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Old 02-27-2020, 04:15 PM
ummin032 ummin032 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 7
Default New member - collapsed L5-S1 - 27yo M

Hi everyone,

My name is Dustin, I'm 27 years old and have a completely dessicated disc at L5-S1. My symptoms came on just over a year ago after tweaking my back carrying my bike down my apartment building stairs. A few days later, sciatica had my leg on fire and almost out of comission - I was limping pretty badly.

I've considered myself an athlete my whole life. I used to lift pretty heavy weights, not always responsibly , and believe my current condition is a result of feeling invincible and not paying close enough attention to signals from my body.

All my other discs are in healthy shape (my heart goes out to all of you with multiple disc problems). I can get around day-to-day with mild pain, but I can not be as active as I was a year ago. I was on a cycling team, riding 100 miles a week and feeling amazing. Now I go to the gym almost daily, but am very limited, mostly to PT exercises. If I miss the gym 2-3 days in a row, my body punishes me quickly with a painful low back and sciatica. For the first year, my sciatica was isolated to my left side, but now it's traveling to my right side, too.

I take pretty good care of myself, but am severely limited in terms of the active lifestyle I want to live. Snowboarding, cycling, playing tennis, hiking — these are just a few of the things I miss dearly, and hope to return to doing, potentially with the help of an ADR.

I've seen three back surgeons:
- one suggestion fusion (no thanks)
- one wanted to do a spinal decompression (i see it as a very temporary fix)
- one suggested going to Germany for an ADR

I've just submitted a form to Spinal Connection for a consultation, but am treating it as a very initial investigation phase. I'm sure they'll be overly omptomistic about my prognosis, but am trying to keep a balanced, realistic mindset. I know some people here would feel grateful to have the symptoms I have, but I'm still I'm hoping I can get closer to normal, and back to doing the things I love. My biggest fear is the longevity of an artificial disc, as I'm only 27 and need it to last a long time.

Anyway, thats the gist of my story. Reading your stories has been helpful so far. I'm glad I found this community.
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Last edited by ummin032; 03-04-2020 at 01:02 PM. Reason: added screenshot of MRI + changed age (birthday just happened!)
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