Newbie with some Q's:)

[Mr. Scary]

first, thanx harrison for the welcome and authorizing my posting abilities.
I'm glad i found you guys! I've been lurking here waiting to post for a couple of days.
second, apologies for the lengthy post to follow.
third, i hope this is in the right area, if not admins feel free to move appropriately.

My 3rd discogram shows
-disk extrusion & significant posterior grade 5 annular tear at l4-5, basically herniated
-l3-4 disk bulge & grade 4 annular tear, mild facet arthropathy
-l5-s1 possible grade 2/3 annular tear & diffuse annular bulge, mild facet arthropathy
-low volume annular bulge without focal disk protrusion or annular tearl2-3

My Dr. is Ali Araghi from the Texas Back Inst. he has given me these options
1. live with the pain and control with meds---NOT!
2. discetomy for leg pain relief but with not much relief for back pain-NOT!
3. PLIF-??
or
4. Prodisc ADR for L4-5-??

I've been tryin' to do my research and i'm leaning toward the ADR. my initial concern is the possibility of the ADR 'slipping' or popping out, under extreme acitivities. as well as if i go down the fusion road so will it be in the future.

I'm a 44 year old male. happily married with 3 wonderful, ACTIVE, kids.(8,12,&15).
I've had 3-4 years of conservative treatments;
core strengthening
PT
accupunture
accupressure
massage therapy
more epidurals than i can or want to remember
more drugs than i can or want to remember, currently on oxycodone.

Q's

-what classifies as an extreme activity?
motorcycle riding, horse back, soccer, raquetball, golf, are/were the norm before 3-4 years ago when the back went south.
-pro vs cons on the PLIF vs the ADR..??..??

Thanx in advance for any responses/suggestions or whatevers.
Again, i'm glad i found you guys and am looking forward to finally getting some resolution and my life back to normal.

Tentative surgery scheduled for either 1/19 or 1/26.

Mr. $cary

[New-disc]

Mr. Scary,

I've had ADR surgery, and choose not to do wild sports anymore.

Reason : not taking a chance of screwing up my surgery.

Spine problems are for life .... If we choose not to change our life styles before, and after surgery we will need more surgery's

I still only lift 5 lbs 1yr after surgery.......

I choose to do low impact sports... ( hiking, swimming )

My gift from surgery was relieving pain, and being able to walk again!

Please keep us posted ......

Todd

[rhatzy]

I think your doctor nailed it with at least one option and that is live with and be in a drugged stupor the rest of your life, or as I did, get the ADR's. I have L3-4 and L4-5 with the Maverick disc done in Stenum in Germany. My other option here in the states was fusion. I know 3 people with multi level fusion that aren't doing well at all with two of them having to have it redone and all three still in much pain and doped out on drugs.

It seems very difficult to get more than one level done here in the States and insurance wont cover it. Not many surgeons that experienced in doing one level not to mention two level here. They've been doing multi level in Europe for a long time and are good at it. Pretty much all the discs if placed correctly will not move. I chose the Maverick because it is metal on metal and the disc has a keel that is inserted into your vertabra in a slot that is cut. Also, I believe it is the best on the market right now.

I am back at work as a captain for american airlines and I ride the bike, do a lot of walking and isometric and some weights. One guy that had the same levels done as I, is a weight lifter, body builder/trainer. I talked with him in November and he was squatting over 300 pounds 10 months after his operation. (I cringe when I think of it).

Anyway, ask questions about everything. There are so many opinions on this site and also research both pro and con. You have to sort thru all of it and make some decision. For me, I knew that fusion was definitely out if I ever wanted to go back to flying.

I hope you will find your answer.

Mark

[annapurna]

Originally Posted by Mr. Scary

-what classifies as an extreme activity?
motorcycle riding, horse back, soccer, raquetball, golf, are/were the norm before 3-4 years ago when the back went south.

Motorcycle riding - beats me, I have no standard to measure against
Horseback riding - one of the early trial participants in the Charite trials went back to rodeo riding
Soccer, raquetball, and golf - more likely to hurt something other than your disk,

We've had people on ADR Support and off the board get in motor vehicle accidents without ejecting the disk spacer. Unless you particpate in these sports at a much higher level than what is normal, there's probably at least one person on the board who at least does the same level of whatever you do.

Really, the deciding factor will be how well you recover from either surgery rather than the likelihood of disk ejection. I think there's been a case ejection mentioned during Maverick's smear campaign against the Prodisc and Charite but it was shown to be due to a badly misplaced ADR in the first place but even that is pretty tenuous in my memory. I don't remember any recent discussion of disk ejection. Poor placement is the more likely risk and there's only the selection of the best surgeon available to you to control that risk.

[Mr. Scary]

Thanx all for the responses.

Man that weight lifter/trainer AND the rodeo rider, makes me cringe at the thought as well, LOL!!!!
I have to say i don't really do any of those things to the extreme nor am I a pro at any of them, so i'm guessin' i'm pretty safe. only time and carefulness will tell..??.....

spent several more hours reading last night and again today and the more i read the more i'm leanin' towards the adr over the fusion.

i'm workin' on my second page of questions for the surgeon already !
I see my primary tomorrow for his consult and pre op check up and go ahead.

Thanx again, ALL for the responses. keep 'em comin'!

M$

[Toebin]

Hi Mr Scary,

I'm just popping in the welcome you to the community and the discussion boards. We'll be happy to help where we can and the more questions you have the better. As you see our group is usually able to answer them or at least point you in the right direction to find what you are looking for.

These are not light decisions you are making, the more informed you are the better.

[Mr. Scary]

Toebin,

thanx for the welcome! definetly not light decisions! After my pre-op with my primary though today, i'm definetly leaning towards the ARD. i think it's going to be the best route for me. let's hope i'm right. surgery is either gonna be 1/19 or 1/26.

thanx again everyone!

M$

[Harrison]

Hi Mr., welcome again to our humble family. Hopefully, you already saw the topic in this forum about ADR qualifications, risks and complications.

In the meantime, forgive the curious question, but were you screened for osteoporosis? Are your facets in good shape? I ask because there are slight differences among clinics in terms of assessing patients for ADR. We've talked about frequently in the past four years.

Please check out the seach/advanced search utility, as it works well and is easy to use....

Good luck in the coming weeks!

[Mr. Scary]

Thanx again for the welcome H!
No screen for osteo and facets are one of my questions on my long list for my next/final pre-op visit next week with the surgeon.

M$