[TPatti]

I was short on time the other night when I made my formal introduction and knew I had write something to give Dr. Clavel a little more info on my history so I though I would share here as well:

Back pain history : I am a triathlete and before back pain started my typical weekly workout would consist of cycling 150 to 170 miles, running 18 to 21 miles, and swimming 2 to 4 miles. My first signs, and at that point I did not think they were back related, were unstable left SI joint and IT band discomfort. I started by cutting back the running and was seeing chiro once a week to keep putting my left SI back along with a lot of self adjustments as well. That progressed to PT, eventually working with three different PT’s. I tried prolotherapy with the thought that I might have some ligament laxity causing the unstable pelvis, helped some but not better. Prolo doc even tried 3 sessions of PRP. He mostly worked my left SI, but did do some work on right Si and lumber area of L4/5 and L5/S1. 2nd PT thought I better see a neurosurgeon when my pattern of getting a little better after rest would go downhill once more activity was added. That led to next step of “conservative treatment,” steroid shots with nerve blocks. In 4 to 5 months they injected left L4/5, right of L4/5, left of L5/S1, left SI join capsule, caudal, and left facet joint of L3/4-L4/5&L5/S1. They all offered some relief, hard to say but most might have been from the caudal. I was cycling 110 to 140 miles a week for a good part of the summer but think it was only because of all the cortisone in me. I was also doing Pilates, 1 private and a group class per week for most of last summer. Again my flare ups started to worsen. Tried decompression with DRX9000, doc wanted me to stop all activity at first to establish a baseline, I would feel good when on machine being stretched, a little sore after, but overall felt I was getting better. My shift was straighter that it had been in a while and my pelvis was staying in alignment-time to start adding activity again. Started with some walking(20 to 30 minutes) and light static core work(planks, leg raises, pelvic tilts, cat dog for stretching, etc) Doing pretty good, decided to go to gym 3 days in row: 5 min. elliptical machine, 5 min. stair mill, 10 min, core work, back extensions(advice of DRX9000 doc) and 100 yards swimming. Not that much, but I felt ok each day and after 3 in a row, so I decided to take a day off just to be safe. Woke up on the 4th day with the start of 5 weeks of constant 4 to 7 pain level, that was 8 weeks ago. New MRI and scheduled for L4/5 fusion, started research found ADRSupport community, canceled fusion, now have to find the answer.