Jennifer, thank you very much for taking the time to read the full article and to "interpret" it for the rest of us. I hadn't searched for that full article because I'm not currently considering surgery at all; I bookmarked it as something I might want to read at a later time, and thought Jeanne might find it useful for her situation.
Interesting about the exclusion criteria. I have one of them: lumbar scoliosis. I don't know if ALL scoliosis patients were excluded, or only those with a certain degree of curve, but no matter because, as I said, I'm not currently considering surgery.
I'm particularly moved by your discussion of fear and of making choices.....and the fact that you took 2 years to overcome your fear and to recognize that you were being given a choice between disability or getting a valuable benefit. My doctor today assured me that I'm not "3 hours away from paralysis" (when I say I'm given to catastrophic thinking, I'm not kidding!), but he did give me a balanced, if sobering, assessment of my likely future. That assessment combined with your thoughtful remarks encourages me to continue with PT for the present but also continue to educate myself on possible surgical choices for the future WHILE developing a meditation practice. I've just completed the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, so am still quite the amateur meditator. I hope I'll get better at it, so if the time does come for me to have surgery I'll be much better prepared mentally/emotionally for it. What a vision: to go calmly into the future. Thanks so much for your wise words. Pat
@pat75 Thanks, Pat. Even if you're not ready for surgery, you might be interested in this discussion I started about how to face fear of medical procedures. At the beginning is a video I did for a podcast and we talked about some of this. For me, this was a very important life lesson that could only be learned when the time was right. I knew I needed surgery and I kept seeing surgeons who didn't want to help me (not at Mayo), and I was always anxious every time I was meeting a new surgeon about what my outcome would be. I had skyrocketing anxiety every morning for 4 months when I thought about having spine surgery. It was real.... and necessary because my spinal cord was compressed so I knew I couldn't escape, and I couldn't let my fear make this decision. The day that I began to turn things around was the day I asked myself why I was doing this to myself? As I sought an answer to that mystery, I began to unravel and understand and make friends with my fears. The day I had spine surgery, I asked my surgeon to see me before the procedure because I wanted to thank him for helping me, which he did. Gratitude chases away fear, and I was even curious and looked around in the operating room. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-can-i-defeat-my-anxiety-about-medical-tests-and-surgery/
What did you learn in your mindfulness program that has helped you?
I had a tubal ligation and they said I have two fishy clips tho I had the laser surgery..but I thought the sealed my tubes with the lasers.... But my back hurts worse than pregnancy contractions but I don't know what to do ...any suggestions
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@pat75 Thanks, Pat. Even if you're not ready for surgery, you might be interested in this discussion I started about how to face fear of medical procedures. At the beginning is a video I did for a podcast and we talked about some of this. For me, this was a very important life lesson that could only be learned when the time was right. I knew I needed surgery and I kept seeing surgeons who didn't want to help me (not at Mayo), and I was always anxious every time I was meeting a new surgeon about what my outcome would be. I had skyrocketing anxiety every morning for 4 months when I thought about having spine surgery. It was real.... and necessary because my spinal cord was compressed so I knew I couldn't escape, and I couldn't let my fear make this decision. The day that I began to turn things around was the day I asked myself why I was doing this to myself? As I sought an answer to that mystery, I began to unravel and understand and make friends with my fears. The day I had spine surgery, I asked my surgeon to see me before the procedure because I wanted to thank him for helping me, which he did. Gratitude chases away fear, and I was even curious and looked around in the operating room.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-can-i-defeat-my-anxiety-about-medical-tests-and-surgery/
What did you learn in your mindfulness program that has helped you?
I had a tubal ligation and they said I have two fishy clips tho I had the laser surgery..but I thought the sealed my tubes with the lasers.... But my back hurts worse than pregnancy contractions but I don't know what to do ...any suggestions