The agony....

[back2lifeplease]

So I have been taking anti inflammatory the past couple of weeks and have noticed a big difference in my symptoms. No pain in lower back, you know that achy/burning feeling you get. Not much pain in the legs either. I stopped on Saturday, and it has come back. So do I continue to take anti inflammatory medication until my disc completely fails and risk no ADR or do I just get this over with now. I am so scared about either outcome. Each route looks like a dark tunnel with no light at the end. I talked with Boeree and he is great, wouldn't push me either way. Just told me, you have to be careful with both. He gave me the risks of continuing to take anti inflammatory medication for an extended period of time and the risks of surgery. I am about to turn 37, my biggest fear is being in a wheel chair when I am 50 or younger, and not being able to play with my daughter. If I only knew the operation would work for 40-60 years. I hate being a guinea pig. Just pisses me off that my mind plays tricks on me too.

[laid up doc]

some people do have resolution of symptoms... but per your sig you've had a lot of ups and downs. i can see that it's harder to make a decision when things ebb and flow

if you are really nervous about having something new... consider an older generation disc. there's a balance between knowing what could go wrong and trying the newer design... many people have done great w/ prodisc et al. i was kinda glad the decision was made for me... can't imagine what sort of mental torture i would have put myself through.

there's no rush... if you are feeling better right now, just see how things go. you'll know when it's time to make a decision.

[Cirobi]

While I understand part of your hesitation, I'd like to caution you on the fact that expecting any procedure to last 40-60 years seems a bit unrealistic for the simple fact that your body keeps aging and parts will continue breaking down over time. We're not immortal, even though none of us want to admit it, usually. Our parts break just like our cars or homes. So, it's inevitable that at some point in our lives, we'll need to do some repairs. You could even think of it as a spinal renovation... out with the old, in with the new!

That being said, Europe has been doing disc replacements for a couple decades now (someone can feel free to correct me if that approximation is wrong), so they have quite a bit more experience than docs in the states. Frankly, when I got my ADR done at age 27, I went in with the attitude that I didn't know exactly how long my particular disc would last or heck... the other natural discs in my spine for that matter, but if I got a good 10-15 years out of it, I would be happy. At age 27, I figured that gave me time to get married, start a family and spent a good bit of time chasing after my children before needing another surgery. Seemed and still seems like a good thing to me. And, at almost 4 years post-op with no major issues (aside from pregnancy side effects that I expected due to putting on a bunch of extra weight fairly quickly and becoming a little front heavy with ye ole baby belly), I'd consider myself well on the way to that 10-15 yr goal. If my spine cooperates for longer than that, I'm considering those bonus years.

You can't go into it thinking "oh good, I'm guaranteed to be 100% for a long time." It's better to hope for that and chances are you'll be happy if you do go for a very long time with no further issues.

The other thing to consider with regards to age is ease of recovery. I believe it's a fairly well known fact that the younger your body is, the more likely you are to have an easier recovery simply because the body heals better at younger ages. If you're 37 now and suffering enough to fear major debilitating issues now, consider how it might be to try to recover from the same major surgery at say 42 or 47 yrs of age. It's likely to be harder simply because of the way the body heals. Whereas, at 37, if you're being given a prognosis that there's a really good chance your problems will be taken care of with the ADR surgery, 10-15 yrs will take you into your 50s and the years I personally am calling bonus years would take you close to if not into your 60s. Currently, my mom just turned 60 this year. I'm 30. So, depending on when your kids were born, at that age, running after them might not be part of the equation. It might be more of just visiting them and comfort level in a car or on a plane.

I posed a similar line of thought to my mom a couple years ago when she took a tumble while skiing and tore the meniscus in one of her knees. My parents are very active, even if it doesn't look like it from the outside, so the injury to her knee was pretty devastating. In fact, I don't think she's really gone skiing much since then mostly because wearing a knee brace would be necessary but uncomfortable for her. So, she does mountain biking instead. In any case, she was in her late 50s when the injury occurred and I had a few phone conversations with her and my dad on the line where she was trying to convince herself not having surgery would be better. It came down to fear. She was afraid of the surgery as she really hadn't had any major procedures done aside from the two c-sections from me and my brother nearly three decades prior. So, I gave her the comparison of having the surgery now and spending the time to recover now while she was younger or waiting until the pain was so bad that she couldn't walk at all and being 5-10 older and having to take longer to heal. She wound up having the surgery and it wound up being the more minor of the knee procedures she was facing and she's now happy she had it done because she's back to biking 30-40 miles at a time, sometimes more, with my dad.

Anyway, some food for thought. I know, it's a huge decision and not one to be taken lightly, but maybe some of this will help in the decision making process.

~Sara

[back2lifeplease]

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate the great advice. I know what the answer is, I am just scared. I just wish I could see into the future, I am sure we all do. Seeing how my body is reacting after 2 days of not being on anti inflammatory medication says a lot. Time to buck up. Thanks again.

[annapurna]

Remember also that the anti-inflammatories themselves are are damaging your body. There's the known toxicity effects plus the growing body of evidence that long-term use of them leads to increased arthritis. Unfortunately, there's not really any 100% acceptable solution. Both waiting and moving out on any procedure have risks.

[ouch2]

I can completely relate to your worries. When I first found out that ADR was an option for me, I was terrified. I also worried about what would happen in the future and how long the disc would last. I am 40 now.

It is at the point now that I really don't have a choice. The pain is completely debilitating. I take alot of narcotics that I am sure are doing terrible things to my body. Now that I have reached that point and weighed the odds, I am going forward and am quite excited about my surgery in February. The thought of getting rid of some or most of the pain, as well as getting my mobility back is having me count the days.

It is a huge decision, I wish you all the best!

Karen

[back2lifeplease]

Jim,

Thanks for that info. I must say, you have been a big help through my journey on this board and this procedure. I can't thank you enough.

[back2lifeplease]

Karen,

Thanks for your reply. Your response is why I know I have to get this done. I am not as bad as your symptoms were presenting with medication, but without it I was dang near close. I wish you well on your journey and please stay in touch.

Chris