Oh by the way, I live in Idaho. Outside it's been windy, snowy, raining, nasty. I am originally from Southern California; warm weather! The mall is kitty corner across a rather busy intersection, but warm. Hence, I walk at the mall.

Mike, do you think your surgery would have been as successful if you'd just had a laminectomy done? I'm scheduled for a L4-S1 laminectomy in November. At L1 and L3 I have a herniated disc flattening the thecal sac, centrally. At L4, L5 my foramen and ligament are pinching off my exiting nerve rooots causing severe pain in my legs. We have opted to leave the disc part alone for now and just take care of the nerves. As little intervention as needed. What do you think about this? I'm asking because I believe I can get better to and I'm not wiling to give up just yet.

Thanks,

Username

I am looking for some help as well. I pinched something during labor with child number three and I was ok up until now. In April 2007 my sciatica pain became so great that I gave up running an decided to take some time off to let it heal. Well in August while getting up water-skiing in a shallow lake the fin on the back dragged in the muck and my hips popped forward creating so much pain that I could not walk for over a week. I went to the ER and CT Scan showed mild diffuse disk bulging at L4-L5 and moderate right sided disk protrusion at L5-S1 that contacts right S1 nerve root. Driving a car hurts the most and I am not running at all which is really depressing me. I have been in great shape most of my life and compete in triathlons and I am going nuts not being able to do anything without feeling imense pain all the time. Have you tried anything called the Invertac, and did that help anyone. I am very leery about surgery and not sure if I need it. Oh, and our insurance sucks. I don't have anything that covers any of my back costs.

Desperatly seeking the old me.

Mike; I am about 1/2 way into week 3. I went back to work last Wednesday and by Friday night I was so exhausted, I wound up sleeping most of the weekend. I was in a lot of pain too but I am thinking that was due in part to female problems. It was all I could do to get through yesterday until about 3ish then I came home and walked for the first time since last Thursday. I felt much better after that. Today was rough at work but it was easier then it has been. I don't have it in me to walk today though. I just had a bowl of soup and all I want to do is go to bed.

I am down to 1/2 a pain pill at night though. I think that given my sensitivity to pain meds, any more than that and you'd never wake me up! Tylenol still doesn't quite cut the pain but it helps.

I am managing one hour when I do walk, at 20, then 25, then 30 speed on the treadmill (leveled, no incline). Usually about 2 to 2 1/2 miles. The issue is of course that I need to walk daily and can't seem to do it all. I live alone though and my time off is gone, the rest would be leave without pay.

This has been a rough one, no question about it. And I worry that I can't seem to get enough walking in. The surgeon is getting me a bone stimulator belt that he hopes will help. Did anyone have one of these?

I'm drinking protein powder every morning and taking a ton of vitamins including Calcium, Vitamin D, Glucosomine, antioxidents, etc., in an effort to get my energy back. My co-workers said I'm too thin but I really haven't lost, I think I'm just toning from the walking I am getting in.

Any other ideas out there? I need energy.

Hi Mike,

I've enjoyed reading your posts on here--I'm scheduled for a fusion on Jan 32008 because of multiple reherniations on L4/L5 and L5/S1. I'm glad you posted your story because the more I read about fusions on the internet, the more scared I get!

I just wanted to know how you are doing now? I'm (was) pretty active: skydiver, paraglider, SCUBA and BASE jumper. Now I'm so scared I won't be able to do those things anymore! But it seems like you can pretty much do what you want to do now . . .

Thanks!

Firstly to all, sorry for the slackness in replies i didn't know there had been posts and questions! , please forgive me, ok now to answer you , no worries about posting my story i hope it gives you encouragement and please don't be scared! , we are all here with you and will support you! , i to was very active throughout my life till the pain got to much for me and i had the op (i to sky dived, played football and scuba dived) the first few days after the op i thought i had done the wrong thing, the pain was so intense and i felt like a 90 year old man!...lol...(the first time i stood up after the op i passed out from the pain, but then again i was on no pain meds at all due to a reaction to them)but ignore those thoughts!, you will get better quickly and you will do all those things you love to do again , trust me , just give it time, be patient, one month out of your life to let your body heal and get better is a small price to pay for a life going forward of pain free trouble if you do things right (ie listen to your body take it easy and lots of walking!, walk walk walk until your body says rest , you will know what this means when the time comes and start small at first , my first walk was only 5 meters) ok its nearly my one year anniversary this 23rd dec!..woohoo! and i feel great, i'm playing sport,sky diving and scuba diving and running without pain, honestly this op. changed my life my friends, i'm happy, getting a girlfriend now would be the icing on the cake...lol...but otherwise i'm great, no loss of flexibility, i can still touch my toes (i think crossing the 30 year mark in my life has more to do with losing that now than anything..lol) sciatica has completely gone, no stiffness of muscles after doing exercise, i can lift things without trouble, i can stand up straight after sitting in a chair for more than 30 mins straight without having to place my hands on my lower back to right myself ( do these things sounds familiar ??) no numbness in my legs and i can stand for 3 hours straight watching a concert with getting sciatica (could never do that before, had to squat down every 30 mins or so to relieve the nerve pain) , ok thats enough blabbing from me, hope this helps and please keep me updated mate! i'll be thinking of you

