Spondylolisthesis with disc degeneration
I am a 42 year old female. I was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis at l5-s1 at 18 after a series of disabling back spasms sent me to the doctor.
X-rays were done at the time. Spondy was found but slip was very minimal and all discs were fine at the time. I was already very active at this age. The doctor told me no surgery yet. Go live your life, stay in shape, work on your core always, don’t get fat and pregnancy will suck. I lived with this for over 20+ years with the occasional muscle guard flare up.
I was always able to get back to my normal life and be active. I ran half marathons, played tennis regularly , snowboarded, hit the gym a few times a week to keep core and glutes strong. Basically any sport anyone asked me to do I was in for.
This all changed recently. Last fall I noticed changes in my legs after running. Pain and heavy stiffness I never felt before. Like I couldn’t recover. I chalked this up to being over 40 now and slowly cut out running as I was always too stiff and in pain for tennis if I ran. Since that point I had to cut singles to just doubles. And noticed I was starting to not be able to recover after the gym and had new active stabbing pains in my leg and back I never had before.
This late Feb I had an instance where I couldn’t lift my left leg at all. I assumed I just needed to stretch more. A couple of weeks later the same thing happened. Both of these instances lasted for about 10 minutes. After that I started getting waves of what felt like cold water being poured down my leg, pins and needles plus waves of numbness as well. I immediately called my dr, got X-rays and mri and that’s when the new disc issues and joint above problems were discovered. It was quite the shock to me, but explained what was going on.
I go to a specialist soon and I have been so afraid of what life has ahead for me. I can’t run, play tennis, or anything jarring. I feel strong in the gym if I use machines but I can’t do any free weights. I feel like my spondy is unstable and the nerves get pinched doing anything bending or rotating.
The neurological symptoms come and go during the day depending what I am doing.
I have two kids 7 & 10 and I feel like I am failing them as a mom. Doing laundry feels like climbing a mountain. My house is a disaster. I can’t play with my kids.
If I was active and strong before did my back just have enough? Will I need surgery? I can live with pain but the nerve stuff concerns me a lot. I feel boxed in and like I’m not living life these days.