Olivia DeMoray Step by Step

In January 2012, I was injured while training with the United States Army at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Because of the fast pace of training, I did not receive proper medical care and was pushed along the line - like so many others.

Upon return to San Diego, I was seen at California Orthopaedic Institute, where an MRI revealed a torn labrum in my right hip. The doctor recommended surgery immediately to repair the injury. The outpatient surgery was performed October 2012. After surgery, I attended physical therapy regularly, but continued to experience pain over the course of the next 2 years. Further MRI and X-ray imaging evaluated by doctors and specialists did not show any significant changes to my body's structure and I was dismissed as having phantom pain. Physical therapists insisted that the pain and symptoms would improve with time and therapy, but they did not.

After years of pain in my hip, I began to experience numbness in my right leg and back spasms at the end of 2015. After months of referrals I met with an Orthopedic PA at NTC Medical Center in July 2016. Based on my symptoms, the PA told me she assumed I had at least one herniation on my spinal cord. I received an MRI and one week later her suspicions were confirmed: herniations of L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1 as well as 2 synovial cysts. An MRI of my hip also revealed that the labrum had torn again.

I am currently in the process of speaking with orthopedic specialists and surgeons at NMCSD Balboa to create a treatment plan and discuss the short-term and long-term effects of my injuries, as well as a timeline for surgery. In the meantime - please follow along with updates and help me make this journey, step by step, to being pain free.