Michael

Hey mate, i couldn't say for sure if i had just had that type of op and not the fusion, but i did tell the surgeon that i wanted to only do this once, so lets do it right the first time and this is the path he suggested to me, i just had to trust his judgment on my situation, i'm no surgeon so i can't really comment on yours, but if you want something less intrusive to your body than this sounds like the way to go, i hope it works and if it doesn't then don't give up mate! , stick with it, trust your surgeon, maybe you could ask this surgeon how many times has this type of surgery been successful for this type of problem ??...for the ones that it didn't fix, what happened to them ??...did they then have a fusion to fix it ??.., thats proberly what i would ask if i was in your shoes mate ..all the best and let me know how it goes ok ??...

Michael

Abby , remember , its not about pounding out the distance, its about listening to your body and doing what you can till it tells you to rest, (ie like when you went to bed instead of walking)...i had up and down days during the month of rest, i remember one night waking up at 3am during week 3 of recovery and trying to touch my toes and because i couldn't (ie it hurt to much) i thought the surgery had failed and i was sad, but the next day i gave myself a verbal kick in the balls to sort myself out and to remind me that it was still early days! as for energy levels your working during the day and walking 2.5 miles halfway through week 3!...no wonder your stuffed mate! ,your body is expelling alot of energy healing and repairing and your asking 2.5 miles o walking from it as well!...i would ease back abit buddy...your body is telling you your over doing it via tiredness...the first time i hit the 2 kms mark was week 4 i think(to put this into perspective 2 kms is only 1.2 miles for week 4) you see where i'm going with this mate ??...i remember the 2 times i over stressed my body and it totally drained me of energy for the day and i stiffened up (ie i over walked it)....your also working to mate so ease up abit, its ok to ease up,your doing great otherwise though! its all part of listening to your body, some heal faster than others, some heal slower , only you can tell...no i don't know what a bone stimulator belt is let alone had one....as for pain killers, i never took them and i'll tell you why, firstly i had a reaction to morphine so i couldn't have that (it made me throw up and when you know what happens when your sick, you convulse your body and this activates the muscles including the back muscles!...very painful when you have just been cut open..lol) i also didn't like to take them because i felt during the healing process they masked the pain to much and i couldn't tell when i had over stressed my body because i had numbed it to the signals, ie your body lets you know its had enough by increasing pain levels,tiredness and stiffening up to stop you doing what your doing!...i did take neurofen pills on really bad days though just to take the edge off,i'm not stupid . hope that helps Abby , let me know how your getting on mate

Michael

Hey Mate, your situation sounds very similar to mine...a progressive loss of quality of life till i reach a point where i felt useless and in constant pain and would get depressed to the point of suicide thoughts, it was that point that drove me to go see the surgeon , i explained to him how i felt and that i didn't want those horrible thoughts in my head anymore. It was slowly over 10 years that i reached that point and i tried everything under the sun during that 10 years that i could find to fix it before opting for surgery and i have to say surgery is the only thing that worked, it was like taking a sledgehammer to the problem, but it fixed it and i cannot deny that....i to water ski and i'm back doing that now ...wouldn't dream of doing it 18 months ago...i never tried Invertac sorry...hope that helps mate

Michael

I am 11 weeks post op now and went in for X-rays yesterday. Wish me luck! My son flew in for Christmas and the boys kept me quite busy and I wasn't feeling well so I didn't walk for a whole week. But I am back at it now. I am taking 2, sometimes 4 tylenol a day but that's it. No ice packs since the surgery, and no pain killers since week 3 I think? Just a word to others out there. Mike is right, you tire easy so watch it. I am taking one protein drink per day and a lot of vitamins!! Primarily, Calcium, Vitamin D and Glucosimine. Those are all good for joints and the bones ya know.

I am terrified of the X-ray report, but anxious to lose the brace provided it's fusing properly. Wish me luck!