In hopes of understanding the trials and perseverance skills related to the life of LW, I recently spoke with LW concerning her diagnosis of sciatica. LW is a 65-year-old female subject who enjoys helping disabled persons. She currently owns a business, which functions as a sponsor-residential agency. As an executive director, her job is to pair disabled persons with a willing sponsor to ensure they are cared for and have a home. However, before she discovered this career path, LW was previously an Administrative Assistant and Discharge Planner. Once, she retired from those occupations she later began experiencing severe back pains, which are now referred to as sciatica. Before speaking with LW, I had never known the trials that she had to overcome throughout the weeks relating to this condition, because she has such a positive attitude and bubbly personality. She is always providing critical advice and looking at the overall outlook of life.
LW explains sciatica as “a condition that involves a slipped disk in one’s back and affects their sciatic nerve” (LW 2022). Recent studies describe sciatica as being a diagnosis relating to “…symptoms of radiating pain in one leg with or without associated neurological deficits on examination” (Jensen et al., 2019). Her first encounter of this condition was roughly eight years ago, during her retirement period. She stated that she had been preparing to leave her mother’s house for Easter. She explained, “I bent down to put my heels on and wasn’t able to get back up, due to a sharp, lingering pain in my lower back.” LW admitted in this moment she felt scared, but tried to take deep breaths and slowly lower herself back down into her chair. The next day, LW explains that she scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic specialist. After running a few tests and MRI scans, the specialist diagnosed LW with having sciatica. Studies show that there is no specific test for sciatica but a combination of positive findings during examinations (Jensen et al., 2019). It is largely based on one’s symptoms and history of leg and lower back pain. LW’s slipped disk in her spinal vertebrae contributes to her pain occurrences relating to sciatica. She describes her symptoms as painful outbursts in her lower back, and sometimes her upper leg, that occurs roughly every three months. LW explained that these painful outbursts of sciatica can come for a total of two days and only affect her lower back. Or they can come for a total of five-to-six days and affect both her lower back and legs. She also explained that within these days of occurrences, she experiences these pains every thirty minutes causing her to have to stand up because otherwise, she will not be able to move at all, due to the achy discomfort when seated. Though, she cannot stand for long because that also negatively impacts her comfort levels as well. It is important to note that these pains do not only affect individuals in one form, but many, offering many limitations to movement. Unfortunately, these pains come with no warning and affects everything LW may have planned for the week, including hair appointments, relaxation, and more. However, because of LW’s character, she manages to work around these “obstacles.” We can see that sciatica pushes LW to build character in terms of dealing with these pains head on and not letting them dapper her days.
Upon hearing her initial diagnosis, LW stated, “I felt relieved to have found closure in what was going on.” This made her anxious as to what the “next steps” were and the potential treatment options for this condition. She stated that her doctor recommended surgery, but LW refuses, due to her friends’ previous experiences and opinions regarding surgery. She also stated that her specialist referred her to a physical therapist, which she loved. LW explained how the specialist put her in a machine for 45 minutes that massaged her back, and she stated this helped lessen the pain and reduce the frequencies in which sciatica occurred. LW no longer attends these sessions because her insurance only covered 10 sessions at a time. She also was prescribed with steroids but has not been able to retain another prescription due to her orthopedic specialist moving to a different state and not having good relations with new orthopedic specialists she has found. She currently uses a back brace and Tylenol, which helps lessen the pain at times, but she cannot use the back brace in the car because it is uncomfortable. As a result, LW does not drive when sciatica occurs. Conveniently, since LW owns her own business, she is able to call out when she needs to and make according arrangements. Common treatments surrounding this condition are exercise and manual therapy, pain medications, spinal injections, and surgery. Studies showed that surgery provided the fastest relief period compared with prolonged conservative care, such as pain medications (Jensen et al., 2019).
Indulging more personally into LW’s experience with her primary care providers, LW has discovered mixed emotions regarding the healthcare field. LW explained that she felt the new, young doctors do not take the time to actually get to know you or your condition. As previously stated, LW loved taking part in physical therapy, however had to stop due to insurance coverage. Well, five years later, LW decided that she wanted to try and get back to physical therapy sessions, but needed a referral from an orthopedic specialist. The new orthopedic specialist she started seeing, only gave her the referral form to fill out herself, instead of actually calling in his referral! LW stated, “When I called the physical therapist I wanted to schedule, they told me they needed the actual doctor to call and not just the form.” She continued with, “So you see new specialists aren’t as friendly. They are also so quick to offer surgery, when I have clearly stated I don’t want surgery.” Recent articles explain that technology may be the cause for diminished rapport between patients. One example is medical devices. Medical devices can be denoted as physical barriers and prevent the establishment of rapport even amidst physical touching between nurses and patients. For instance, nurses no longer have to take blood pressure manually because there are machines that automatically determine these measurements (Dean, 2022).
Before the end of our interview, LW stated that she did not believe the younger generation could bear with this condition. LW stated that, “it takes a lot of patience and maturity. It would prevent kids from going to practice, and ruining their plans would, of course, be the end of the world.” As interesting as this point of view is, sciatica is present in many children. However, it is present from a different standpoint, which is through growing pains. These pains nearly affect twenty percent of children and are caused due to the stress that one’s body can undergo when growing rapidly. Fortunately, these pains resolve themselves within a year or so and mainly take place in the upper leg versus the lower back (Cooper Family and Pediatric Chiropractic, 2018). We can infer that these children definitely do not have to endure these pains, on average, as long as LW has endure them.
Throughout, this interview process, I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to speak with LW and understand the trials she seeks to overcome when dealing with sciatica. I also have gained a lot of respect for LW’s positive demeanor towards her condition, and her efforts to not let it negatively impact her mental health and everyday goals.
Works Cited:
Dean, Sue. “Are Our Busy Doctors and Nurses Losing Empathy for Patients?” The Conversation, The Conversation US, Inc., 9 Feb. 2022, https://theconversation.com/are-our-busy-doctors-and-nurses-losing-empathy-for-patients-68228.
Jensen, Rikke K, et al. “Diagnosis and Treatment of Sciatica.” BMJ, vol. 367, 2019, p. l6273., https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6273.
LW.[pseudonym].Interview. Conducted by Ariana Jenkins, 10 April 2022
“Leg Pain in Children: Cooper Family and Pediatric Chiropractic.” Welcome to Cooper Family and Pediatric Chiropractic, 19 July 2018, https://www.kids-chiropractor.com/leg-pain-in-children/.
Featured Image:
Chhatre, Akhil. “Lower Back Pain: What Could It Be?” Johns Hopkins Medicine, John Hopkins Medicine, 4 Apr. 2022, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/back-pain/lower-back-pain-what-could-it-be.