Hi

I am a 29yo police officer who injured my back being a ruptured disc at L5/S1 level on the job in late 2004. since then I have been putting on a brave face and continued to work, stupidly enough!!
I have done the physio thing without success and have been managing the pain with Endone, Tramadol, Valium, Painadine Forte for a while now.
I am lucky i suppose in the fact that I did this injury at work and have been looked after well. After seing 3 neurosureons and an orthopedic surgeon I am now booked in for a spinal fusion using an anterior approach. ( I declined the prosthetic disc replacement)
I am new to this chat room thing and guess I am looking for anybody that has had similar injury or experience to me.
I am especially interested in the recovery aspect as I am formally a competative powerlifter and lead a very active lifestyle.
What percentage of people return to a normal active lifestyle after this procedure?

Hello and welcome to NeuroTalk. Great to see you have come to be with us. Just let us know if we can be of any help.

I have listed a Thread where I beleive you may find some assistance.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum22.html

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around.

Darlene

Hi Crawford and welcome to NeuroTalk! I'm sorry for the pain you're experiencing. I'm glad your employer is looking after you since you were hurt on the job - however, it unfortunately doesn't make the pain any less. Please be careful with the powerlifting......my late husband was a powerlifter and worked out 7 days a week. He had alot of problems with his back as he got older and I am quite certain it was because of the lifting he did. BTW...my oldest son is a police officer. Thank you for your service and protection!

Glad you joined us!

Hi, Crawford! Welcome to NeuroTalk!

Thanks for your service. I hope you'll find some helpful information here and know that you are welcome to join in anywhere.


P.S. I didn't do it!

Hello Crawford and welcome to NeurTalk. Sorry about all your back woes. I take Tramadol when my back/spine are really hurting, but it seems like it takes forever to kick in and when it does, it usually just takes a slight edge off. I do have stronger pain meds, but try really hard not to take them, as they bother me in other ways.

Hope you make yourself at home here and check out our many helpful/friendly forums. Glad you found us and as Kelly said, Thank you for your service to your community.