Parents know having something slowing you down
can make it hard to keep up with your kids,
so today we're starting off the show
with a story about overcoming chronic pain
and getting back to family time.
Tammy Rill first starting dealing with pain
after an injury as a teenager.
- That was it.
It put me down and I ended up with x-rays, ultrasound.
It felt like a dull sword jabbing.
It would just radiate down to my leg.
My leg would be real heavy and achy
and depending on how much activity I did
or how much walking, the pain would get worse.
- [Jane] At first, doctors weren't sure what was going on,
and the pain only increased as she expanded her family.
- I actually delivered early because
I hurt so much in my back that I couldn't
really just walk around.
I was just frustrated because I couldn't
even remotely keep up with them.
So frustrated, for sure, at my body.
- [Jane] Tammy tried several treatments,
but nothing quite took her pain away,
keeping her from fully enjoying family time.
- Someone would offer it to me, I would try it.
It never left and no doctor could find what the problem was.
- [Jane] It took consultations with numerous doctors
over the years, but Tammy eventually
learned what was going on.
(gentle music)
- She had some fairly typical physical exam findings
that suggested that she had a painful sacroiliac joint.
It's a joint between the pelvis and the tailbone.
Sacroiliac joint disfunction.
It refers to a sacroiliac joint that is stable,
which basically means it hasn't had a fracture,
a tumor, something like that, but it's chronically painful,
so basically it's been hurting for more than three months.
Very often, it's painful to sit.
- Sitting was bad for me in the past.
Eating dinner with my family, even, I couldn't do.
I'd eat in bed.
- [Jane] Doctor Boyer and Tammy agreed
that a new surgical procedure was the best step forward.
- It's a minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion,
so you were placing screws, usually two or three screws,
directly through the joint and connecting those two bones
together so there's no longer any stress
on the ligaments that surround the joint
or the cartilage of the joint
and most patients end up becoming
relatively pain free after that.
- And I was like, yes!
That's what I need.
- [Jane] Tammy knew right away
that the surgery was a success.
(plucky music)
(family cheering and clapping)
- I literally woke up with the pain gone.
The pain that I had had for 30 years was gone.
I've been starting life over again and
living it the best I can.
- Really, by her first post-operative visit,
which was in about a month, had already had
pretty dramatic reductions in her pain.
- [Jane] Feeling better, Tammy's priority
was focusing on her family.
- Even the simple stuff to me is so awesome.
Stuff that I never could do because
I knew it would be so painful for me.
I actually get to sit at the table,
play games for hours.
It's the little stuff that people take for granted.
That's the stuff that I really am cherishing.
- We still expect her to make some continued improvement
really over the next four years or so.
She's doing very well, but I expect
her to continue to get better.
(confident music)
- I'm completely new, a new woman, a new mom.
Anything you name, I couldn't do before
so everything is just bonus.
It's just wonderful and it just brought us
closer together knowing that we're a family.
We can help each other out.
That's how I made it, just one day at a time,
and with my family behind me.
- [Jane] Both Doctor Boyer and Tammy
say that anyone dealing with long-term pain
should continue to ask questions
until they get the help they need.
- If it's been there for more than a month
or six weeks, the likelihood at that point
that's it's gonna resolve spontaneously
is pretty slim so they really should check in
with their healthcare provider.
- Just keep hope that the day will turn.
Keep hope alive that one day things will get better.
(family laughing)