I’ve been back in the UK for almost a year now having lived and worked in Texas for 3 years.
While I was out there, I injured my back quite badly. It was probably an old injury that I obtained in the Royal Navy whilst playing rugby. The short version is that I ended up having a 360degree spinal fusion on my L5-S1 joints. It hasn’t quite worked as there is more damage to my lower spine than first though. I could fill a blog on my medical history alone, but then that goes back to my tendancy to find accidents. The old saying of if I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck what so ever. Prior to the Spinal Fusion whilst in the US, I had a Facet Rhizotomy slightly higher up.
“The procedure involves using a needle to carefully place a small electrode
adjacent to the facet under x-ray guidance. An electric current is then used to
cauterize the sensory nerves that innervate the facet joint(s). If successful,
the pain relief following an RF procedure can last considerably longer than
relief following local anesthetic and steroid blocks.”
Before that I had about 11 anesthetic and steroid blocks that it mentions above. (Each of these procedures cost around $3400, not all of which is paid for by insurance, which turns out to be quite a pricey method of doing diagnostics).
Overall, I think that I must have had about $250,000 worth of surgury done to my back whilst in the US. My wallet hurts more than my back I think!!
