Hi All,
I have been nervously and anxiously reading the forums. I am a 44 year old female with never a back problem. Used to be very active. 1 year ago in Oct. I was in a car accident (driver going 80 on a 35mph back country road, UGHH!). Since that time I have had low back pain, numbness in legs, sciatica issues, you name it. I have tried medications, PT (twice), 3 pain injections and one facet injection, Chiropractic (decompression therapy) and now I am at a loss. I am going for a discogram on Tuesday (can we say SCARED! - I'm not a fan of pain). I have seen a neurosurgeon for a consult after the orthopedic doc was out of ideas. THis was 3 months ago. He told me to go get the discogram when I couldn't stand the pain anymore. So this is where we are at. I have two bulging discs L4/L5 and L5/S1. Thing is both are not out that much but the pain I am having is really bad at times. Usually activity sets it off. For instance, 2 weeks ago the chiropractor and I thought we were making headway with a whole week without numbness. Then I went grocery shopping and pushed a partially full cart and wiped down 2 bathrooms in my house. Wham! by Sat. night I was in so much pain and it hasn't stopped since then - pain and lots of numbness down my legs. The neurosurgeon said I was a candidate for 2 level ADR. He supposedly brought the procedure to our county and has done many of them, including two levels.
I plan on going to another doc for a second opinion also. I'm confused as to where to go. Do I go to someone who doesn't do ADR surgery? Are there any more treatments out there that can cure me
I am scared that after surgery I'll be in worse shape, although, I can't do much now. My life has been severly effected by this for a year now and greatly so in the last 2 weeks which is prompting me to make a decision here.
Any advice on how to proceed?
Lynne