Greetings, folks!

I thought I'd go ahead an introduce myself here, rather than in the general area to people who mostly do not 'get' what we in here all experience and take for granted.

My name is Cameron, and I'm an Adjunct Professor of English (this means officially part-time, contract work from term to term --even if I've been there 7 years--, and low pay --less than minimum wage even though I generally teach a full courseload). After 10 years without insurance, I was finally offered it this year, thanks to some sympathetic administrators, and just in time!

I've had a bad L5-S1 disc for 17 years now, but have avoided surgery. In the past three years, however, I've developed at time excruciating pain in my tailbone, a mid-upper back disc, and my neck (C5-C6), along with all the lovely embarrassing symptoms (including a few the neurologist and neurosurgeon can't explain) a bad spine entails.

Now I'm told I need immediate surgery (ACDF, with artificial disc, if the absolutely *horrible* insurance state health plan grants to members in South Carolina will approve it) or risk the loss of my limbs. Not for the pain in my mid and lower back, as the insurance company still won't authorize MRI's for those, but for the neck where the stenosis is occurring. What can I say, degenerative disc disease is a blast, isn't it?

*admin edit*

So why, then, am I here? I'm hoping to find this a supportive community of others who suffer similar problems and have undergone or face similar surgeries, and who understand the often embarrassing personal symptoms that come with having a bum spine.

I'd like to find support, empathy (my wife does get tired of my 'whining' constantly <grin>), and friends to offer support to in return.

One main reason I feel the need for help at this moment is the anxiety. I know that the surgery is becoming commonplace, but still don't know if my insurance company will cover the artificial disc and my mind is haunted by the ever-present 'what ifs' like paralysis or death resulting from the surgery.

Cameron