Introduction
Hello
This is my first post. I feel a bit guilty about that because I am some way along my journey and have used this site along the way for research but have not put back in. So i put that right now.
I have been (and still am) a keen cricketer based in the UK. The act of bowling puts significant strain on the back and in June 2009 felt discomfort and weakness in my lower back.
An MRI conformed that i had a medium rupture of the L5/S1 disc. This caused tightness around the lower back and some low level syatica.
I embarked of a programme of core stability work with an excellent trainer and felt pretty good to the extent I restarted some light physical activity - jogging/ swimming. The plan was to build core stability and during that time assess whether the disc would mend. As i was 40 at the time this was considered unlikely.
However a subsequent MRI around Jan 2010 showed that the disc was actually getting worse. I was seeing a surgeon at the time and his view was to continue with the PT and to see how it went. As i was not in that much discomfort he was not inclined to operate, which was understandable.
In June 2010 I had a big issue. I was just in the park one day playing with the kids, bent down (no doubt in the wrong way) to pick up a ball and my back felt very sore indeed. The next day i needed heavy duty pain killers just to get from my bed to the loo and back.
I further MRI showed I had a very large herniation on the same disc and I had a total disc replacement and spinal deconpression 2 days later. The prosthesis was Maverick.
In terms of recovery the first few weeks are slow, but i was off pain killers after two weeks. I had some burning discomfort that i was quite worried about as it was to opposite side to the original siatica and feared that the procedure had solved one problem but introduced another. After going back to the Surgeon his view that it was probably some nerve irritation as a result to the procedure and would fade in time.
I commenced PT again around 6 weeks post OP and thankfully the burning has indeed subsided and my mobility has returned.
I write this in December 2010 - so 6 moths post OP. I am now doing the pilates based core stability work again, running 3 miles 3 times a week and also building my strength back up in advance of the coming cricket season starting next April.
The purpose of this long post is to say that although it is not always the case and there may well be bumps along the road for me yet, it is possible to get a good outcome from an ADR. There have been some real low points, some dark days - there were points where i just could not see how i was going to get my active life back. There were points where i could not move, there were points where i was very worried that the procedure had not gone to plan and was in pain. However, thanks to the skill of my surgeon, patience, some luck and a lot of hard PT work I'm coming through it.
Anyway best wishes to all of you out there - never loose hope. I'll let you know how the rest of the journey goes.
I'll
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