new and glad i found this place

[Sunshyn]

HI
Let me see...my diagnosis...I have herniated L4/L5 with S1 impingement..I also have spinal stenosis, degenerative disc desease, right leg spastic with contracted muscles, as well as nerve damage to leg and foot
I have had 2 back surgeries and now am starting with a nerologist to treat nerve pain as well as the spastic leg and so forth. I take a ton of medicine which makes me all over the place and loopy .
Don't have much support really. People see me, and I'm ok on the outside so they can't understand the hell which lives within me.
I'm glad I found this place..I'm going to look around.
Sun

[Shelley]

HI Sunshyn,

Welcome. Wow that all sounds like it hurts. THere aer some great folks in the spinal forum as well as many others that should be able to provide help, support and friendship.

There are many of us that understand the concept that we look fine on the outside but not on the inside.

Look forward to chatting more.

[Sunshyn]

Hi Shelly
...thanks. Sometimes the pain is sooo bad..like it is right now..and being here...reading about others sorta helps..do you know what I mean?.
I will check out the spine place.
Sun

[Shelley]

By the way I love your screen name Its bright and cheery and makes me smile.

It does help make one feel better when you are here reading post and knwoing that there are others that understand. And soon you will find many friends here like I did that make a difference in my life and that I can trust and feel at home. I look forward to visiting here each day and seeing those friends.

Hope your pain goes down today.

[loisba]

Hi, Sunshyn, welcome to the community! Hope your pain is better today. I can definitely empathize with you about having an 'invisible' disease. Pain is very real, but it can't be seen by someone else. My own disease, Myasthenia Gravis, is characterized by fatigue and weakness rather than pain, but it also is a rather 'invisible' disease as far as outward symptoms go.
Hugs,

[Idealist]

It's real good to meet you! I'm glad that you found this place, too. Like Shelley said, there are a lot of us here who know what it's like to seem quite normal on the outside, but be a mess on the inside. It can become a way of life, unfortunately.

But...there really are some nice people here, and you don't have to try too hard to make some real friends. I hope that you hang around and do that. Get involved with our special group. And I look forward to seeing you post here in the future! Good luck with everything!

Idealist