My Real Nightmare:// Collecting 538 Spinesteins

Hi !

I???ve decided to finally concentrate on a goal I set last year!

I???m trying to collect 538 Spinestein Minipets...

And here???s why! (Long story ahead!)
Skip to the bottom of you don???t want the back story
On the 1st of February 2017 I started getting bad lower back pain (I???d just turned 21) and I tried to get a doctors appointment for months with no avail. I had doctors ring me back for them to tell me to take painkillers, then stronger painkillers and then even stronger painkillers, all the while, never actually SEEING me. They all said ???It sounds like sciatica, should go in a few weeks???. The first time I actually saw a doctor was in October 2017 after sitting in A&E for 4.5 hours in complete agony.
The pain was getting progressively worse over time.
They signed me up for physio and overdosed me on meds
Physio didn???t help at all, often it made the pain worse.

I continued to complain to my doctors every week and they just weren???t interested at all. By the time it got to February 2018 (A whole year later!) I was no longer sleeping at night from the pain. I was getting 0-3 hours (in 20/30min bursts) every night and still going to work Monday-Friday. The pain was constant. From my lower back, all down my left leg and into my foot. All day, every day, no relief. And always worse at night.
Not only that, I was now bent over forward just above the hip where I physically could not stand up any straighter from the agony.

The doctors finally took some notice in March and in the April I was sent for a MRI. It came back inconclusive.
By the middle/end of June I was beside myself with pain and lack of sleep.
And it was then, when I told my mum I was going to kill myself because I couldn???t continue to live like that anymore because if I could look and live like I was and nobody in the medical profession cared after 16months, I was never going to get anywhere.
She brought me straight down to our GP and got me an immediate appointment by saying what I said and it was only then when I was crying to the doctor that I just want to die that they took any notice.
16 months of progressive pain and trying to get doctors notice.

They sent me to a specialist 4 days later who did another MRI and I got the results a few days later at work... I had a tumour growing off my spinal cord and I needed emergency surgery.

If they???d left me without surgery, I would have 100% ended up paralysed. If they???d slipped during the surgery, paralysed.
I had to make a choice between more pain and definite paralysis or potential paralysis/permanent nerve damage (or death, standard surgery warning). I was in the mind frame of I can???t live with the pain and if I end up paralysed through surgery, at least I???m out of pain.
On the 23rd of July 2018 I had my first ever surgery. They had to remove a bit of bone from one of my vertebrae to get access to the fluid filled sack surrounding my spinal cord. Then they cut that open and removed the tumour.
It took 5.5 hours to do the surgery and then afterwards I had to lay flat for 4 days before I could sit up slightly on the 5th day. Trying to eat and drink flat is hard so I didn???t manage to keep much down. Days 6-9 was filled with physio learning to walk again. It surprised me just how quickly your muscles fade!
And on day 10, I was finally discharged.

The tumour has been sent off for testing in the meantime and I???m happy to say that it came back benign

18 months after all this started my nightmare was finally over. I had no pain at all, I could stand up straight again and I could sleep!
I still have constant tingling in my left leg but it???s only ever noticeable when I actively think about it

My surgeon was the first person to really take any notice and he gave me my life back. I cannot thank him enough. He came and saw me on the ward every day.
Words simply can???t express my gratitude.
At 22 years old and a cripple, he truly saved my life.

Lol so after that LONG story... 538 Spinesteins!

That???s how many days I spent in pain. 538.
Feb 1st 2017 - July 23rd 2018.

Spinestein - the tumour was in my spine and I have the username Stein! So it???s perfect!

I currently have 55/538

Any donations would be hugely appreciated as I???ve a long way to go! But I???m also paying 30k each! Just let me know if you have any to sell!

Thank you if you???ve read all of that, I definitely went off on one a bit!

As great as everyone was in the hospital, I???ve done my stay and hopefully won???t have to do it ever again!