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  #1  
Old 02-05-2010, 03:39 AM
Betseyj Betseyj is offline
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Unhappy 19 in pain and tired. What to do?

I am 19 years old and have had disc degeneration and herniation in L4/5 and L5-S1 since I was 15. I am tired of being in pain. I am a very high achiever and feel like my back pain is holding me back. I have tried physical therapy, meditation, acupuncture, core strengthening through swimming and pilates and nucleoplasty. Some have made small improvements for a short time but the pain always comes back. My pain is mostly in my low back it is constant aching, soreness and hurts. I occasionally have pain that radiates down my legs and will also have good days or really bad days of pain.

I go to college and attend about 16hrs of class a week and take vicodin to do so and rest the other time. I am going to have to enter the work force soon and I want to be able to be competitive in my job and at least work a full work week. I have seen two surgeons who both tell me my spine will continue to degenerate and that I will need surgery it is just a matter of time. They both agree I should have my L5-S1 disc fused and my L4/5 disc replaced with a prodisc but that I should wait as long as possible if I can for new technologies and to prolong the beginning of what will be a surgical cycle in my life. They say it is a quality of life decision as to whether to have the surgery now or try and continue with the pain.

I need advice, have any of you worked 40 hr weeks with constant pain? How hard is it? I can't even imagine. Anyone start having problems as young as I am? Any advice? I don't know what to do, I don't want to rush into something just because I am in pain and have it make life worse later, I just don't know how to tell when it's time, when the pain is too much.
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  #2  
Old 02-05-2010, 09:51 AM
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Cirobi Cirobi is offline
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Hi Betseyj,

First of all, welcome to the forums. While it's unfortunate that you're in a position that needs to bring you here, I'm glad you found us. This community and it's founder - Harrison - are an amazing bunch and very helpful.

In my opinion, your surgeons are right about it being a quality of life decision and that it's good to hold off for conservative measures if possible. That being said, if you are already in that much pain that you have to take pain meds to get through class, I would seriously consider the surgery sooner rather than later. Surgery like this is never ideal at such a young age, but I'm a big believer that if it's going to help your youth be more satisfying, do what needs to be done. The way I see it, other levels in my own spine will probably go eventually and I can patch/fix as needed with whatever new technologies exist. If I can't patch/fix in the future and suffer at that point, at least I've been able to enjoy my life relatively pain free through whatever point that may be.

I went through college avoiding most athletic activity because I'd always wind up in pain. One game of ultimate Frisbee with my friends would leave me gimpy for 2-3 days afterward. The saving grace I had was that if I avoided certain activities (running in particular) I could do most of what I wanted to do without being too disabled by the pain. Unfortunately, as my spine degenerated, the pain would increase and I would just become used to the pain. The pain was normal. That's never a good thing in my opinion.

Once I entered the work force, it just became more difficult to work with and ignore the pain. At one job, I told my supervisor and other superiors that lifting was going to sometime be a problem because I had back problems. I work in IT and was forced to lift giant printers on and off of shelves with no assistance. That job didn't last and I wound up in my current one. Eventually my spine just gave me a big ole "F U" and went while using the ladies room at work. After that, functioning at 100% at work became not only physically draining but mentally and emotionally draining as well.

I had known since I hurt my back in high school that I would probably need surgery someday. I never went to the doctor when I got hurt because I was stubborn and didn't want my mom to worry too bad like she was prone to doing. I started going to doctors for my back when I was 25 but got the run around by my primary care doc. He came to an incorrect diagnosis and wouldn't bother to consider anything else. I had to go after getting an MRI myself once my insurance through work changed to a point of service style plan. Thanks to a recommendation by my current awesome manager, I was able to find a top notch spine surgeon with my first visit and at a practice that caters to local athletes. Being athletic again was a big desire for me.

I had my surgery at the age of 27 and it was the best decision I ever made and I now wish I had gone to the doctor much much sooner. It may be buried now, but go take a look at my post-op thread. I only had L5-S1 done but I have degeneration starting at other levels so I know eventually I'll likely need more levels done. For now, they weren't bad enough to operate on and weren't pain generators, so the hope is that by putting in my Prodisc at L5-S1 it'll help preserve the other levels for as long as possible.

