Into. Hello

JL · #1 02-05-2005, 03:18 PM

Hello, I'm JL, new to this site and boards in general and my back hurts. And I want it to go away. I feel odd reading stuff and not participating but I don't want to be an expert, because there is more knowledge here than what I know. I have always liked the saying that it is what you learn after you know everything that counts. I am a lifting casualty from 1991 with at least an L5-S1 something. See, I have to work on stuff. Actually I have had a few MRI's and a discogram and I'll be darned if anyone has a consensus yet. Within the last year there has been a murmur of fusion and let's see\wait for ADR if you can, that is why I am here. I have issues from diagnosis to insurance to daily pain management to symptoms and on and on.

Harrison · #2 02-05-2005, 03:50 PM

JL, welcome to the community! There are many helpful, experienced and compassionate people that offer their support to people just like you.

Are you comfortable with your diagnosis -- in terms of understanding it? What are your next steps, if any?

I am glad you found us...I hope we can help!

smc · #3 02-05-2005, 04:05 PM

Welcome to the board JL

JeffreyD · #4 02-05-2005, 05:44 PM

JL,
Welcome.....you have come to the right place.
I was in the same boat as you 5 years ago when I had back problems and could not get any real answers or definitive solutions from my doctors. I was forced to do research on my own which meant I had to sift through a ton of stuff to gain accurate knowledge. I never set out to learn all the medical stuff in particular, but I wanted to know how to get an accurate diagnosis of my back problams and I wanted to explore every available solution.
If this board would have been in existence then, it would have saved me a ton of time.
I sincerely hope you learn alot about your back and what options are out there to help you.
Jeff

Judy · #5 02-06-2005, 04:35 AM

Hi, JL, I am also from Connecticut. Who is your doctor? I see Dr. Yue out of Yale New Haven which I highly recommend before making any decisions. He was doing the ProDisc trials and he has been taught by one of the best in the world, Dr. Bertnagoli from Germany. Dr. B performed my surgery in October and getting better all the time. If you would like any information please feel to e-mail me and I can give you Dr. Yue contat information.
Dr. Yue is great and will spend as much time with you as needed, which is very rare for someone so busy.
One last thought is that I would do alot of research prior to having the fusion.
Judy

Ann F · #6 02-06-2005, 07:18 AM

JL.
I, also am from CT and I also highly recommend Dr. Yue. I have been his patient for around 5 years and he is great. He also sent me over to Dr Bertagnoli last month for an ADR on C6-7. I am 3 weeks post op and except for some achiness I am headache free. ADR is a far better solution than fusion. I've had fusions as well, six years ago, before ADR technology was available. I was in a hard collar for at least 8 weeks, and out of work for that amount of time. After my ADR, I was driving 10 days post op and just started a new job 2 1/2 weeks later!!
Although I'm a "cervie", feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Ann

Nichole · #7 02-06-2005, 11:30 AM

Welcome JL,

I think we all have been right where you are at. We all started with and injury and had to do alot of research to gain the knowledge we have. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have. If you need to just vent please post that as well. You will be amazed with the support that you will receive here. I too am fairly new to this board and have received more support than I had ever dreamed of.

Feel free to email me as well if you need anything.

Nichole

Poncho · #8 02-06-2005, 04:56 PM

Hi JL,

Welcome to the forum. Like you, I was a lifting casuality too (among other things)...L5-S1 was problematic along with L4-5. Then, I eventually had them replaced after lots of research.

I have been researching in the spine world for some time now and I am always learning something new with it. Soooo- don't feel bad - you are not alone. After awhile, you will pick up on the "lingo" - I come from a healthcare background and have found myself learning things from other patients with no medical background. You will catch on. Feel free to ask us questions - that is how we learn and what we are here for.

If you can, we will need more information regarding your situation - to help you or offer possible suggestions(if you want us to). A good place to start would be asking your current surgeon/physician to write down what your diagnosis(s) or what they "suspect" is wrong and obtain radiology reports as to what the radiologists are seeing in your MRI's, CT's, Myleograms & etc.

Please keep in mind that we are not physicians or surgeons, but fortunately or unfortunately (depends on how you look at it) - odds are that one of us here has been through or is currently going through the same or similar experiences as you are currently - and willing to share information obtained through these experiences.

I hope that you are able to find relief soon and that perhaps on of us here can help you.