Life before December 2008:
12+ years of:
5x a week of:
Teaching cardio box+ 5 am bootcamp= Spondylolysis (Pars Fracture of the Spine)
[Source]
I did not come to this diagnosis until 10 months later.
Let’s start from the beginning.
Dec. 2008– I was sick for a week with “mono” ( quotes because I had the symptoms but the test was negative)
– I felt some pain in my lower back, but I was laying down for a week I figured it was nothing.
-I was busy with finals week oh did I mention I also had bronchitis?
We were good friends with the Dr. at this point and we realized that we did not like her. Due to insurance conditions we could not switch doctors if we had seen them within a month. Because I kept getting sick I had to stay with her.
Finally when it hurt to bend down and brush my teeth I went to my doctor- after pounding my lower back she sent me home with a prescription for 800mg of Ibuprofen 3X a day. And muscle relaxants….
– I don’t like taking drugs for anything but cramps- I had a bad reaction to a cough medicine and I am now terrified of any sort of medication.
I decided to take one pill a day and I felt a bit better until the effects wore off.
At this time I was also seeing an infectious disease specialist and a surgeon. For my larger than life lymph nodes in my neck- They were literally sticking out and my classmates enjoyed touching my “lumps”. I promise it was not as weird as this sounds. ( No one knew what my lumps were- they kinda went away after 9 months- medical mystery?) I can still feel them, but they are much much smaller.
So for a few months my problem was put on the back burner (literally)- I had other medical problems to deal with, along with a full semester of classes I was pretty busy.
At this point, I had stopped doing my own workout- but I was still teaching cardio box…. ( Mistake)
I would feel my back in pain when I did jumping jacks- or anything that required impact. So I would demonstrate for one or two reps and then cue my classes to continue on. This worked out pretty well, I was able to keep teaching and not “hurt”
-Not sure if this was a good idea but, it worked.
I went back to the doctor and she sent me to a spine surgeon, after more poking and pounding my spine I was “diagnosed” with a bulging disc and sent to physical therapy.
At this point I was having trouble lifting my legs to put pants on, sitting and using my laptop hurt. I would have nerve pain down my legs. It was not a burning or tingling- it was an uncomfortable sensation.
It honestly felt like I had broken my butt or something…
My general doctor also wanted me to have an MRI- but the insurance denied this because I was not in any sort of car accident or other trauma.
So enter Summer 2009 where I started physical therapy- biggest mistake of my life…..
I will finish up my story in the next post Injury Part II
Thanks for reading- writing this has brought back some not fun memories but I want people to learn from my story and not make the same mistakes.
* Feel free to share any injury stories you may have*
The simple life of Sana. 
Wow hot dayumm woman, you’ve been through a lot! I know exactly what you mean with incompetent doctors. In my senior year of high school, I had to go through four different doctors before I found a decent one. My initial doctor who had been my pediatrician since I was born hadn’t attributed a forty pound weight loss on my physical to the fact that hey i might have anorexia- and then after passing out in class one day, my mother immediately took me to her office where i had a hospital admittable blood pressure and her advice to me was to ‘eat some pretzels.’ Saw my nutritionist- and was admitted to the hospital over the next week- something the pediatrician hadn’t even suggested (but had been forced upon by my nutritionist/therapist due to my low vital signs/weight. Is it possible that medical school isn’t comprehensive enough?
Ugh, poor girl! That sucks!
I have 2 really bad shoulders. From a combination of years of swimming and being double jointed. I always managed to make them pop out, but the worst was while body surfing in Puerto Rico with my swim team. We were practicing twice a day and I swam through the pain. This resulted in years of physical therapy, stim treatments, ice and threats of surgery if I didn’t keep up with the physical therapy. I think one more year of competitive swimming would have resulted in shoulder surgery, but I got lucky. They still hurt from time to time.
WOW that sucks! I am so glad you have been able to ease back into working out…but take it easy!
Awww I Heart Billy! He helped me lose weight! but his hija, I can do without!
