Last January I started to have tailbone pain. It came and went, and then came and stayed. Sitting became excruciatingly painful. Sitting through church required a lot of wiggling around trying to find a position that didn't cause pain. Driving short distances hurt. Driving long distances required pain killers and it still hurt. Sitting in my recliner to read a book was replaced with laying in bed because even a comfy chair was no longer comfy.
In May I decided to see the doctor. She ordered an xray which showed lucency of my sacrum and the radiologist recommended a ct scan for clarity. Being the internet doctor that I am, I looked that up. And everything I found looked bad. Cancer bad. Bad, bad, bad. I had the ct scan and then sweated bullets for three days waiting for the results to come back. I have cancer. Of course I don't have cancer. I am going to die. I am going to be fine.
Finally the nurse called me with the results. They found nothing on my ct scan. Nothing. I was so relieved that it wasn't cancer that I decided I could live with not being able to sit for a while longer.
By fall I decided to try again. This time I was referred to an osteopathic manipulation doctor. She twisted and pressed and finagled my spine into proper alignment--and it did nothing. My tailbone still hurt. I went back three more times before deciding that this just wasn't helping. I asked my doctor for an MRI thinking maybe the ct scan and xray missed something. My doctor referred me to a spine doctor instead.
I went to that appointment thinking, "Yes! A specialist! He will fix me." He was a jerk. He was the all-knowing doctor and I was the ignorant peasant. In the end he offered me steroid shots as the only solution, and they may or may not work. I said no thank you.
This is where I hit the lowest of the lows. I got into my car and cried. No one in the whole world could help me. I had tried every doctor that could possibly help me and no one could. I cried out to God in supplication: God, I can't fix this. The doctors don't seem to be able to fix this. Unless You do something, I am going to live in pain for the rest of my life. Please fix me. You are my only hope.
There was one last avenue that my doctor had left on the list. She referred me to a pelvic floor physical therapist. It was a long shot, but I was desperate. I didn't have much hope, but I had nothing to lose.
I met Karen on December 2. Tailbones weren't exactly her specialty, but she'd dealt with them a few times before and had helped the women get out of pain. Suddenly I was hopeful. She quickly ascertained that my tailbone was stuck in the "I am standing up" position. When I went to sit down, my tailbone wasn't curling under like it was supposed to, so I was literally sitting on my tailbone. Ouch. Karen worked her magic, told me I would be in pain for a few days, but then it would go away. I nodded, didn't really believe her, and left.
I should have believed her. Oh my! I hurt way worse for two days. I wanted to cry because it didn't work!
On day three, I sat down to eat breakfast and noticed something strange. I wiggled around a little in my chair just to be sure, but the pain was gone. My constant companion for almost a year was just gone. I didn't know what to think.
For the next week I tested it out. I sat on chairs I would never have sat on before; nope, no pain. I sat on the floor to fold laundry, which always caused pain before. Not anymore. Driving? Nope. Church? Nope. Well, huh. She really fixed it. She really fixed it. She really fixed it!!!
I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and went from appointment to appointment trying to find someone who could take the pain away. And finally, I was healed.
I had my birthday in December. Out of all the presents that I received between both my birthday and Christmas, the ability to sit without pain was hands down the best present. God gives the best presents.
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