[hurtjay22]

This forum is awesome. I fell down icey steps in January 2004 and my life has changed dramatically ever since. I had an MRI and was told that my L4-L5 disc was bulged. I tried medication and physical therapy for a couple months and then had a steroid injection, which didn't help at all. So I kept on doing the exercises that the PT gave me at home for the past year and nothing was getting better, just worse. I had my second MRI and was told that the disc was bulged and that it was DDD. I was supposed to get a discogram in January 2005 but chickened out. Finally I got the discogram in May 2005 and boy was it painful. The disc was definitely the cause of my pain.
On my follow-up appointment my doctor told me that I could either get a fusion or and ADR and that I am a good candidate for the ADR. I'm going to have a consultation with Dr. James Yue from Yale New Haven Hospital July 21, 2005.
I've been reading everyones posts on this website for the past few months, and since I'm getting close to making a decision as to what surgery to get, I thought it was time to say Hello to everyone and share my experience with everyone as time goes on. Everyone's experiences have been very informative and hopefully my experiences can be informative for others as well. I look forward to conversing with you all. I'm only 22 but am hoping for the best so I can get my life back.
Thanks for reading my post.