The pain started around 2001, located in both legs, particularly on my right side. It was in the upper thigh and gluteal fold area on both sides, but especially on the right. Towards the end of the flight, I started feeling this horrible pain in both legs, like a burning sensation, almost as if a curling iron had been under my thighs. It just kept building and building. Then in 2007, I was at work and felt such a jolt of pain on my right side that I almost fell out of my chair. That began the whole journey of figuring out what this was.
The very first thing they always do is an MRI of your spine. My spine had nothing wrong with it; it was clean. The neurologist even said it was clean, so she was baffled. Over the next few years, I saw almost 50 different specialists. I saw internal medicine, sports medicine, went for acupuncture, tried medical marijuana, saw chiropractors, tried physical therapy, and visited physiatrists. I went to yoga therapy, Reiki, and orthopedic surgeons. It was always the same in each visit. I would explain the history of the pain, and they would initially say they could help me, but after a couple of visits, they would look at their shoes and say they couldn't help me.
The two things that were really affected in my life were my career and relationships with friends. Specifically, with my career, I could no longer do it. You can't do high-tech public relations if you can't sit. One big change to our daily life and activities was getting a minivan. We traded our cars in and got a minivan so that I could lie down in the back of the van wherever we went. Another big change we made was moving from the southwest to the east coast in hopes of finding better medical research.
I was so nervous. I thought if he doesn't get it, I really don't know where to turn. It's been so long, and he was so thorough in his meeting with me and obviously knew anatomy like no other that I felt so relieved.
Now, my daily life is completely different. I would say about 85% of the pain is gone. If we are walking along the beach, we can pop into a restaurant, and I don't have to check out firsthand what the seating is like. I don't have to worry whether it's hard chairs. If we want to go to a concert, we go, and we don't have to bring pillows and ice in. I have my independence back. I can drive to events myself instead of having to be couriered like luggage in the back of a minivan. It has completely changed our lifestyle individually and together, and for that, I am very grateful to Dr. Williams and his staff. If you can just hang on to that glimmer of hope, there are peripheral nerve surgeons like Dr. Williams who really understand the anatomy, and they can be a lifesaver when you feel as if you've just been swimming against the tide for so many years. He really did throw me a lifesaver.