[kimmers]

JJames,

thanks for your comments. It is tough deciding what you are going to do with your back. You know if you have a good PT, when you are feeling bad, they will back off and have you mainly have massage and stretching. It can actually help the pain. A hybrid may be a good option for you, especially if it seems like you are not going to have any problems with your sacroilliac area. My SI joint tends to go out of place time to time so I am not sure I would undergo fusion at L5/S1.
From everything I have heard and read, Dr. Yue, seems to be a great doctor. There are other options with regards to insurance, I have heard of people having a two-level by a one-level trial doc. And I have seen evidence of the FDA allowing surgeries on a compassionate basis.

I would just research. I wouldn't settle for something you don't want. You have to do what is best for you. Remember that.

Sandra D and Racheleddie,

It makes me feel better that other people are feeling like I am. I don't mean I would wish this upon you as this does suck.
I am pretty sure that my L5/S1 was an accident waiting to happen. It could of happened 10 years from now but I am just unlucky for it to have problems now.
You can't believe how good you can feel after an ADR. I was feeling like, "Wow. This is all I needed to do to fix my back and now I can live my life."
It was short-lived, I know, but it was good. I will have more answers about what is going on with my back soon and then I will take it from there.

I cannot get over this separateness, dissassociation, I feel with my life. Of course, there are the facts, I have lost my job, a lot of my love with my hobbies, my career is at a standstill, and I feel like I have aged a lot in 23 months. I am taking more and more pain meds which doesn't help. Again, I am awfully forgetful because of that.
I just don't feel like I can go and go. I felt very different before I had back pain and now I feel kind of lost.
It is like you are looking at life through a fog. Things are just different and the little petty things people complain about seem very trivial when you don't feel well.
Thanks for your thoughts.

kimmers