down as to the cause.
The fact is, pushing those tables only exasperated the problem I didn't know I had.
I knew my back was weakening and actually felt as if I was losing some of my mobility.  But I just put that down as being somehow related to the Tram Flap reconstruction surgery I had had in 2004 after being diagnosed with breast cancer, where they used my stomach muscle to create a new breast.
I had never thought that it might actually be a disease of sorts.  That had never crossed my mind.
My doctor asked lots of questions, poked and prodded my back, twisted me around and then declared that I had a classic case of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and booked me in for an MRI to see how far it has progressed.
It turns out that various ailments I had been suffering from the last few years were all related to my lower spine.  But, myself and previous doctors had always treated them in isolation and never connected them together.  When you put them together, then you have a classic case of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.  My advice to you, is if you are reading this and have been getting some or all of these symptoms, go and see a doctor right away and get checked for Spinal Stenosis.
These are the symptoms I have had the last few years;
1. Chronic lower back pain where I feel like I have been cut in half and not put back properly.
2. Burning pain in lower back.
3. Chronic hip pain.
4. Cramps in the calf muscles.
5. Finding it hard to walk properly and sometimes limping.
6. Completely imobilised thinking my sciatic nerve is pinched.
7. Pain and stiffness across my upper back, sometimes even my neck. Muscles go into spasm and tense up.
8. Numbness and loss of feeling in my feet.
9. Pain in feet when walking.
10.  Unsteady on feet, struggling to get balance especially when climbing stairs, stepping onto escalators and stepping over objects.
11.  Struggle to control bladder.
12. Difficulty getting up out of a chair, sometimes walking a few steps with your back bent before you can straighten it.
13.  Unable to stand for any length of time when washing dishes or hanging up washing, as your back starts hurting so badly you have to sit down.
14.  Not able to walk long distances without stopping somewhere and sitting down as your back hurts so much.
15. Needing to lean on a supermarket trolley when shopping, as your back starts to hurt if you walk around carrying a basket.
I have found, that my back hurts less when I wear a backpack as that makes me lean forward when I walk.
All these symptoms I thought was just a product of ageing, and I guess in a way it is as you tend to get this when you are over 50.
As I discover treatments and strategies to ease the back pain, I'll share them with you.
Cindy Vine is the author of Not Telling, The Case of Billy B, Defective, CU@8, Hush Baby and The Freedom Club.  All her books are available in both paperback and ebook format on Amazon.com.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

How did Breast Cancer Awareness Month start
The first National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) took place in October 1985 and was intended to increase awareness of breast cancer issues, especially the importance of early detection.

During NBCAM, women are encouraged to educate themselves about the disease, perform regular breast self-examinations, and schedule an annual mammogram.

The pink ribbon symbol
The first known use of the pink ribbon was in the fall of 1991, when the Susan G. Komen Foundation had handed them out to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors. In 1993, Evelyn Lauder (of Estée Lauder Inc.) founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and used the pink ribbon as its logo, popularizing the symbol and its association with the disease.For the past two decades the world every October swathes itself in pink and turns attention to a deadly disease. In the U.S. alone a quarter of a million women are diagnosed while nearly 40,000 die from breast cancer each year.  And that's just the US!

Stars That Battled Breast Cancer:

Kathy Bates, Maura Tierney, Judy Blume, Ann Romney, Edie Falco, Suzanne Somers, Olivia Newton-John, Giuliana Rancic, Wanda Sykes, Christina Applegate, Melissa Etheridge, Robin Roberts, Kylie Minogue, Sheryl Crow (list from the Huffington Post

What Breast Cancer means to me

My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer way back in 1969 and had a mastectomy.  In those days they didn't worry about reconstruction or leaving a nice scar.  They just hacked off the breast in the most brutal way.  I remember as a child going to visit her in hospital, and seeing her hands tied to her neck to stop her from touching the wound where her right breast used to be.  She used a bag of bird seed as a breast prosthesis.  One day after quickly taking washing off the line when the rain started, the seeds in her prosthesis started to germinate.

My own story with breast cancer started in 2003.  You can read about it here.  I had reconstruction done at the same time.  My problems from the tram flap reconstruction were not pleasant.  In my hub I write about the pros and cons of it.  My second bout with breast cancer was in 2011.  I went for an implant but that has not been without complications.  In August this year I got breast cellulitis and had to have the implant removed.  My breasts have proved to be a curse.  What I once thought was my best feature became my enemy.  excess, have always been a conservative social drinker.  I have never smoked or taken drugs.  I breast-fed my three children for a total of 5 years.  I did everything right, so why did I get breast cancer not once, but twice?  I have come to realise that sometimes bad things just happen to good people.  There doesn't have to be a reason, it can just be in your genetic make-up.  It can also just be shitty rotten luck.  Whatever the reason, you just have to deal with it as best you can.  Be grateful it was picked up early.  Be thankful that you are one of the lucky ones that survived.

Cindy Vine is the author of the novels Not Telling, Defective and C U @ 8.  They are available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobel.com, Sony and the Apple iStore.