Personally, what I might try to do if I were in your situation, would be to time the surgery so that it doesn't disrupt your education but doesn't hold you back too far in terms of going out and finding a job. I'd likely do it after graduation during that student loan grace period. This way, you can enjoy the celebrations associated with graduating college and then give yourself plenty of time for recovery from surgery without worrying about whether or not your job will force you back to work too early. I got EXTREMELY lucky in that the folks I work for were very understanding and flexible with me and my recovery. Not all jobs will be as understanding, so it's definitely something to consider. As much as it stinks that you're facing surgery on your spine at your age, it may actually work in your favor. Not only will the post-college timing help, but age does too. That was another factor in my own surgical decision. I knew that the younger I faced surgery, the more likely I was to have a smooth recovery. I've actually been discussing the same with my mom as she's facing possible knee surgery after a skiing accident.

Anyway, I've babbled enough. Hopefully some of what I've said is helpful. Those who've had or are facing 2 level surgeries will likely chime in as well, but I figured since I think I'm one of the younger post-op folks here, my perspective might be helpful too.

Keep your chin up. Again, welcome and may you find all the help you need and then some while you're here.

~Sara
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*************************
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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  #3  
Old 02-05-2010, 09:58 AM
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jss jss is offline
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Betsey,

I so hate that you're having this kind of issue; especially considering that you're only 19! My problems started at 39, and I'm now 47.

I tried working for two months with intractable pain. I'm an engineer and work in a lab with computers, oscilloscopes, and other electronics; and except for a handful of occasions when I had to ask someone to open the door to the anechoic chamber for me, I was able to perform all of my daily tasks. If a kidney stone is a 10, my pain was a 4 or 5 at rest, and a 9 when opening that darn door. I had a very low productivity for those two months though. However, I cannot imagine the demands of having tried to work in that condition for months or years on end. Some people do it, but I was fortunate enough to have had the financial ability to have my pain cured.

With current medical technology your doctor may be correct in stating that this will be a life long cycle for you of dealing with this problem. Take heart; I recently read a story of a gentleman that received an artificial lumbar disc some 19 years prior, and has had no new issues since. So very good long term outcomes are possible.

Waiting for surgery can be a double edged sword. As your surgeons have noted, the positive aspect is that there may be better technology in a few years. A negative aspect is that waiting too long results in nerve damage in some people. Even after the spine is repaired, some exhibit life long numbness, debilitating pain, or paralysis due to the nerve damage. You truly have a daunting choice to make. Whatever course you select, I sincerely hope that you're able to avoid a fusion.

Good luck, Jeff

BTW: If you don't mind sharing it, what are you studying? When will you graduate? And what line of work are you planning on?
__________________
C4/5 - ACDF in 2000
C5/6 - ACDF in 2002
C3/4 & C6/7 - M6 ADR, Nov 2009, Barcelona
Conceded defeat to a manifestly disingenuous BCBS-TX in my quest for reimbursement, Jan 2011
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  #4  
Old 02-09-2010, 06:23 PM
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Harrison Harrison is offline
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Betsey, sorry you are here but I hope we can help you. You've received some thoughtful posts from Sara and Jeff, pls update us when you can.

One more question for you: did have an accident or a fall that led to the lumbar problem?
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"Harrison" - info (at) adrsupport.org
Fell on my ***winter 2003, Canceled fusion April 6 2004
Reborn June 25th, 2004, L5-S1 ADR Charite in Boston
Founder & moderator of ADRSupport - 2004
Founder Arthroplasty Patient Foundation a 501(c)(3) - 2006
Creator & producer, Why Am I Still Sick? - 2012
Donate www.arthropatient.org/about/donate
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  #5  
Old 02-15-2010, 07:31 PM
Betseyj Betseyj is offline
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Hi Jeff, Sara and Harrison,
Thank you so much for both of your responses, hearing your experiences has been very helpful. It is nice to hear opinions from people that know what its actually like to have back pain. Sara I was wondering what your recovery experience was like from the surgery? Jeff to answer your question I am currently deciding between studying pre-med or accounting, both of which are very demanding career choice that require over 40hr work weeks. I am trying not to let my back play a factor in my major choice, believing that my back will get better and allowing me to be competitive and successful in the work place although its hard not to become discouraged and think of a bleak future. I've decided to give one last huge attempt at treating my back conservatively, I am going to try once again to do walking, naturopath, meditation, acupuncture, swimming to see if I can make any improvement. If I see no improvement than I think I am going to opt for surgery this summer To answer Harrison question, I hurt my back initially while rowing but my brother also has lumbar disc degeneration and my grandpa does as well, I believe I was genetically predispositioned to having disc problems and I simply sped up the process. I want to thank you guys again for all of your information and support.
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  #6  
Old 02-15-2010, 08:37 PM
Scott C Dunstan Scott C Dunstan is offline
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Try inversion therapy. You are way to young to do this surgery.
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Old 02-16-2010, 06:16 AM
annapurna annapurna is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott C Dunstan View Post
You are way to young to do this surgery.

