Back Issue History - Condensed Summary

Nov 2015 : Constant pain started after driving home from Alabama (to Ohio)

Nov 2015 and later : Four different chiropractors

Mar 2016 : Physical Therapy

Apr 2016 : MRI at Wood County Hospital

5-May-2016: Steroid Shot at Wood County Pain Management - could stand without pain for the first time in months

Feb/Mar 2017 : Steroid shots (three times) - pain gone for two weeks

May-2017 : Totaled car; hit deer

Jun/Jul 2017 : In pain, but could still play tennis

17-Jul-2017 : Last tennis match - can no longer play after this

25-Aug-2017 : Can no longer stand or sit

26-Aug-2017 : Went to ER - nothing done there; decided to increase Hydrocodone

26-Aug-2017 : Trigger point injection at APM (Trivedi) - Didn't help

Aug 2017 : MRI at Wildwood - Dr. Biyanni recommends RFA

1-Sep-2017 : Lumbar Medial Branch Block at APM (Trivedi) - Still can't stand for more than a minute

14-Sep-2017 : Selective nerve root block at APM (Trivedi) - Can stand for 30 minutes

20-Sep-2017 : Dr. Elgafy (UT Medical Center) recommends another nerve root block

27-Sep-2017 : Consultation with new pain management place (UT Medical Center) before doing another nerve root block. Doctor Atallah said two of my three previous procedures were the wrong thing. And the other one was probably in the wrong spot.

3-Oct-2017 : Had two steroid shots: L5/S1 Transforaminal Epidural. Doctor said it will take 24-72 hours to start helping. After 3 days I was much better; like 80%. Could stand for hours with some pain.

17-Oct-2017 : Had two steroid shots: L5/S1 Transforaminal Epidural.

14-Nov-2017 : Follow-up with Dr. Atallah. He recommended aqua therapy. He said he's seen the steroids last anywhere from 3 months to 3 years.

15-Nov-2017 : Got another opinion from Dr. Andreshak. He recommended physical therapy. He also gave me a sitting/stretching exercise to help.

Dec 2017 : Physical therapy sessions for core exercises.

18-Feb-2018 : Steroid shots lasted for four months. It's like they entirely wore off, suddenly, on 18-Feb. Was fine on 17-Feb. Can't play tennis or drum. Have appointment with Dr. Atallah on 21-Feb.

22-Feb-2018 : Transforaminal epidural with Dr. Attalah. Done at L4, and L5. Missed (forgot?) S1.

1-Mar-2018 : Transforaminal epidural with Dr. Attalah. Done at L4, L5, and S1.

12-Mar-2018 : MRI at Toledo Clinic on Holland-Sylvania Rd.

13-Mar-2018 : Met with Dr. Spetka. Recommends microdiscectomy if next shot doesn't work.

15-Mar-2018 : Transforaminal epidural with Dr. Attalah. Done at L5 and S1.

16-Mar-2018 : Met with Dr. Healy. He said I need a microdiscectomy.

22-Mar-2018 : Had surgery. Dr. Healy did a microdiscectomy at the Toledo Hospital. He said the problem was that there was a disc fragment that pressed up against the nerve. It broke away from the disc and was loose. Couldn't see that on an MRI. He removed the fragment. Don't know yet if he also shaved the disc. Will ask at next appointment. Feeling great now.

20-Apr-2018 : Follow-up visit with Dr. Healy. He said there were multiple loose disc fragments. He didn't shave the disc, but he looked for more fragments that were ready to come out, and there were none. He said I had already done all the work to get the nucleus material out of the disc. I'll go back in a month, and we'll talk about resuming tennis then. For now, I need to let it heal. He said I should be able to play all-out, and not worry about this issue anymore. I also told him I'm drumming for an hour at a time now, and he said that's good.