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  #1  
Old 07-24-2011, 01:34 PM
yoavo1984 yoavo1984 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2
Default Hello all

Hello my name is yoav and i'm from israel.

i started suffering from back pain when i was 16, did an x ray and was diagnosed with scoliosis. i did some PT (did nothing) then started taking alexander classes and that cleared the pain right away.
during this age i was a very active guy, played a lot of soccer and basketball, i used to run about 2 time a week, and i was also rock climbing quite a lot.

than when i was 18 an in the military i started suffering from leg pain (which seems quite normal in boot camp when youre running 18 hours a day), 4 months in to training i got anCT scan which showed an herniated disc at the l5 s1 hieght.
i did PT for a year, and it only got worse, and at 2004 i did the discetomy
procedure.

it did help a lot for a while (pre op, i could barely get out of bed to the bathroom), and at one point i even bartended for a year and felt quite good.
i guess i overloaded myself and around 3 years after the surgery i had new pain this time around the pelvic area.
this pain is on and off now for 3 years and is getting worse when ever i try to resume normal life. the mri shows soft tissue damage and ddd in the l5 s1.

Now im in a point where as long as i dont sit for more then 30 min a day and dont do any strong physical action (bending, lifting, running, standing for a long period of time) im kinda of pain free, more pelvic uncomfratble feeling then pain. what it means that im walking around a bit im swimming doing some excersise, but most of the time just lying in bed so it wont get worse.
it's kinda hard living without being able to sit.

my health endavours include - strict diet (no alcohol, no coffe, no fried food, no white flour or sugar, no smoking), swimming for 30 min , 6 days a week (just finished my total immersion course for swimming and it's amazing), accupanture once a week, and a technique called flendercrise (after the israeli man who inveted it, it center around skeleton movement) which as speacial excersie im doing daily.

so im kinda ok, and i do feel like im getting better as long as i dont "resume normal life", but i dont want to keep living like this. i had to stop my engenering studies cause i couldn't sit, and it feel like no matter how much excercise ill do it wont change the fact the the disc is degenarted.

that's way now im consedring adr with the m6-l, but im affraid to go in to surgery when i dont really need it, and i heard that their might be a problem with adr and scoliosis. but so far from what i read about it, its sounds really great, so ill need to get more and more info and decide.
any advice will be much more than welcomed.

thanks to all the wonderful people on the site that share all this info, idea and advice, youre amazing!
__________________
mild case of scoliosis.
l5-s1 herniated disc from the age of 18. discoverd during boot camp.
discetomy at l5-s1 at the age of 20 (2004).
diagnosed with soft tissue and ddd at the place of the surgery (l5-s1).
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  #2  
Old 07-24-2011, 01:57 PM
JPJH JPJH is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 70
Default If not needed then, don't...

Yoav,

Just looking at your own words below.

"that's way now im consedring adr with the m6-l, but im affraid to go in to surgery when i dont really need it"

If you don't need the surgery then I would not have it. For the large percent of us that have hade ADR or even fusion it is normally (but not always) an elective surgery, but we had got to a point where our work, and overall quality of life were so negativily impacted by our pain/condition that we "needed" the surgery for our lives to move forward. So unless you are at that point, which it sounds like you are not then I would not have this or any other surgery if not needed. It is a wise thing to look at what is going on medically in this area should you ever need ADR surgery, which I truly hope you will not get to that point.

Al the best to you.

JPJH
2 Level Cerval ADR/M-6
Dr. Clavel, Barcelona Oct. 2010

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  #3  
Old 07-24-2011, 03:19 PM
yoavo1984 yoavo1984 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2
Default Thanks

Thank you for your'e reply.

Altough i can manage the pain, it's only when im lying in bed most of the day. going to the movie or to a retuarnt, is a challenge, and a lot of time i'll skip it. and there no way to talk about a job, as i can't sit or stand for long periods of times and im not qualified to do any home jobs nor do i want it as i really like working with people. i tried studying lying down but i found it extremly frustrating, and my entire body got soared from writing while in this position.

and im not even talking about sports, going traveling and hopefully one day lifting up my kids.

so as i wrote im doing everything i can to get out of this situation,but if i cant, i don't see myself living life this way. not when there is a chance for a normal one.
__________________
mild case of scoliosis.
l5-s1 herniated disc from the age of 18. discoverd during boot camp.
discetomy at l5-s1 at the age of 20 (2004).
diagnosed with soft tissue and ddd at the place of the surgery (l5-s1).
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  #4  
Old 07-24-2011, 09:04 PM
Cirobi's Avatar
Cirobi Cirobi is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 415
Default

Hi Yoav,

Reading through your story, I would have to argue that you truly may need surgery if you cannot resume normal daily functions properly. If you can only find relief while in bed, what kind of life is that? Judging by your whole situation, it sounds like you have a lot of limitations. If you can't resume your studies because of the pain, that's not good. One doesn't have to consider just their ability to do sports as part of whether or not they should face surgery to correct a problem.

While it sounds like the previous surgery helped a little, it doesn't sound like you're very happy with your situation at all.

In my own experience, I was able to deal with the pain, to a point. I could go swimming or do some mildsporting activities, but would be in pain for days afterward. I could sit, but it wasn't always comfortable, especially in most chairs. There were days where I would force myself to sit just to get tasks done. Standing? Forget it. Just waiting a couple minutes for an elevator at work left me wishing I could climb the 10 flights of stairs to my office if our building had a stairwell open for daily use. There were mornings I was afraid to do my normal hygiene routine... especially after spitting out toothpaste threw my back out.

In general, what I'm saying is that you should take everything into consideration. Your doctor may or may not agree that surgery is a good next step. You may not currently think you need surgery. But, if you're suffering and can't live even close to a normal life, it'll only take a mental and emotional toll on you, which makes healing even harder long term. I never realized how much my back problems affected my mental and emotional state until I was on the post-op side. I don't know that I can find the proper words to describe the relief I felt mentally and emotionally on top of physically.

I do agree that if you don't truly need surgery both in terms of physical condition and quality of life, don't do it. But, if you've had other milder treatments that haven't worked, why continue doing them to continue getting zero results? Surgery isn't for everyone and ADR isn't for everyone. It's all dependent on your physical conditions. It may be worth talking to several physicians, if you can, to gather multiple opinions on your situation medically. Some of your previous spinal conditions may or may not make you a good candidate for ADR.

I do hope that you find the relief you seek. Everyone deserves to be able to live life as normally as possible.

~Sara
__________________
*************************
31 yrs old
Lumbar herniation L5/S1

- Did mild PT, some chiropractics and self regulated pain management since initial sports injury in Spring 1997.
- XRay and Bone Scan Jan/Feb 2007
- PT March to May 2007
- MRI Jan 2008
- Disco positive at L5/S1 Feb 2008
- ADR surgery at L5/S1 on June 23rd 2008 - Prodisc
- Recovery - so far so good!

*************************
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