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Your ribs hurt, your heart races, your stomach is off, you can’t take a deep breath, and somehow you keep getting told the problem is “just anxiety.” That gap between what you feel and what you’re told can make anyone doubt themselves, especially with thoracic herniated disc symptoms that don’t look like the classic lumbar or cervical patterns.

I sit down with Sophia, a Chilean artist living in Brooklyn, whose life flips overnight after an accident leaves her with multiple herniated discs including severe thoracic disc herniation at T7-T8. She shares what it’s like to spend months searching for a thoracic spine MRI referral, hearing “too rare” from doctor after doctor, and realizing the thoracic spine can create rib pain, shoulder blade pain, heart palpitations, trouble breathing, gastric issues, brain fog, headaches, and even autonomic dysfunction when the spinal cord is involved. We also talk about the very real emotional toll of being dismissed, sedated, and forced to keep pushing when you’re exhausted.

Sophia explains how she taught herself spine anatomy, hunted down thoracic case reports, and finally found a surgeon who performed a transpedicular thoracic discectomy. She walks us through the procedure, why thoracic spine surgery is more complex, what recovery restrictions look like (no bending, lifting, twisting), and how physical therapy helps you rebuild after being bedridden. After getting her life back, she turns that hard-won knowledge into action by building a support group and the Thoracic Spine Health Foundation, connecting people to information and doctors who actually understand thoracic disc disease.

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