Wow, I’m impressed by all you’ve overcome and that you’re still going strong. It takes definite willpower and inner strength.
The worst injury I had can’t even compare — a really bad case of runner’s knee last spring. It hurt to walk up and down stairs and I spent 7-8 hours a day on my feet as a teacher. It got to the point where I only stood up during the hours I was in the classroom and spent the rest of my time in bed with my knees raised.
You poor thing! I have arthritis in my knee but obviously it can’t compare to what you are going through.
I am a huge Billy Blanks fan by the way!
Wow, what a terrible thing to have gone through! So sorry girl.
That sounds awful!
im sorry you had to go through this 😦
Oh dear. Now you’ve got me worried. Maybe I *should* get a second opinion on my lower back pain…
i’ve never had a major injury, but in the “most pathetic way to hurt oneself” i did slightly mess up my hip. in ballet. at the barre, which is where you’re least likely to do anything wrong.
(i came in late, and started doing the grand battements with the rest of the class, whihc is a forcefull high straight leg kick, and my hip poppppped so bad, and since then it pops allll the time. from ballet. lord help me)
Yay for new bloggie friends and Fit Bloggin’!!! Can’t wait to read more and get to know you – I like what I see so far!!
oh I am so sorry about this! its good that you can ease back into physical activity 🙂
billy is SUCh a great motivator I love tae bo :)!
Wow, Sana that is horrible. Glad to hear you are back to working out.
Oh, Sana… you have been through so much. My husband went through a similar situation with doctors as well. My husband started out with knee pain around the age of 11 and by the time he was in college, the pain had moved up to his pelvic area, back and neck. It took his doctors years to finally make the correct diagnosis. Almost 17 years later, they diagnosed him with ankylosing spondylitis. If he would have known the diagnosis sooner, he could have done more to prevent some of the damage AS causes and experienced less pain. I’m sorry you had to go through so much pain before the doctors finally figured out what was really going on.
I wish you all the best!
Thanks for your comment on my blog! Im glad you share my love for pesto 🙂
Sorry to hear about your back! I have complete empathy for you right now, in every way possible. Doctors recently found a cyst in my spinal cord (from the top of my neck to the entire length of my spine) so I know how debilitating it can be to have a back injury. It’s so frustrating too when they cant give you answers! (dealing with that now as well)
Hang in there love, thinking about you!
xo Molly
http://www.givinganythingbutup.wordpress.com
Stories like this make me so enraged at the insurance companies. Also I feel like finding your original doctor and TPing her house!
girl so sorry to hear about this! i STILL have ankle problems from tennis. it sounds like you learned so much from this injury, and i know so many ppl will benefit from you talking about it
Geesh 😦 Not fun! And I thought my shin splints and hang nails were bad. Half kidding!
oh no!! Im so sorry all that happened to you. I guess the more active you are the more injuries can happen. I hope you feel better!
That’s intense! I hope things get better for you. I stupidly ignored a fracture in my shin for too long, and it took forever before I fully healed. Not as serious as your injuries though!
I’m so sorry to hear that! That is not fun. I’m interested to read the second half of the story.
Wow, I’m really impressed with your perseverance. I have been dealing with a stomach issue/pain for almost a year – and I am at the point that I just want to give up. I hate doctors, they make me anxious, and sometimes I feel like all the effort won’t be worth it, but after reading this, I feel like I should keep it up! Thanks for opening up…hang in there, and I’m glad that you are almost completely pain free!
WOW! i was just diagnosed with spondylosis and spondylothesis myself after almost a year of misdiagnosis from different doctors. I was a fitness instructor for years, then started taking martial arts classes and was set to take my black belt test this summer. I started experiencing back and leg pain last year, and it has really slowed me down. Then pain got to be so bad i cannot stand it (and i have a very high pain tolerance). I thought i was crazy to think that PT has made it worse. I am still going to PT now with no relief. I actually found your blog searching for a brace, wondering if that might help me. From your writing i think i will try it. Thank you for the hope, as i was almost ready to give up…