5 Month Post-Op Update

[Wayne]

Hello to all and best wishes for a happy and pain free new year. February 8th will mark my 4 month post-op crossroad. I haven't been as active on this board as I would have liked or intended, but with my life getting back to normal, I've found that there aren't enough hours in the day. Because of my procedure, I've been getting a lot of emails asking questions about ADR in general and my experience with it. So I finally decided apply some time to building information pages on my personal Website to answer questions from friends and colleagues and hopefully regain more personal time for myself as I have a tendency to provide more information than is probably necessary. If I haven't answered emails from here, I apologize in advance and have no excuse except the limitations of time.

At almost 4 months post-op, I have nothing but good news to report. The discomfort from muscle, nerve and vascular trauma as a result of the procedure itself have faded to a point that is very encouraging. I still have slight numbness between my big toe on my left foot but it doesn't restrict me at all and most of the time I don't even notice it. I'm up to about 1/2 mile jog in the morning and walking the rest of the distance (about 3 miles) every other day. Supplemented with regular abdominal exercises, extensive stretching (I really feel it when I don't stretch my hamstrings), moderate cardiovascular and light weights. I feel pretty good and very happy with the ADR outcome.

I'm a little worried about some of the things I've read about the "unconstrained" elements of the Charite vs. the Pro Disc. I wonder if my facet joints are going to wear down in the next couple of years from my activity. But will continue to research to determine if I'm just being paranoid.

It's my sincere hope that others will have similar experiences with an ADR. However, there are no guarantees, but for those inside that 6 month post-op time frame and still not sure, please don't get discouraged, take heart and and keep a good physical therapy routine going. Nearly all the pain and discomfort you feel is most likely muscle, nerve and vascular trauma from the procedure itself (something that isn't given much attention on this forum or counciled by the physicians themselves to their patients. But, my antidotal opinion is that my experience is A-Typical of the ADR and I am feeling increasingly normal.

Best regards to all,

[bmills]

Wayne, glad to thear that. I'm a very new member that is going through the process of considering ADR.

Can you tell me your conditin before surgery?

Thanks.
Brady

[Alastair]

Way to go Wayne, can you put us a link to your website when its ready please?

It sounds as if you are doing all the right things and you sound so good
Best
Alastair

[Harrison]

Wayne, thx for sharing and it's good to hear from you. My 2 cents -- don't worry about any of your spinal elements wearing out...and enjoy your newfound health!

We welcome your story, should you care to share it with others on our patient storiessection.

I have something else I want to share with you too...I'll email it right now.

Welcome back!

[JeffreyD]

Thanks for the update, Wayne.
Congratulations on being busy.........that tells me you are really making steady improvement back-wise!
Regarding facets; have you asked Dr. Zeegers his opnion on this matter?
Keep up the good work,
Jeff

[Wayne]

This reply is to thank everyone and to answer some questions asked. First, this thread states 5 month post-op update, but it's actually 4! Sorry about that.

Brady: If you go to my personal Website, you can get more information on my pre-op condition. I'm not finished with the ADR section of the site, but it's been some help to keep me from spending hours writing emails to people with similar questions. Let me know if you have more. Here's my personal Website link: http://homepage.mac.com/waynebaimbridge/Menu40.html

Alastair: Thanks for your thoughts and I owe you much more than you could possibly know. Feel free to go to my Website. It's nothing compared to this site in the way of help and knowledge, but it's a little better than just supplying links to ADR and Backpain Support sites.

http://homepage.mac.com/waynebaimbridge/Menu40.html

Harrison, I'll try and put together a patient story worthy of posting. As an amateur "award winning" (had to put that in) screenwriter/filmaker, I wouldn't want my story to be boring, without structure, etc... And, I didn't get your email.

Jeffrey: Thanks for the Congrats and no I haven't written Dr. Zeegers yet, but I will, to be sure. I plan on talking to Mark when he's had time to recover from his trip to Germany about it first however, since Dr. Zeegers is a ver busy man, it might take 6 months to get an answer from him. And, by then I'll probably already know all I need to.

[Alastair]

Hi Wayne,
So there you are with Zeegers!! I shall take my time looking around your site.

Its "Tea Time" in the UK so must dash but will come back

Take care and do come back and let us know how you fare in the long term
Best wishes,
Alastair

[andromeda1111]

Wayne

I am glad you are doing so well...I went to your website and checked out your MRI, Wow!! I couldn't believe what your L4 area looked like and what you had to be going through.

Take Care
Laura
(Andro1111)

[Dano]

Wayne, Good for you! Sounds like your making good progress. Harrison and mark both responed to the Facet rumor. This has beeen going around for some time. I would sugest you read the thread on this fourm. Way back 2 years ago I looked into this talked with Bray and Regan at Cedars. Alot of it is marketing. Rick Del. (who I know) is very vocal about any thing he thinks.
There is nothing to worry about. The Charite has been syudyied to death and has 17 years in patients. Listen to Mark and Harrison and enjoy life. Take Care, Dano

[JeffreyD]

Wayne,
If I have any presence of mind at all while in Munich in a few weeks (I have a hard time thinking through the pain some times), I'll try to remember to ask Dr. Zeegers about his thoughts on facet degeneration post-ADR. By the way, your illustrations are original and creative. Are you using a stylus? Keep up the good work.

Jeff