Upcoming L4-5 ADR Axiomed Freedom Disc Trial

[femalepowerlifter310]

Hi Everyone,

I just joined & this is my first post here. I've had back issues since I was a kid, having herniated my L4/5 at 16. I was in pain til 22 when I met my first chiropractor who performed a miracle with it which led me to a career in powerlifting and stunts.

I could go on and on about the various pains and injuries in the last 20 years, but I finally decided enough was enough, and to get a referral and see a doctor just this January. I imagined I would be Rx'ed some alternative therapies and sent on my way. I wound up at UCLA's Spine Institute, where Dr. Rasouli quickly determined thru a barrage of tests that I suffer level 2 DDD in L4/5 making me a candidate for ADR. Even with two insurance coverages in two states, no one would cover this, so he told me about the Axiomed clinical trial at Cedars Sinai and I signed up.

It's been quite a whirlwind, and quite frankly I'm scared and feeling somewhat frantic trying to collect all the info I'll need. It's in my best interest to do this quickly if it's my only option - which for my lifestyle I'm thinking it is. I'm also currently between jobs and have my husband and best friend to help me thru recovery. I'm afraid of fusion as movement is so vital to me. And I'm afraid to wait - the doctor said I have two years at BEST for ADR before I'd have to get a fusion... and realizing that my nerves aren't compressed yet but I'm in this much pain... I don't want to discover what's next on the misery level. Plus, my timing was amazing for this clinical trial - without this I wouldn't be able to do much of anything aside from fusion.

As a side note - in 08 I raced between jobs to get meniscus removal / acl repair after years of suffering, and was so astonished at the pain reduction the same day of surgery... I'm hoping for something similar here. I recently realized, quite tearfully, that I'm not sure I remember what being out of pain actually feels like.

Every time I start to chicken out, I have to try to get out of bed, try to move without pain, try to bend over without supporting my upper body with hand on knee... I also see both of my parents in pain from similar things, who now cannot move without extreme pain. My life is 99% physical, I can't live happily without getting my body back. My career, my sports, and also I'm an avid horsewoman with a fantastic gaited horse who'll be waiting for me to recover. (For those of you out there who love horses, gaited horses are the easiest / smoothest for those with back pain to ride.)

At this point my muscular / disc weakness won't allow me to even lie down w/o discomfort, I can't do my usual workouts, can't mount my horse (though I can ride, albeit fearfully since I'm protecting my back), can't dance like I used to... heck I can't even stand around in line or at a museum without doing "the pain dance". And the thought of zipping on a body wire is simply out of the question.

The other person I found so far on here who is a patient out of the same place sounds like she had a miraculous recovery - I'd love to speak with her at length.

I feel SO blessed to have qualified for the study at Cedars, I feel I have a top doctor and going to the top hospital... yet I'm still well aware of the risks, not sure how I feel about Pro Disc vs Freedom (not that I'll have the choice- I'll know when I wake up), and want to know EVERYTHING about recovery and how to do this right. I have years of sports and discipline to call upon, as well as a relatively high threshold for pain.

And I'm hoping my scar will be small... anyone ever put a tattoo over it?
Thanks for your time y'all. This is half info gathering, half therapy...

---
L4-5 herniation 1989
17 years of chiropractic care
QL muscle tear 2001
1 year of physical therapy
Discovery of Pilates 2008 after weightlifting became misery
2009 fell off crazy horse I no longer own, compounding pain
Epidural for pain 2010
Signed up for Axiomed ADR clinical trial - surgery date Feb 22, 2010

[scduggan]

Dear Powerlifter,

Wow, you are my twin! (except for the powerlifting and horses) If my math is correct you are close to my age. Your struggles sound just like mine. I am also enrolled in the Axiomed trial with a surgery date of February 18th. The only advice I have is spend as much time as you can researching. The surgical outcomes section has lots of people you can read about. I have to admit I am really jealous of the whirlwind nature of your upcoming surgery. I feel like I have been working to get to this point forever.

My surgeon here in Tennessee told me Texas Back and Cedars Sinai are two REALLY great places to go for ADR.My most important question for my surgeon at Texas Back Institute was "is there any reason to wait?" He said absolutely NOT! I am very loyal to my workouts but have had to tone them WAY down in this last year. I still shuffle into the gym several days a week just to do SOMETHING. Our fitness levels will help us tremendously.

Please keep us posted and you can PM me sometime if you want to talk to someone in the same boat. I contacted a girl who received the Freedom disc last April. She is doing really well and back to about 95% of her pre-bad back workout levels. Welcome to the website!
CD

[femalepowerlifter310]

Thanks for responding! I wrote you a PM saying we should stay in touch thru our recovery, could be really helpful!

While perusing thru articles tonight, including some very sad info on how much suffering older football players go thru, I found the most positive study on ADR done on athletes of levels from recreational thru pro, swimming thru wrestling and sky diving! It's SO positive, I feel much more confident in my journey after this. I thought I'd share this with everyone, it might prove to be as comforting as it was for me. I hope it is!

Read the article here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2219656/

I also ordered an interesting book and cd about preparing for surgery emotionally and physically, and the healing process afterward. I'll post more about it when I receive the amazon box on Tuesday!

Love to the ADR community,
FPL310