My story

Hello everyone.

My issues started 17 months ago. I had a lot of back pain and was having time off work. For about a month previous to that, I had a lot of shooting pains in both legs as well.

I had already been to the ER twice because I knew something wasn't right but they kept giving me painkillers and sending me home. One night I got the kids to bed and then went to hospital because the pain was getting unbearable. Again they tried to send me home. This time I couldn't make it to my car so I went back to the bed and demanded they do something.

The doctor came and gave me a hard time about not leaving and didn't seem to believe that there was something wrong. Over the next two hours my whole lower half went numb. It was excruciating and I had the doctor there watching me while I laid there in agony and offered no pain medication.

Later on I was woken up by the doctor who told me I was overdosed and insinuated that it was my fault. Luckily it was time for the next shift to come on and common sense prevailed. The neurosurgery department was called and a couple of different specialists visited me through the day.

I had surgery the next day. I was happy when I woke up and I had some feeling back in my lower half. After a week in hospital, they sent me to a rehabilitation centre for 3 weeks. The hospital then provided rehab for another 3 months at home.

Then it got worse again. I had surgery number two which apparently went well. That was 4 months ago now. I have given up hope of going back to work any more. I'm always in pain, my feet are swelling up, I now have mild bladder and bowel dysfunction, depression etc.

In all, it has been a horrible experience that almost destroyed me mentally, physically and financially.