Back to Back - Part 2

So, to recap just a bit, January 1st was the day that changed my life for several weeks due to the excruciating pain that radiated down my left leg. I could not do simple household tasks and was basically left to nothing. My pain level was a constant 9 day and night. No relief at all regardless of the medication taken.

Desperate for relief from this constant pain, I called the pain clinic I had been to before, but the soonest they could get me in was sometime in March. I needed relief now and felt kinda hopeless.

Until................. I put a couple of pieces of information together. During my emergency room visit on January 1st, I had a back x-ray and the doctor said that I have arthritis in my back. I think the light came on, and I looked into finding a chiropractor. Why not! What do I have to lose?

On my way to work every day I pass a chiroprator's office and one day I thought that I would give this a chance. I found the doctor's website and began to read. I found information that was a little glimmer of hope for patients who experience leg pain.

One thing I noticed about this particular doctor is that he does not charge for the initial consultation, and if a candidate for spinal decompression, there is no charge for the first decompression session. I thought that offering a free consultation and decompression session was very considerate for new patients.

Doctor Clanahan's website:

https://clanahanwellnesscenter.com/

I called the number listed on the website and made an appointment for January 20th. I thought that I would be able to make it by then, hopefully.

As fate would have it, I got a call back from the doctor's office a few days later asking if I would like to take an earlier appointment on January 14th. My answer was a resouding absolute yes. The receptionist asked if I had an MRI done recently. I told her that I had an MRI done but did not know the exact date, but I knew the name of the hospital where I had the MRI.

*Side Note - I had been experiencing pain in my abdominal area for a very long time to which the focus was in the abdomen and never in the back until going to the pain clinic after having the MRI.

So after a few days, January 14th finally arrived! By this time my mobility was not any better and my threshold for standing had not improved above the 3 second mark but I was determined to do whatever I needed to do to get better.

After work I made it to the doctor's office and really struggled to walk into the building, but I made it inside.

The first order of business was to get an x-ray of my back. Oh shoot. That meant standing. The office staff could not miss the struggle I was having moving around even just for short distances. I stood in front of the x-ray machine and I was in horrible pain. The technician saw just how much I was struggling and she told me that she would hurry and be as quick as possible. She was very compassionate and patient with me.

FYI - the office staff ladies are very compassionate, caring, patient, and are your best cheerleaders. Thank you ladies! You are the best!

After having the x-ray, it was time to meet Doctor Clanahan. He came into the room and introduced himself and showed us a couple of testamonials from patients how spinal decompression has helped them regain their life.

These videos were really impressive because these folks were describing the same exact symptoms I was having and they stated that they have their life back and are living a full life once again.

After the videos were over, this would be my opportunity to tell my story to the doctor. Here's what I observed while telling my story. This was probably a story the doctor has heard thousands of times only with a different face.

• As I told my historical story of pain and new pain, he listened intently and looked at me and not at a computer screen taking notes and saying uh hugh every so often. Doctor Clanahan is an active listener and at first I was not used to having a doctor who is an active listener. He did not use or stare at a computer at all during the consultation. Needless to say, I appreciated that. A lot!

• After listening to my story, Doctor Clanahan told me that I was a good candidate for spinal decompression and then he said something that sealed the deal for me. He said, "We can fix this". What? Fix what? Fix this?

• Doctor Clanahan also reviewed my MRI results with me from 2020 and he said that I had bulging discs which was the culpret for my leg pain. Bulging discs? When? This was the first time I had heard that.

• With a very solid plan in place, the doctor told me to go home and think about whether or not I wanted to start spinal decompression treatment.

• Here's the plan that Doctor Clanahan proposed: Forty sessions (the number of sessions varies for each patient) of decompression, stretching exercises, anti-inflammatory drops, a support brace with a place built in for a large ice pack, a rebounder, orthotic inserts for my shoes, and drinking a lot of water. More on these later.

• Before I left the office, Doctor Clanahan's decompression technician put me on the decompression table. Since I was experiencing decompression for the first time, the amount of pounds of pressure was pretty light and there was no discomfort during the treatment at all.

• Basically the decompression technician puts two belts around your waist. The belts are attached to the decompression machine and at this level the stretching is very gentle. Many patients take naps during their twenty-six minute treatment.

• Folks have asked me if decompression means having to hang upside down. The answer is a resounding no way. I'm not sure I would have done the treatment if I had to hang upside down. The decompression table is positioned vertically at first. When ready, you step on the plate and the technician leans the table back until you are in a horizontal position. You even get a pillow to help you be more comfortable.

• For this part, the decompression technician saw my mobility limitations and what kind of pain I was experiencing. The technician puts a knee wedge under your knees to help take stress off of the spine. The catch, you have to lift your legs so that the technician can put the knee wedge under your legs. Well, that was a big no-can-do. I could not even lift my legs. Not even an inch. Thankfully the technicians are very helpful and patient. They lifted my legs for me.

• After the twenty-six minute session, it was time to get off of the table and go home with a lot to think about.

The best words that kept replaying over and over in my head were those from Doctor Clanahan when he said that my back can be fixed. So that night when I got home, I read all of the literature and information about spinal decompression that he gave me. I thought really hard about what doing spinal decompression could mean and then I knew that I had to give this a try.

My first official appointment would be Friday, January 17th and it turns out to be that this would be the worst weekend imaginable. If I thought that my constant 9 pain level was unbearable, I had no idea what was about to happen.

Stay tuned!