Thread: Welcome!
View Single Post
  #4  
Old 11-03-2021, 10:34 AM
sebnied sebnied is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 4
Default Thanks a lot!

I feel that Annapurna's comment is the best piece of advice I've received so far in this back pain journey. Thanks so much for that.

My general thinking is that I'm living a life that can be tolerated in the short term, but it will not be acceptable in the long term. I can definitely survive the day OK, go to the office twice a week for around 7-8 hours and the rest of the week work from home. In the office I need to sit/stand every 30 to 60 minutes but that's facilitated by a standing desk. Occasionally I have the possibility to lay down for 15 minutes and that helps. The pain level is around 2/3 during the day and I take painkillers when the pain gets worse and takes away my concentration. I do PT exercises daily for around 20 minutes and that's about it. I need to be very careful what I do as anything outside this routine will unfortunately increase the pain.

Since approximately 2 months has been like this, without noticeable progress. The main problem is that any physical activity is out of question. I am lucky as I do not have any family, live my girlfriend who is supportive and have a flexible job. The big problem is that any important life decision with this current condition is completely out of discussion, step up in my career, having a baby, buying a house, it all seems impossible for now. So again, I can live like this for now but I cannot live like this for years.

On the other hand I know the risks of surgery and I know it can get worse if the surgery fails. And even if in my case the success of such surgery might be high there's still that small chance, which is scary as hell.

In any case, I told myself I will give it 3 more months, let Christmas pass and then decide. I have been in contact with several surgeons here in Europe (I live in Austria), like Dr. Desai, Dr. Tropiano, Dr. Rischke and after reviewing my case they all agreed I am a very good candidate for a 1 level ADR. I'm leaning towards Dr. Desai as he has been able to answer all my questions and concerns during a phone conversation. He does approximately 100 surgeries per year, he is very confident in the ESP disc and seems to be a very nice person.

As Annapurna said I want to be ready with the eventuality of a surgery and I hink I am getting there! Let's see
__________________
Sebastian
October 2020 - Start of back issues
November 2020 - MRI 14mm L5-S1 Herniation
December 2020 - Microdiscectomy
March 2021 - MRI Dehydration and with loss of disc height at L5/S1, disc re-herniation, slight facets reaction, mild modic changes and slight neuro foraminal narrowing.
Chronic back and leg pain.
Reply With Quote