Where do i start??
well,it all happened 25yrs ago in 1979,i had been in 6weeks of Lumbar Traction 24/7, and still had the back pain- so my surgeon ordered a discogram, the disc to be pictured was L4-L5,they were right,that was the bad disc. only when they shot the dye in it exploded
,my options after 72hrs of laying flat with an incredible headache
was a wheelchair with no surgery or a fusion at L4-L5
. I opted for surgery. i was lucky they did a laminectomy,only to collapse several
yrs later. that was pure hell all the time, and started my addiction to pain meds,anti-inflamitories,aspirin and anything else that would help the constant sciatic butt and leg/foot pain.there was no way i was going to another back butcher
! When i went to see Doc Delamarter, i only walked with crutches or canes,my muscles were weak,when i was picked for the trials,i wondered why, but decided to go for it after i checked him out thoroughly,talked to a few of his fusion patients,checks for negative reports,ama and elsewhere.I picked him,not for his experience with the discs, that wasn't his specialty yet. i picked him for his kindness, compassion to my case and shear determination,attitude and time spent with me on my office visits.His willingness to take a chance and experiment with new spinal devices. I was his 2nd two level ever done,that didn't concern me. i knew as i was warned by the Doc that i might not recover to 100%. i might only recover 50 or 70%.
But he did say that this would definetly help ease the sciatic pain. i was settled pretty well for those figures!! My recovery is a long one, and in my eyes is still not complete.I suffered from nerve pain for as long as 1 1/2 yrs post op.
at 6mos i met Mark and Moe, they were also 2 levels, Moe was DocDelamarters 1st 2level,and Mark had 2 charites from munich, they were playing tennis, i didn't think i'd ever feel that good. I was WRONG!! Today, i play Golf am teaching my nephew to play little league baseball, soccer and basketball. get on the ground and wrestle with my neice and nephew, they actually ride on my back as i am the HORSE(maybe it's jackass). they weigh out around 75-80lbs. I am truely Blessed and have a guardian angel looking out for me as in this case with my Prodisc implants. I have recovered at least 100%. have absolutely ZERO back,nerve,sciatic butt,leg pain or swelling. My
incision area is finally all healed,i had a few problems after surgery that finally cleared up on their own after a lot of worrying on my part,1 of them was being impotent, the other i had a problem with bowel control at first. Both problems are now gone. I am still happy that i have had the Prodiscs, and look forward to many many years to come of chronic back pain free days!
i am on Delamarters referral list and anyone can reach me if you have questions at gc2912@aolcom
gary