Jan 19th. 2015 Lower Epidural Steroid Injection

Went to St. Francis Downtown Monday and got an epidural injection between L1-L2 lumbar discs. Dr. Lowdermilk performed the injection and he is an Anesthesiologist and Medical Director of the Piedmont Comprehensive Pain Mgmt. Group located at St. Francis. This is the 1st of 2 injections and the next one is scheduled Feb. 2nd and then I go back to see my Neurosurgeon Dr. Bucci on Feb. 5th. to discuss future options. The aching and throbbing pain began to get better before the epidural shot. I have been taking physical therapy and doing my exercises which is having some positive effect. Since the epidural the pain has continued to improve somewhat but I still have numbness on my left shin area from my knee to my ankle and in the left shin area it feels like something is crawling on it. It is also concerning that the left thigh has atrophied over 1 inch compared to the right thigh. However, there are some horror stories out there about back surgery, and I want to avoid if at all possible. The spine is so complicated. There are thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves. These nerves are mixed, having both a sensory and motor aspect. The sensory nerves deliver information to the spinal cord from muscles and joints about the body's position. The sensory nerves transmit sensations such as touch, pressure, pain, and temperature, which are experienced on the surface of the skin. This information enters the spinal column via the posterior grey horn. It is then passed to the spinal tracts and transmitted up to the brain.The motor fibers begin on the ventral part of the spinal cord at the anterior horns of the gray matter. The roots of their sensory fibers are located on the dorsal side of the spinal cord in the posterior root ganglia. When the motor and sensory nerves exit the spinal column through the intervertebral foramina and pass through the meninges, they join together to form the spinal nerves.There are 8 pairs of spinal nerves in the uppermost cervical region of the spinal cord. There are 12 pairs in the thoracic region, 5 pairs in the lumbar area, and 5 pairs in the sacral area below the lumbar. 1 pair is in the most inferior coccygeal region. God has made a marvelous body that is so complicated but each aspect is necessary and interrelated for the body to function properly. The body could only be the product of God.So, as in everything that has happened in my life, I know that God will find a way for me through this struggle. 

Blessings and grace,

Bruce