Initial Examination

My first visit to Dr. smith's office was one of uncertainty and hope. He went through my history with me and decided to do x-rays, feeling certain that there was a bulging disc in my vertebrae at the least. I had two previous x-rays done by two different doctors, so I was not very confident that he would discover the problem that easily. As soon as the x-ray was put up for me to look at, and I sat in the office waiting on him to come back, I could tell with my on untrained eyes that something was wrong. I had a severely compressed disc that was pinching a nerve that runs down my left leg, he would go on to tell me. Years of misdiagnosis and poor treatment plans had left the two vertebrae to nearly fuse together and cause a handful of problems. He explained what spinal decompression was, and although it sounded a little scary and I had never heard of it, I was more confident in him than I had been in anyone thus far, so I signed the dotted line and decided to write this blog to tell you of my journey through this process. It is also a good way for me to keep track of my progress and remember questions to ask at each visit. I will include as many possible links and resources as possible. The above pictures show the disc compression. Mine is stage two, the third from the left on the model. The x-ray compares my compressed disc to one of my healthy discs.