Sorry to be harsh but, that isn't a particularly useful attitude.

Inversion therapy is only effective in buying a little time. Realistically, if your surgeons are recommending eventual surgery, you probably need to make some decisions like "if things get so bad, it's time to get a surgery," "if I have to give up this, the risks of a bad surgery are equal to the way my life would suck if I had to keep going like that." While you're working through those thoughts, you buy time to think by doing all the other things, including inversion therapy if you want, and use them to control your pain so you can think without the drug fog. Closing out surgery because you're too young isn't right because it will ultimately lead you to feeling trapped with your pain. Recognizing that rushing into surgery when you have a whole lot of life to live with a botched or less than perfect surgery is also important but your age also weighs in on the other side of the balance. You have a lot of life ahead of you. An eighty-year old could realistically decide to tough out a few years of back pain. A nineteen year old needs to find a solution that will work for a lifetime.
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Laura - L5S1 Charitee
C5/6 and 6/7 Prodisc C
Facet problems L4-S1
General joint hypermobility

Jim - C4/5, C5/6, L4/5 disk bulges and facet damage, L4/5 disk tears, currently using regenerative medicine to address

"There are many Annapurnas in the lives of men" Maurice Herzog
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Old 02-16-2010, 09:39 AM
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jss jss is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Betseyj View Post
Hi Jeff, Sara and Harrison,
I've decided to give one last huge attempt at treating my back conservatively, I am going to try once again to do walking, naturopath, meditation, acupuncture, swimming to see if I can make any improvement. If I see no improvement than I think I am going to opt for surgery this summer
Betsey, here's hoping that a big push of conservative treatment works for you. I did that same thing starting in the spring of 2008. Epidural steroid injections, physical therapy, traction, heat, cold, physical manipulations, etc ... NOTHING worked. Then a chiropractor decided to try a bit of a different voodoo on me (interferential and ultrasound), and it alleviated my symptoms for almost a full year. As you're about 30 years younger than I am, maybe you can heal enough to be asymptomatic for many years?

Good luck, Jeff
__________________
C4/5 - ACDF in 2000
C5/6 - ACDF in 2002
C3/4 & C6/7 - M6 ADR, Nov 2009, Barcelona
Conceded defeat to a manifestly disingenuous BCBS-TX in my quest for reimbursement, Jan 2011
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  #9  
Old 02-16-2010, 10:42 PM
ans ans is offline
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B: You're smart not to rush in to anything and I'm sorry you're here, so young, with DDD. I have no answers other than to get ~ 3 opinions from Maven docs who'll give you time, to write everything in advance and bring a smart friend. You might want to see a pain mgt. specialist.

The world of pain control is controversial. Some say that long-term opiate use is relatively OK while others are very squeamish due to tolerance and narcotic hyperalgesia concerns. One question to ask is if the surgery will help your pain. Heck, I'm tons older than you and I'm still swimming w/info, confusion - but I'm slow by nature. But first are the NSAIDS - with proton pump inhibitors and ask how well this protects your lining. Also, PT, etc.

My best..
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Old 02-16-2010, 11:13 PM
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Cirobi Cirobi is offline
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Betsey,

My recovery was exceptionally smooth, in my not so professional opinion. You can take a look at my recovery progression over in the post-op forum. Here's a link to my updates:

http://adrsupport.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8315

I definitely agree with the others on doing conservative treatments first, but definitely keep in mind quality of life aspect. It's good not to rush into such a major surgery, but there's always two sides to the whole situation. Hopefully the conservative treatments help, otherwise, I guess we'll see you in the post-op forums at some point.
__________________
*************************
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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